Index zero fixed points and 2-complexes with local separating points (Q2236452)

Given a complex \(X\) and a self-map \(f: X \to X\), an important invariant for fixed point theorists is the Nielsen number \(N(f)\), which gives a lower bound for the number of fixed points among all maps in the homotopy class of \(f\). There are settings where it is possible to deform \(f\) to a map \(g\) such that \(\# Fix(g) = N(f)\), but there are also situations where the minimum number of fixed points for maps in the homotopy class of \(f\) is bigger than \(N(f)\). Related to this phenomenon, if \(v\) is an isolated fixed point of \(f\) with index zero, it is natural to investigate if it is possible to locally remove such a fixed point. In the present paper, the authors study the situation of an isolated fixed point with index zero at a local separating point in a \(2\)-complex. Under these assumptions, the authors provide a criterion for a local deformation to remove the fixed point. Then, the obtained criterion is applied to finding fixed point minimal models on \(X=S^2 \vee S^2\) and on \(X= S^1 \vee S^2\). The authors finish the paper with a result about self-maps of wedges of surfaces of non-positive Euler characteristic: if \(X\) is a wedge of surfaces of non-positive Euler characteristic and if \(g: X \to X\) is a fixed point minimal map such that \(g(w)=w\), where \(w\) is the wedge point, then the index of \(w\) is non-zero.