Generating sets and algebraic properties of pure mapping class groups of infinite graphs (Q6929475)

A standard and classical approach for understanding the geometry and topology of a surface is the study of the associated mapping class group, that is the group of homeomorphisms of the surface which preserve its orientation, up to isotopy relation. This group is, in turn, deeply related to the well-known group \(\mathrm{Out}(F_n)\), the group of outer automorphisms of the free group of rank \(n\). This relationship works well for surfaces of finite type.\N\NSo, in the last decade, an emerging question was: how to construct an analog of \(\mathrm{Out}(F_n)\) for infinite-type surfaces? A very promising approach was recently proposed by \textit{Y. Algom-Kfir} and \textit{M. Bestvina} [Contemp. Math. 812, 1--31 (2025; Zbl 1570.57033)], where, for a locally finite graph \(\Gamma\), the mapping class group of \(\Gamma\) is just defined as the group of proper homotopy equivalences of \(\Gamma\) up to proper homotopy. In that paper the authors provide a topology for this big \(\mathrm{Out}(F_n)\), noting that this space depends of the underlying graph, more than \(\mathrm{Out}(F_\infty)\).\N\NThe profound difference between this new ``big'' analog is that it is not finitely generated nor compactly generated, and a new approach is needed for studying its geometry. In the last years, an appropriate framework has beed developed, called \textit{coarse geometry of non-locally compact groups}, where one finds analogs of compact and locally compact notions, and in particular, the analog of finitely generated or compactly generated groups, called \textit{coarsely bounded generated groups}.\N\NIn this framework the authors prove firstly a result which classifies infinite graphs with coarsely bounded generated pure mapping class group, then they provide other results on the pure mapping class group relating its isomorphism type with the rank of the underlying graph. (Recall that the \textit{pure mapping class group} is the closed subgroup of the mapping class group of an infinite graph, consisting of maps that fix the ends of the graph pointwise).