Riemann surfaces with maximal real symmetry (Q497728)

Let \(S\) be a compact Riemann surface of genus \(g \geq 2\). A symmetry of \(S\) is an anti-conformal automorphism \(\tau\) of \(S\). The set of fixed points of the symmetry \(\tau\) has \(k\) connected components, called ovals. The quotient \(S/\tau\) can be endowed with the dianalytic structure inherited from \(S\), and then it is a Klein surface. If \(k > 0\), this surface is bordered, and this is the case considered in the paper. If it is orientable, define \(\epsilon = 1\), and otherwise \(\epsilon = -1\). Then \(\epsilon k\) is called the species of \(\tau\). The list of species of representatives of all conjugacy classes of symmetries of \(S\) is called the symmetry type of \(S\). The surface \(S\) is said to have maximal real symmetry if it admits a symmetry \(\tau\) such that the order of the automorphism group of the Klein surface \(S/\tau\) attains the upper bound in terms of the genus, that is to say, \(12(g-1)\) when \(S/\tau\) is bordered. In that case, the group is said to be an M*-group, and the Klein surface to have maximal symmetry. The paper under review is devoted to the Riemann surfaces with maximal real symmetry. In Section 3 the authors study the structure of the group \(\mathrm{Aut}(S)\) when \(S\) is such a surface. With just one relevant exception (the Accola-Maclachlan surface of genus \(2\)) \(\mathrm{Aut}(S)\) turns out to be \(G \times C_2\), for \(G\) an M*-group. Then, Section 4 considers Riemann surfaces of small (up to \(101\)) genus with maximal real symmetry, excluding the Accola-Maclachlan surface. The main tool in this section is the theory of non-Euclidean crystallographic (NEC) groups, which uniformize Klein surfaces. A four-step algorithm is carefully described. Its starting point is each M*-group \(G\) of order \(12(g-1)\) and each smooth epimorphism from an NEC group \(\Gamma\) onto \(G\). The output of the algorithm is the symmetry type of each surface \(S\) with maximal real symmetry, genus \(g\), and automorphism group \(G \times C_2\). The algorithm is carried out with the help of MAGMA, in order to compute all such surfaces with genus \(g \leq 101\). The results for \(g \leq 25\) are fully displayed. Finally, in Section 5 the authors prove that for any \(n > 3\) there are two compact Riemann surfaces of genus \(n^2 + 1\) with maximal real symmetry, whose full automorphism group is \(G^{3,6,2n} \times C_2\). Their respective symmetry types are also obtained. The paper is written in a very transparent way, and gives an excellent insight into the relationship between Riemann surfaces with maximal real symmetry and Klein surfaces with maximal symmetry.