Torsion normal generators of the mapping class group of a nonorientable surface (Q2069812)

The article under review is devoted to studying the mapping class group of a nonorientable surface. Let \(N_g\) be such a surface, consisting of an orientable surface of genus \(l\) with \(s \geq 1\) crosscaps, where \(2l+s = g\). Then the mapping class group of the surface, \(\mathcal{M}(N_g)\), is the quotient of the group of self-homeomorphisms of \(N_g\) by the subgroup of self-homeomorphisms isotopic to the identity. The goal of the paper is to determine which is the normal closure of a periodic element \(f \in \mathcal{M}(N_g)\). If that closure is \(\mathcal{M}(N_g)\), \(f\) is said to normally generate \(\mathcal{M}(N_g)\). The study is made in several steps. Firstly, the author obtains whether the normal closure of \(f\) contains the twist subgroup of \(N_g\), \(\mathcal{T}(N_g)\), and afterwards, how to distinguish in that case whether that normal closure is just \(\mathcal{T}(N_g)\), or else the whole group \(\mathcal{M}(N_g)\). These results are described in the main Theorems 1.1 and 1.4, and the Corollaries 1.2 and 1.5. For instance, the latter states that for any \(g \geq 7\), there is an involution which normally generates \(\mathcal{M}(N_g)\). The main tool in the paper is the theory of NEC groups, which uniformize both the surfaces and the group actions on them.