\(\mathbb{Z}_2\)-Thurston norm and complexity of 3-manifolds. II (Q1986004)

It is well-known that, if \(M\) is a closed irreducible 3-manifold different from \(\mathbb S^3\), \(\mathbb {RP}^3\) or \(L(3,1)\), its \textit{Matveev complexity} \(c(M)\) (originally defined in [\textit{S. V. Matveev}, Acta Appl. Math. 19, No. 2, 101--130 (1990; Zbl 0724.57012)]) coincides with the minimum number of tetrahedra in a pseudosimplicial triangulation of \(M\). In [\textit{W. Jaco}, \textit{H. Rubinstein} and \textit{S. Tillmann}, J. Topol. 2, No. 1, 157--180 (2009; Zbl 1227.57026); Algebr. Geom. Topol. 11, No. 3, 1257--1265 (2011; Zbl 1229.57010); Math. Ann. 356, No. 1, 1--22 (2013; Zbl 1277.57021)], three of the present authors have obtained the exact values of the complexity for infinite families of closed 3-manifolds, all of which have spherical geometry. In this paper, the authors continue the investigation yielding the first infinite family of Seifert fibered spaces with geometry \(\widetilde{SL}_2(\mathbb R)\), whose minimal triangulations are determined. This result is given as an application of new interesting bounds for the complexity \(c(M)\), and of the characterization of closed 3-manifolds realizing the bound themselves. In particular, generalizing [J. Topol. 2, loc. cit.], the authors prove that ``\textit{if a 3-manifold \(M\) contains a (non-orientable) \(\mathbb Z_2\)-taut surface of genus \(n\), then \(M\) is at least as complex as \(L(2n,1)\)''}.