Minimal genus of abelian actions on Klein surfaces with boundary (Q1813565)

This paper is concerned with the problem of computing the genera of surfaces which admit an effective action of a given finite group. For a closed surface genus takes its standard meaning; for a bounded surface it means the first Betti number of the surface. A complete answer is given for the case of a finite abelian group. It is stated in terms of the Euler characteristics of an associated graph of groups from which the minimal genus can be easily calculated. The results are rather technical. Perhaps they are best thought of as a tool for calculating the minimal genus.