Large 1-systems of curves in nonorientable surfaces (Q6102111)

Let \(N_{g,b}\) be a compact, connected, nonorientable surface of genus \(g\) with \(b\) boundary components. A 1-system of curves is a set of simple, nonperipheral, essential, mutually nonhomotopic curves that intersect each other at most once. In this paper, by generalizing an approach of \textit{J. Malestein} et al. [Geom. Dedicata 168, 221--233 (2014; Zbl 1284.57020)], the authors obtain a lower bound for the maximal number of curves in a 1-system in \(N_{g,b}\).