Centralizers of finite subgroups of the mapping class group. (Q1954152)

The main result of this work is to show: Main Theorem. Let \(H\) be a finite subgroup of \(\text{Mod}(S)\). Let \(C_H=\{\nu\in C(S):\text{diam}(H\cdot\nu)\leq 6\delta\}\). There exists a constant \(D\), depending only on the topological type of \(S\), such that if \(\text{diam}(C_H)\geq D\), then the centralizer of \(H\) in \(\text{Mod}(S)\) is infinite. -- Here \(\text{Mod}(S)\) denotes the mapping class group of the surface \(S\) and \(C(S)\), the curve graph, is the 1-skeleton of the curve complex. First a similar result, which seems part of the folklore but not clear where to find in the literature, is provided for \(G\) a hyperbolic group. Namely it is shown: Theorem 3.1. Let \(G\) be a hyperbolic group with \(\{g_1,\ldots,g_n\}\) as a generating set. Let \(K_G\) be the Cayley graph of \(G\) with respect to the given generating set. Let \(\delta\) be the hyperbolicity constant for \(K_G\). Let \(H\) be a finite subgroup of \(G\). Let \(X_H=\{x\in K_G:\text{diam}(H\cdot x)\leq 6\delta\}\). There exists a constant \(D\), depending only on \(\delta\) and \(n\), such that if \(\text{diam}(X_G)\geq D\), then the centralizer of \(H\) in \(G\) is infinite. To obtain the Main Theorem from Theorem 3.1 the author uses the theory of hierarchies by \textit{H. A. Masur} and \textit{Y. N. Minsky} [Geom. Funct. Anal. 10, No. 4, 902-974 (2000; Zbl 0972.32011)]. At the end he gives an application for a sequence of homomorphisms \(\{f_i\}\) from \(G\) into \(\text{Mod}(S)\).