Genus actions of finite groups on 3-manifolds (Q5961601)

The author studies actions of finite groups on \(3\)-manifolds. For a finite group \(G\), a closed \(3\)-manifold \(M\) is called \(G\)-manifold of genus \(g\) if it admits an action of \(G\) which preserves both handlebodies of a Heegaard splitting of \(M\) of the minimal genus \(g\). If the above minimal genus \(g \) is bigger than \(1\) a \(G\)-manifold \(M\) is called minimal. These two definitions coincide for most groups besides groups acting on \(3\)-ball or the solid torus (e.g. cyclic and dihedral groups). The main result of the paper characterizes the minimal \(G\)-manifolds for cyclic and dihedral groups \(G\). They are cyclic branched coverings of the oriented 2-bridge links. It is known that the order of \(G\) acting on a handlebody of genus \(g>1\) is bounded by \(12(g-1)\). If this number is attained for the group \(G\) acting on \(G\)-manifold \(M\) the \(G\)-action is called maximally symmetric. Some maximally symmetric actions on hyperbolic manifolds of low genera are described.