On the involution generators of the mapping class group of a punctured surface (Q6159763)

Let \(\Sigma_{g,p}\) denote the closed orientable surface of genus \(g\) with \(p\) punctures (with the understanding that \(\Sigma_{g,0} := \Sigma_g\)), and let \(\mathrm{Mod}(\Sigma_{g,p})\) be the mapping class group of \(\Sigma_{g,p}\). The problem of generating \(\mathrm{Mod}(\Sigma_{g,p})\) with involutions was first examined by \textit{J. McCarthy} and \textit{A. Papadopoulos} [Enseign. Math. (2) 33, 275--290 (1987; Zbl 0655.57005)]. It was subsequently shown by \textit{T. E. Brendle} and \textit{B. Farb} [J. Algebra 278, No. 1, 187--198 (2004; Zbl 1051.57019)] that for \(g \geq 3\), \(\mathrm{Mod}(\Sigma_g)\) is generated by six involutions. This result was further improved by the works of \textit{M. Korkmaz} [Math. Res. Lett. 27, No. 4, 1095--1108 (2020; Zbl 1459.57020)] and \textit{T. Altunöz} et al. [Osaka J. Math. 60, No. 1, 61--75 (2023; Zbl 1527.57009)], who showed that \(\mathrm{Mod}(\Sigma_g)\) is generated by four involutions for \(g \geq 3\), and three involutions for \(g \geq 6\). Though \(\mathrm{Mod}(\Sigma_{g,p})\) is known [\textit{N. Monden}, ``On minimal generating sets for the mapping class group of a punctured surface'', Preprint, \url{arXiv:2103.01525}; \textit{B. Wajnryb}, Topology 35, No. 2, 377--383 (1996; Zbl 0860.57040)] to be two-generated for \(g \geq 3\), these generators cannot be involutions since \(\mathrm{Mod}(\Sigma_{g,p})\) has non-abelian free subgroups. In this paper, it is shown that when \(p\) is even, for \(p \geq 10\) and \(g \geq 14\), three involutions generate \(\mathrm{Mod}(\Sigma_{g,p})\), and for \(p \geq 4\) and \(g \in \{3,4,5,6\}\), four involutions generate \(\mathrm{Mod}(\Sigma_{g,p})\). Furthermore, this result also holds when \(p = 2 \text{ or } 3\). Moreover, when \(p\) is odd, it is established that for \(p \geq 9\) and \(g \geq 13\), four involutions generate \(\mathrm{Mod}(\Sigma_{g,p})\), and for \(p \geq 5\) and \(3 \leq g \leq 6\), five involutions generate \(\mathrm{Mod}(\Sigma_{g,p})\).