Monoids in the mapping class group (Q906852)

The paper under review discusses three ways to construct potentially interesting submonoids in the mapping class group of a surface with boundary: (1) for a given generating system (e.g., positive Dehn twists) one can consider the set of words in non-negative powers of the generators, (2) for a quasimorphism to the real line (e.g., the fractional Dehn twist coefficient relative to a boundary component) one can consider the preimage of the positive half-line, (3) for a property of contact structures (e.g., being tight, or Stein fillable, or having non-zero Ozsváth-Szabó invariant) one can consider all mapping classes such that the corresponding open book supports a contact structure with that property. (In the last construction, to obtain a monoid, the property of contact structures has to be preserved under connected sums and Legendrian surgery.) The paper under review presents some theorems and many questions about these monoids and their interconnections. It is nicely illustrated and written in a leisurely way, providing very readable introductions to the various objects considered. For the entire collection see [Zbl 1333.57003].