Mapping class group is generated by three involutions

DOI10.4310/MRL.2020.V27.N4.A6MaRDI QIDQ1996264zbMATH OpenFDO

Authors Yanyan Li

Publication date 4 March 2021

Published in Mathematical Research Letters (Search for Journal in Brave)

Full work available at URL https://arxiv.org/abs/1904.08156

zbMATH Keywords

generators of mapping class groupinvolutionssurface

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Other groups related to topology or analysis (20F38) 2-dimensional topology (including mapping class groups of surfaces, Teichmüller theory, curve complexes, etc.) (57K20)

Abstract: We prove that the mapping class group of a closed connected orientable surface of genus at least eight is generated by three involutions.

Review text

The main result of the paper states that the mapping class group \(\mathrm{Mod}(\Sigma_g)\) of a closed orientable surface \(\Sigma_g\) of genus \(g \ge 8\) is generated by three involutions (which is best possible), and by four involutions if \(g \ge 3\). As a consequence, also the symplectic group \(\mathrm{Sp}(2g, \mathbb Z)\) is generated by three or four involutions. As the author carefully surveys in the introduction, the problem of finding small generating sets of mapping class groups has a long and interesting history, starting with Dehn in 1938 who showed that \(\mathrm{Mod}(\Sigma_g)\) is generated by finitely many Dehn twists (the minimal number is \(2g+1\)). \textit{C. Maclachlan} proved [Proc. Am. Math. Soc. 29, 85--86 (1971; Zbl 0222.32012)] that \(\mathrm{Mod}(\Sigma_g)\) is generated by finitely many elements of finite order (as a consequence and motivating objective, the moduli space of Riemann surfaces of genus \(g\) is simply connected); by a result of the present author, it is generated by two elements of finite order \(4g+2\) [Trans. Am. Math. Soc. 357, No. 8, 3299--3310 (2005; Zbl 1079.57018)].

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Cited in

(13)

• Involutions in surface mapping class groups
• Every mapping class group is generated by 6 involutions
• The mapping class group is generated by two commutators
• Torsion generators of the twist subgroup
• Generating the mapping class group of a nonorientable surface by two elements or by three involutions
• Generating the mapping class group by two torsion elements
• Generating the extended mapping class group by three involutions
• Generating the twist subgroup by involutions
• On the involution generators of the mapping class group of a punctured surface
• Self-similar surfaces: involutions and perfection
• On minimal generating sets for the mapping class group of a punctured surface
• Involution generators of the big mapping class group
• The mapping class group of a punctured surface is generated by three elements

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