Fixed point index and braid invariant for fixed points of embeddings on the disk (Q1612262)

Let \(f:D^2 \to D^2\) be an orientation preserving embedding of the 2-disk \(D^2\). There is an isotopy \(\{f_t\}\) of \(D^2\) from the identity map to \(f\). Assume that \(f\) has a finite number of fixed points. Then \(\{f_t\}\) gives rise to a pure braid which is uniquely determined up to composition with a power of the full-twist braid. The author defines an equivalence relation on the fixed point set of \(f\) such that the braid associated to each equivalence class is a power of the full-twist braid. Using the Nielsen-Thurston classification theorem for surface homeomorphisms and techniques from Nielsen fixed point theory for punctured surfaces, the author shows that each such equivalence class has fixed point index \(\leq 1\) (Theorem 1). Furthermore, it is shown that an equivalence class containing at least two fixed points must contain an unstable fixed point.