Symmetries of compact Riemann surfaces (Q2637959)

The content of this monograph belongs to the intersection of several mathematical disciplines such as the theory of functions ofone complex variable, algebraic geometry, topology, and group theory. Their interconnection is reflected in the introductory Chapter 1, containing the necessary auxiliary tools from those branches of mathematics. A symmetry \(\sigma\) of a compact Riemann surface \(S\) means an antianalytic involution \(\sigma: S\to S\). By virtue of the known bijective correspondence between compact Riemann surfaces and smooth irreducible complex projective curves, symmetric surfaces correspond to curves definable over the field \(\mathbb R\). The pair \((S,\sigma)\) is called a real algebraic curve. The topological properties of real algebraic curves follow from the associated symmetry \(\sigma\). In particular, the set of real points of such a curve is homeomorphic to the fixed point set \(\text{Fix\,}(\sigma)\) of the symmetry. Also, symmetries which are not conjugated inside the full group \(\text{Aut\,}(S)\) of automorphisms of \(S\) correspond to real curves which are not isomorphic over \(\mathbb R\), but which are isomorpphic over \(\mathbb C\). The following basic problems are discussed in the monograph: \(\quad 1^{\circ}\) Is each smooth complex algebraic curve \(C\) definable over \(\mathbb R\)? \(\quad 2^{\circ}\) Let the answer to this question be affirmative. How many real algebraic curves which are not birationally \(\mathbb R\)-isomorphic then admit \(C\) as complexification? The projective smooth models of such real curves are called the real forms of \(C\). \(\quad 3^{\circ}\) What can be said about the topology of the real forms of \(C\)? In the basic Chapters 2 - 5, the authors give answers to these, and to related questions, containing their own results together with reviews of other results. Symmetries which are not conjugate in the automorphism group \(\text{Aut\,}(S)\) of \(S\) correspond to non-isomorphic real forms of \(C\). The subject of Chapter 2 is to give quantitative results concerning the number of conjugacy classes of symmetries, distinguishing the cases of empty and non-empty fixed point sets of the symmetries. The connected components of the fixed point set \(\text{Fix\,}(\sigma)\) of a symmetry \(\sigma\) of a Riemannian surface \(S\) are called the ovals of \(\sigma\). Theorem 3.1.1 of Chapter 3 allows to find the number \(\|\sigma\|\) of ovals of \(\sigma\) from the algebraic structure of the full automorphism group \(\text{Aut\,}(S)\) and from the topological properties of the action of \(\text{Aut\,}(S)\) on \(S\). Concerning the total number of ovals of all symmetries of a Riemann surface \(S\), the result of the fourth author [\textit{G. Gromadzki}, J. Pure Appl. Alg. 121, 253--269 (1997; Zbl 0885.14026)] is presented, which gives an upper bound for the invariant \(\nu(g)\), the maximum of the number of ovals of \(S\) when \(S\) runs over all compact Riemann surfaces of genus \(g\). The last two sections are devoted to the study of pairs of symmetries of Riemann surfaces, and give a review of the most significant results. Chapter 4 is devoted to three selected examples of families of surfaces, whose symmetries can be completely classified. The first two sections are devoted to the sphere and the tori, which require specific methods since they are not uniformized by the hyperbolic plane. In the third section, the symmetries of the hyperelliptic Riemann surfaces are studied with their complete classification in the joint work of all four authors [Mém. Soc. Math. Fr., Nouv. Sér. 86, vi, 122 p. (2001; Zbl 1078.14044)]. Here only the necessary tools to attack the problem are explained, with a detailed consideration of an example. In the last Chapter 5, the symmetries of those surfaces \(S\) are studied whose group \(\text{Aut}^{+}(S)\) of analytic automorphisms is large, which are topologically determined by \(\text{Aut}^{+}(S)\). More precisely, here the symmetries of the Macbeath-Singermann, the Accole-Maclachlan, and the Kulcarni surface are classified, correspondingly to the authors' works [J. Pure Appl. Algebra, 106, No. 2, 113--126 (1996; Zbl 0847.30026)] and [Proc. Am. Math. Soc. 127, No. 3, 637--646 (1999; Zbl 0921.14019)], the article of \textit{P. Turbek} [Rev. Mat. Univ. Complutense Madr. 10, No.2, 265--276 (1997; Zbl 0892.30033)], and others. The monograph is finished by an appendix about compact Riemann surfaces without symmetries, which play an important role in the study of deformations and moduli of complex surfaces.