Generators of the mapping class group of a nonorientable punctured surface (Q6980003)

In this paper, the authors prove that the mapping class group \(\mathrm{Mod}(N_{g,p})\) of a nonorientable surface \(N_{g,p}\) of genus \(g\geq 14\) and \(p\geq 1\) punctures can be generated by five mapping classes or by six involutions. Let \(\mathrm{Sym}_p\) be the symmetric group on \(p\) letters and \(\mathrm{PMod}(N_{g,p})\) be the subgroup of \(\mathrm{Mod}(N_{g,p})\) whose elements fix the set of punctures pointwise. Consider the short exact sequence\N\[\N1\to \mathrm{PMod}(N_{g,p})\to \mathrm{Mod}(N_{g,p})\to \mathrm{Sym}_p\to 1\N\]\Ninduced by the action of \(\mathrm{Mod}(N_{g,p})\) on the set of punctures. For \(g\geq 3\), \textit{M. Korkmaz} [Geom. Dedicata 89, 107--133 (2002; Zbl 1016.57013)] derived a finite generating set \(S\) for \(\mathrm{PMod}(N_{g,p})\). The authors consider a group \(G\) generated by five mapping classes in \(\mathrm{Mod}(N_{g,p})\). Then, in a series of lemmas (Lemma 3.2-3.5), they prove that \(S\subset G\) when \(g\geq 14\). Thus proving that \(\mathrm{PMod}(N_{g,p})\) is contained in \(G\). Finally, as their first main result (Theorem 3.6), they prove that \(G\) surjects onto \(\mathrm{Sym}_p\), thereby proving \(G=\mathrm{Mod}(N_{g,p})\). The second main result (Theorem 3.7) is proved similarly by considering a subgroup \(G'\) of \(\mathrm{Mod}(N_{g,p})\) generated by six involutions.