Realizations of branched self-coverings of the 2-sphere (Q891243)

This paper aims at constructing a finer invariant of branched covers in order to bring a new point of view in realization problems. A map \(\pi: \mathbb{S}^2\rightarrow \mathbb{S}^2\) is called a branched (or ramified) covering of degree \(d\), if there exists a finite subset \(F\subseteq \mathbb{S}^2\) such that the restriction map \(\pi: \mathbb{S}^2\setminus \pi^{-1}(F)\rightarrow \mathbb{S}^{2}\setminus F\) is a covering map of degree \(d\); and for each point \(x\in F \), there is a neighborhood \(V\) of \(x\), and a neighborhood \(U\) of each preimage \(y\) of \(x\) by \(\pi\) such that the restricted map \(\pi|_U: U\rightarrow V\) is equivalent, up to topological change of coordinates, to the map \(z\mapsto z^k\) of the unit disc, for some integer \(k>0\). The authors introduce two different types of finer invariants called a bipartite map and an incidence matrix by showing that a bipartite map, or a matrix, is realized by a branched covering if and only if it satisfies a certain balanced condition. This is known as the realization problem of \textit{A. Hurwitz}' passports [On Riemann surfaces with given branch points, Math. Ann. XXXIX, 1--61 (1891; JFM 23.0429.01)].