Some computations of stable twisted homology for mapping class groups

Abstract

In this paper, we deal with stable homology computations with twisted coefficients for mapping class groups of surfaces and of 3-manifolds, automorphism groups of free groups with boundaries and automorphism groups of certain right-angled Artin groups. On the one hand, the computations are led using semidirect product structures arising naturally from these groups. On the other hand, we compute the stable homology with twisted coefficients by FI-modules. This notably uses a decomposition result of the stable homology with twisted coefficients for pre-braided monoidal categories proved in this paper.

Communicated by Jason P. Bell     

Automorphisms of symmetric groups are toy examples for mapping class groups

We give a new proof establishing the automorphism groups of the symmetric groups inspired by the analogous result of Ivanov for the extended mapping class group. As a key tool, we consider the actions on the Kneser graphs.     

On the Witten-Reshetikhin-Turaev representations of mapping class groups

We consider a central extension of the mapping class group of a surface with a collection of framed colored points. The Witten-Reshetikhin-Turaev TQFTs associated to and induce linear representations of this group. We show that the denominators of matrices which describe these representations over a cyclotomic field can be restricted in many cases. In this way, we give a proof of the known result that if the surface is a torus with no colored points, the representations have finite image.

     

Presentation and central extensions of mapping class groups

We give a presentation of the mapping class group of a (possibly bounded) surface, considering either all twists or just non-separating twists as generators. We also study certain central extensions of . One of them plays a key role in studying TQFT functors, namely the mapping class group of a -structure surface. We give a presentation of this extension.

     

Minimal number of singular fibers in a Lefschetz fibration

There exists a (relatively minimal) genus Lefschetz fibration with only one singular fiber over a closed (Riemann) surface of genus iff and . The singular fiber can be chosen to be reducible or irreducible. Other results are that every Dehn twist on a closed surface of genus at least three is a product of two commutators and no Dehn twist on any closed surface is equal to a single commutator.

     

Infinite loop space structure(s) on the stable mapping class group

Tillmann introduced two infinite loop space structures on the plus construction of the classifying space of the stable mapping class group, each with different computational advantages (Invent. Math. 130 (1997) 257; Math. Ann. 317 (2000) 613). The first one uses disjoint union on a suitable cobordism category, whereas the second uses an operad which extends the pair of pants multiplication (i.e. the double loop space structure introduced by Miller, J. Differential Geom. 24 (1986) 1). She conjectured that these two infinite loop space structures were equivalent, and managed to prove that the first delooping are the same. In this paper, we resolve the conjecture by proving that the two structures are indeed equivalent, exhibiting an explicit geometric map.     

Quasi-homomorphisms and stable lengths in mapping class groups

We give elementary applications of quasi-homomorphisms to growth problems in groups. A particular case concerns the number of torsion elements required to factor a given element in the mapping class group of a surface.

     

Mod p homology of the stable mapping class group

We calculate the homology of the mapping class group Γ_g,n in the stable range. The calculation is based on Madsen and Weiss’ proof of the “Generalised Mumford Conjecture”: Γ_g,n has the same homology as a component of the space in the stable range.     

Surfaces in 4-manifolds and their mapping class groups

A surface in a smooth 4-manifold is called flexible if, for any diffeomorphism ? on the surface, there is a diffeomorphism on the 4-manifold whose restriction on the surface is ? and which is isotopic to the identity. We investigate a sufficient condition for a smooth 4-manifold M to include flexible knotted surfaces, and introduce a local operation in simply connected 4-manifolds for obtaining a flexible knotted surface from any knotted surface.     

Signature of relations in mapping class groups and non-holomorphic Lefschetz fibrations

We introduce the notion of signature for relations in mapping class groups and show that the signature of a Lefschetz fibration over the 2-sphere is the sum of the signatures for basic relations contained in its monodromy. Combining explicit calculations of the signature cocycle with a technique of substituting positive relations, we give some new examples of non-holomorphic Lefschetz fibrations of genus and which violate slope bounds for non-hyperelliptic fibrations on algebraic surfaces of general type.

     

Algebraic entropy and the action of mapping class groups on character varieties

We extend the definition of algebraic entropy to endomorphisms of affine varieties. We then calculate the algebraic entropy of the action of elements of mapping class groups on various character varieties, and show that it is equal to a quantity we call the spectral radius, a generalization of the dilatation of a pseudo-Anosov mapping class. Our calculations are compatible with all known calculations of the topological entropy of this action.     

Bordism invariants of the mapping class group

We define new bordism and spin bordism invariants of certain subgroups of the mapping class group of a surface. In particular, they are invariants of the Johnson filtration of the mapping class group. The second and third terms of this filtration are the well-known Torelli group and Johnson subgroup, respectively. We introduce a new representation in terms of spin bordism, and we prove that this single representation contains all of the information given by the Johnson homomorphism, the Birman-Craggs homomorphism, and the Morita homomorphism.     

Higher genus mapping class group invariants from factorizable Hopf algebras

Lyubashenko?s construction associates representations of mapping class groups _Mapg:n${\mathrm{Map}}_{g:n}$ of Riemann surfaces of any genus g with any number n of holes to a factorizable ribbon category. We consider this construction as applied to the category of bimodules over a finite-dimensional factorizable ribbon Hopf algebra H  . For any such Hopf algebra we find an invariant of _Mapg:n${\mathrm{Map}}_{g:n}$ for all values of g and n  . More generally, we obtain such invariants for any pair (H,ω)$(H,\omega )$, where ω is a ribbon automorphism of H.     

On the mapping class group action on the cohomology of the representation space of a surface

The mapping class group of a -pointed Riemann surface has a natural action on any moduli space of parabolic bundles with the marked points as the parabolic points. We prove that under some numerical conditions on the parabolic data, the induced action of the mapping class group on the cohomology algebra of the moduli space of parabolic bundles factors through the natural epimorphism of the mapping class group onto the symplectic group.

     

The stack of formal groups in stable homotopy theory

We construct the algebraic stack of formal groups and use it to provide a new perspective onto a recent result of M. Hovey and N. Strickland on comodule categories for Landweber exact algebras. This leads to a geometric understanding of their results as well as to a generalisation.     

On the degree of commutativity of p ‐groups of maximal class

Let G be a p ‐group of maximal class of order p^m , p ≠ 2, and c (G) the degree of commutativity of G. Let c₀ be the nonnegative residue of c modulo p – 1. In this paper, by using only Lie algebra techniques, we prove that 2c ≥ m – 2p + c 0 + 1. Also, we give examples of Lie algebras satisfying the following equalities: In addition, there exist examples of p ‐groups of maximal class satisfying 2c = m – 2p + c₀ + 3 for each c₀ ∈ [2, p – 2] (see [6, Theorem 4.5]). (© 2008 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

On $ {p} $‐groups of maximal class

Let R be the ring $ {\mathbb Z}[x]/\left({{x^p-1}\over{x-1}}\right) = {\mathbb Z}[\bar{x}] $ and let $ \mathfrak {a} $ be the ideal of R generated by $ (\bar{x}-1) $ . In this paper, we discuss the structure of the $ {\mathbb Z}[C_p] $‐module $ (R/\mathfrak {a}^{n-1}) \wedge (R/\mathfrak {a}^{n-1}) $, which plays an important role in the theory of p‐groups of maximal class (see 2 - 5 ). The generators of this module allow us to obtain the defining relations of some important examples of p‐groups of maximal class with Y₁ of class two. In particular we obtain the best possible estimates for the degree of commutativity of p‐groups of maximal class with Y₁ of class two. © 2011 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim