A remark on the action of the mapping class group on the unit tangent bundle (Q2430119)

The author proves that the standard action of the mapping class group \(\text{Map}(\Sigma)\) of a surface \(\Sigma\) of genus \(g\geq 12\) on the unit tangent bundle \(V^1\Sigma\) is not homotopic to any smooth action. This result is a negative response to one possible generalization of the Nielsen realization problem solved by \textit{S. P. Kerckhoff} in [``The Nielsen realization problem'', Ann. Math. (2) 117, 235--265 (1983; Zbl 0528.57008)]. The original question, answered affirmatively by Kerckhoff, asked whether finite subgroups of \(\text{Map}(\Sigma)\) could be represented by a group of diffeomorphisms of \(\Sigma\). \textit{S. Morita} in [``Characteristic classes of surface bundles'', Invent. Math. 90, 551--577 (1987; Zbl 0608.57020)] proved that, for \(g\geq 18\), subgroups of \(\text{Map}(\Sigma)\) of finite index in \(\text{Map}(\Sigma)\) cannot be so realized. \textit{V. Marković} in [``Realization of the mapping class group by homeomorphisms'', ibid. 168, No. 3, 523--566 (2007; Zbl 1131.57021)] showed that these groups cannot even be realized by a group of homeomorphisms. This realization failure suggested the attempt to find a reasonable action of \(\text{Map}(\Sigma)\) on a more complicated space above \(\Sigma\). There is indeed such an action: a well-known natural action of \(\text{Map}(\Sigma)\) on the unit tangent bundle \(T^1\Sigma\), which, when projected to \(\Sigma\), induces the standard isomorphism \(\text{Map}(\Sigma)\simeq\text{Out}(\pi_1\Sigma)\). The paper at hand shows that this action cannot be made smooth. The action on \(T^1\Sigma\) is obtained by passing to the universal cover \(\mathbb{H}^2\) of \(\Sigma\) and noting that \(\text{Map}(\Sigma)\) acts on the circle \(\partial\mathbb{H}^2\) at infinity. Then \(T^1\Sigma\) is a quotient of the space of triples from \(\partial\mathbb{H}^2\) via \(\pi_1(\Sigma)\). The author analyzes the 3-manifold \(T^1\Sigma\) as a Seifert-fibered space via results of Meeks and Scott on minimal surfaces, Parwani on smooth actions of \(\text{Map}(\Sigma)\) on a circle, and Thurston on smooth actions on a manifold with a global fixed point.