First Betti numbers of the orbits of Morse functions on surfaces (Q2234401)

The authors denote by \(\mathcal{M}(M, P)\) the set of isomorphism classes for the fundamental groups of orbits of all Morse mappings \(f : M\rightarrow P\), where \(M\) is a connected compact orientable surface and \(P\) be either the real line \(\mathbb{R}\) or the circle \(S^1\). \textit{S. Maksymenko} and \textit{B. Feshchenko} [Methods Funct. Anal. Topol. 21, No. 1, 22--40 (2015; Zbl 1340.57009)] studied the sets of isomorphism classes \(\mathcal{B}\) and \(\mathcal{T}\) of groups generated by direct products and certain wreath products. They proved that the inclusions \(\mathcal{M}(M, P)\subset \mathcal{B}\) are valid under the condition that \(M\) differs from the \(2\)-sphere \(S^2\) and \(2\)-torus \(T^2\) and \(\mathcal{M}(T^2, P)\subset \mathcal{T}\). In this paper it is proved that these inclusions are equalities, and the authors describe some subclasses of \(\mathcal{M}(M, P)\) under certain restrictions imposed on the behavior of functions on the boundary of \(M\). The authors also show that, for any group \(G\in \mathcal{B}\) (\(G\in \mathcal{T}\)), the center \(Z(G)\) and the quotient group with respect to the commutator subgroup \(G/[G, G]\) are free Abelian groups of the same rank which is the first Betti number of the orbit of the mapping \(f\). The paper is organized into six sections dealing with the following aspects: construction of a group according to a given mapping, construction of a mapping with given fundamental group of the orbit on a surface, construction of a group according to a given function on the torus, centers of wreath products, commutant.