On the minimum dilatation of pseudo-Anosov homeromorphisms on surfaces of small genus (Q538790)

The paper under review searches the minimum dilatation of pseudo-Anosov homeomorphisms on surfaces of low genus. It restricts to homeomorphisms that stabilize an orientable singular foliation, and it is computed explicitely for genus 2, 3, 4, and 5. For genus 6, 7 and 8, a lower bound is given. In addition, other authors have found examples where the estimate for genus 7 and 8 is realized [\textit{J. W. Aaber} and \textit{N. Dunfield}, Algebr. Geom. Topol. 10, No. 4, 2315--2342 (2010; Zbl 1205.57018); \textit{E. Hironaka}, ibid. 10, No. 4, 2041--2060 (2010; Zbl 1221.57028); \textit{E. Kin} and \textit{M. Takasawa}, ``Pseudo-Anosovs on closed surfaces having small entropy and the Whitehead sister link exterior'', Preprint, \url{arXiv:1003.0545}], so only the case of genus 6 is not sharp. The authors use a theorem of Thurston that relates the dilatation of a pseudo-Anosov homeomorphisms on the surface that preserves an orientable foliation with the eigenvalues of the action on homology, and then they work with polynomials. To realize the homeomorphisms with minimal dilatation, the authors use a Dehn twist or the Rauzy-Veech construction. Finally, as mentioned in the abstract, the minimum dilatation for genus up to 5 is the smallest Salem number for polynomials of degree twice the genus.