Homology and orientation reversing periodic maps on surfaces (Q2401733)

Let \(\Sigma\) be a compact oriented surface. A homeomorphism \(f:\Sigma\to\Sigma\) is called a periodic map if \(f^n=\mathrm{id}_{\Sigma}\) for some positive integer \(n\), and the smallest positive \(n\) with this property is called the period of \(f\). Nielsen's theory assigns to an orientation preserving periodic map on \(\Sigma\) a finite collection of parameters, such that two such maps are conjugate by an orientation preserving homeomorphism if and only if their assigned sets of parameters are the same. In the present paper similar parameters are defined for orientation reversing periodic maps on \(\Sigma\). As in the classical case of orientation preserving maps, these parameters can be derived from a homomorphism \(\omega_f: H_1(\Sigma/f - B_f)\to\mathbb{Z}/n\mathbb{Z}\), where \(\Sigma/f\) is the orbit space of \(f\), \(B_f\) is the set of branch points of the projection \(\Sigma\to\Sigma/f\), and \(n\) is the period of \(f\). The main result is that two orientation reversing periodic maps are conjugate by a homeomorphism if and only if their assigned sets of parameters are equivalent with respect to a certain equivalence relation. As an application, the author provides a classification of all orientation reversing periodic maps on \(\Sigma\) of period at least \(3g\), where \(g\) is the genus of \(\Sigma\), up to powers and conjugation. A similar result was obtained by \textit{G. Gromadzki} and \textit{X. Zhao} and the reviewer in [J. Pure Appl. Algebra 220, No. 1, 465--481 (2016; Zbl 1332.30063)] by a different method based on non-euclidean crystallographic groups.