Abelian subgroups of the Torelli group (Q5959650)

Let \(S\) be a closed oriented surface of genus \(g\geq 2\). The Torelli group \({\mathcal{T}}_g\) of \(S\) is defined to be the subgroup of the mapping class group \({\mathcal{M}}_g\) of \(S\) consisting of those mapping classes which act trivially on the first homology \(H_1(S,\mathbb Z)\). The mapping class group is the group of orientation preserving diffeomorphisms of \(S\). A multitwist in \({\mathcal{M}}_g\) is a product of powers of Dehn twists about disjoint simple closed curves on \(S\). There are two main results in this paper. In the first one, the author determines exactly when a given multitwist is contained in \({\mathcal{T}}_g\). The answer is the expected one; a multitwist is contained in the Torelli group if and only if it is a product of Dehn twists about separating simple closed curves and opposite Dehn twists about bounding pairs of nonseparating simple closed curves. The second result is that any abelian subgroup of \({\mathcal{T}}_g\) has rank at most \(2g-3\). Again, this is the expected one. The upper bound \(3g-3\) for the rank of an abelian subgroup of \({\mathcal{M}}_g\) was given in [\textit{J. S. Birman, A. Lubotzky} and \textit{J. McCarthy}, Duke Math. J. 50, 1107-1120 (1983; Zbl 0551.57004)].