Free cyclic actions on surfaces and the Borsuk-Ulam theorem (Q2096933)

The paper under review gives an interesting generalisation of the classical Borsuk-Ulam theorem of maps from \(\mathbb{S}^n\) to \(\mathbb{R}^n\). Let \(M\) and \(N\) be topological spaces, \(G\) a group, and \(\tau\) a proper free action of \(G\) on \(M\). The authors define a Borsuk-Ulam type property for homotopy classes of maps from \(M\) to \(N\) with respect to the pair \((G,\tau)\) that generalises the Borsuk-Ulam theorem. In the cases where \(M\) is a finite path-connected CW-complex, \(G\) is a non-trivial finite abelian group, \(\tau\) is a proper free cellular action and \(N\) is either \(\mathbb{R}^2\) or a compact surface without boundary different from \(\mathbb{S}^2\) and \(\mathbb{RP}^2\), they give an algebraic criterion involving braid groups to decide whether a free homotopy class in \([M,N]\) has the Borsuk-Ulam property. \par As an application, the authors consider the case where \(M\) is a compact surface without boundary equipped with a free action \(\tau\) of the cyclic group \(\mathbb{Z}_n\). In terms of the orientability of the orbit space of \(M\) by \(\tau\), the value of \(n\) modulo 4 and a certain algebraic condition involving the first homology group of the orbit space, they determine if the single homotopy class of maps from \(M\) to \(\mathbb{R}^2\) possesses the Borsuk-Ulam property with respect to the pair \((\mathbb{Z}_n,\tau)\).