Fixed point sets of homeomorphisms of compact surfaces

Every closed and non-empty subset of a compact surfaceS can be the fixed point set of a homeomorphism, andS also admits fixed point free homeomorphisms if it does not have the fixed point property. A partial extension to higher dimensions states that every closed and non-empty subset of a compactn-manifold can be the fixed point set of a surjective self-map. This research was partially supported by the National Research Council of Canada (Grant A 7579).