A complex of incompressible surfaces for handlebodies and the mapping class group

For a genus g handlebody H _g a simplicial complex, with vertices being isotopy classes of certain incompressible surfaces in H _g , is constructed and several properties are established. In particular, this complex naturally contains, as a subcomplex, the complex of curves of the surface ${\partial H_{g}}$ . As in the classical theory, the group of automorphisms of this complex is identified with the mapping class group of the handlebody.     

Free actions on handlebodies

The equivalence (or weak equivalence) classes of orientation-preserving free actions of a finite group G on an orientable three-dimensional handlebody of genus g?1 can be enumerated in terms of sets of generators of G. They correspond to the equivalence classes of generating n-vectors of elements of G, where n=1+(g−1)/|G|, under Nielsen equivalence (or weak Nielsen equivalence). For Abelian and dihedral G, this allows a complete determination of the equivalence and weak equivalence classes of actions for all genera. Additional information is obtained for other classes of groups. For all G, there is only one equivalence class of actions on the genus g handlebody if g is at least 1+?(G)|G|, where ?(G) is the maximal length of a chain of subgroups of G. There is a stabilization process that sends an equivalence class of actions to an equivalence class of actions on a higher genus, and some results about its effects are obtained.     

On the mapping class group of a genus 2 handlebody

A complex of incompressible surfaces in a handlebody is constructed so that it contains, as a subcomplex, the complex of curves of the boundary of the handlebody. For genus 2 handlebodies, the group of automorphisms of this complex is used to characterize the mapping class group of the handlebody. In particular, it is shown that all automorphisms of the complex of incompressible surfaces are geometric, that is, induced by a homeomorphism of the handlebody.     

Degree of roots of disk twists on 3-dimensional handlebodies

Margalit and Schleimer (Geom Topol 13(3):1495–1497, 2009) discovered a nontrivial root of the Dehn twist about a nonseparating curve on a closed oriented connected surface. McCullough and Rajeevsarathy (Geom Dedicata 151(1):397–409, 2011) and Monden (Rocky Mt J Math, to appear) obtained the evaluation of the degrees of roots of Dehn twists. In this paper, we discuss existence and degrees of homeomorphisms whose power is equal to disk twist about a nonseparating disk in the mapping class group of the 3-dimensional handlebody.     

The Weil–Petersson Isometry Group

We prove that, for 3g–3+n>1 and (g,n)(1,2), the group of Weil–Petersson isometries of the Teichmüller space T _g,n coincides with the extended mapping class group.     

Invariant Radon measures on measured lamination space

Let S be an oriented surface of genus g≥0 with m≥0 punctures and 3g-3+m≥2. We classify all Radon measures on the space of measured geodesic laminations which are invariant under the action of the mapping class group of S.     

Hausdorff Dimension and Limits of Kleinian Groups

In this paper we prove that if M is a compact, hyperbolizable 3-manifold, which is not a handlebody, then the Hausdorff dimension of the limit set is continuous in the strong topology on the space of marked hyperbolic 3-manifolds homotopy equivalent to M. We similarly observe that for any compact hyperbolizable 3-manifold M (including a handlebody), the bottom of the spectrum of the Laplacian gives a continuous function in the strong topology on the space of topologically tame hyperbolic 3-manifolds homotopy equivalent to M. Submitted: January 1998.     

The computational complexity of basic decision problems in 3-dimensional topology

We study the computational complexity of basic decision problems of 3-dimensional topology, such as to determine whether a triangulated 3-manifold is irreducible, prime, ∂-irreducible, or homeomorphic to a given 3-manifold M. For example, we prove that the problem to recognize whether a triangulated 3-manifold is homeomorphic to a 3-sphere, or to a 2-sphere bundle over a circle, or to a real projective 3-space, or to a handlebody of genus g, is decidable in nondeterministic polynomial time (NP) of size of the triangulation. We also show that the problem to determine whether a triangulated orientable 3-manifold is irreducible (or prime) is in PSPACE and whether it is ∂-irreducible is in coNP. The proofs improve and extend arguments of prior author’s article on the recognition problem for the 3-sphere.      

The genus 2 Torelli group is not finitely generated

Let F_g be a closed orientable 2-manifold of genus g. The Torelli group is the kernel of the natural homomorphism from the mapping class group of F₁ to Aut(H₁(F_g)). For g⩾3 the Torelli group has been shown to be finitely generated by Dennis Johnson. We show that it is not finitely generated when g=2.     

Right-angled Artin groups and a generalized isomorphism problem for finitely generated subgroups of mapping class groups

Consider the mapping class group Mod _g,p of a surface ?? _g,p of genus g with p punctures, and a finite collection {f₁, . . . , f_k} of mapping classes, each of which is either a Dehn twist about a simple closed curve or a pseudo-Anosov homeomorphism supported on a connected subsurface. In this paper we prove that for all sufficiently large N, the mapping classes ${\{f_1^N,\ldots,f_k^N\}}$ generate a right-angled Artin group. The right-angled Artin group which they generate can be determined from the combinatorial topology of the mapping classes themselves. When {f₁, . . . , f_k} are arbitrary mapping classes, we show that sufficiently large powers of these mapping classes generate a group which embeds in a right-angled Artin group in a controlled way. We establish some analogous results for real and complex hyperbolic manifolds. We also discuss the unsolvability of the isomorphism problem for finitely generated subgroups of Mod _g,p , and recover the fact that the isomorphism problem for right-angled Artin groups is solvable. We thus characterize the isomorphism type of many naturally occurring subgroups of Mod _g,p .     

Actions of the homeotopy group of an orientable 3-dimensional handlebody

The actions of the homeotopy group of an orientable 3-dimensional handlebody on the fundamental group and on the first homology group are completely determined. As an application generators are obtained for the kernel of the canonical epimorphism of the automorphism group of a free group of rankn onto the automorphism group of a free abelian group of rankn.     

Fractional total colourings of graphs of high girth

Reed conjectured that for every ?>0 and Δ there exists g such that the fractional total chromatic number of a graph with maximum degree Δ and girth at least g is at most Δ+1+?. We prove the conjecture for Δ=3 and for even Δ?4 in the following stronger form: For each of these values of Δ, there exists g such that the fractional total chromatic number of any graph with maximum degree Δ and girth at least g is equal to Δ+1.     

Long cycles in 3‐connected graphs in orientable surfaces

In this article, we apply a cutting theorem of Thomassen to show that there is a function f: N → N such that if G is a 3‐connected graph on n vertices which can be embedded in the orientable surface of genus g with face‐width at least f(g), then G contains a cycle of length at least cn, where c is a constant not dependent on g. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 41: 69–84, 2002     

Circumference and girth

Let G be 2-connected graph with girth g and minimum degree d. Then each pair of vertices of G is joined by a path of length at least max{1/2(d ? 1)g, (d ? 3/2)(g ? 4) + 2} if g ? 4, and the length of a longest cycle of G is at least max{[(d ? 1)(g ? 2) + 2], [(2d ? 3)(g ? 4) + 4]}.     

A presentation of mapping class groups in terms of Artin groups and geometric monodromy of singularities

From Wajnryb's presentation, we extract a simple presentation of the mapping class group of the genus g surface as a quotient of an Artin group by simple relations among the centers of sub-Artin groups. Topological meanings are given by using deformation of simple singularities. Received: 22 January 1998 / in final form: 16 February 1999     

Finite covers of random 3-manifolds

A 3-manifold is Haken if it contains a topologically essential surface. The Virtual Haken Conjecture posits that every irreducible 3-manifold with infinite fundamental group has a finite cover which is Haken. In this paper, we study random 3-manifolds and their finite covers in an attempt to shed light on this difficult question. In particular, we consider random Heegaard splittings by gluing two handlebodies by the result of a random walk in the mapping class group of a surface. For this model of random 3-manifold, we are able to compute the probabilities that the resulting manifolds have finite covers of particular kinds. Our results contrast with the analogous probabilities for groups coming from random balanced presentations, giving quantitative theorems to the effect that 3-manifold groups have many more finite quotients than random groups. The next natural question is whether these covers have positive betti number. For abelian covers of a fixed type over 3-manifolds of Heegaard genus 2, we show that the probability of positive betti number is 0.In fact, many of these questions boil down to questions about the mapping class group. We are led to consider the action of the mapping class group of a surface Σ on the set of quotients π₁(Σ)→Q. If Q is a simple group, we show that if the genus of Σ is large, then this action is very mixing. In particular, the action factors through the alternating group of each orbit. This is analogous to Goldman’s theorem that the action of the mapping class group on the SU(2) character variety is ergodic. Mathematics Subject Classification (2000) 57M50, 57N10     

2‐ and 3‐factors of graphs on surfaces

It has been conjectured that any 5‐connected graph embedded in a surface Σ with sufficiently large face‐width is hamiltonian. This conjecture was verified by Yu for the triangulation case, but it is still open in general. The conjecture is not true for 4‐connected graphs. In this article, we shall study the existence of 2‐ and 3‐factors in a graph embedded in a surface Σ. A hamiltonian cycle is a special case of a 2‐factor. Thus, it is quite natural to consider the existence of these factors. We give an evidence to the conjecture in a sense of the existence of a 2‐factor. In fact, we only need the 4‐connectivity with minimum degree at least 5. In addition, our face‐width condition is not huge. Specifically, we prove the following two results. Let G be a graph embedded in a surface Σ of Euler genus g.

• (1) If G is 4‐connected and minimum degree of G is at least 5, and furthermore, face‐width of G is at least 4g?12, then G has a 2‐factor.
• (2) If G is 5‐connected and face‐width of G is at least max{44g?117, 5}, then G has a 3‐factor.

The connectivity condition for both results are best possible. In addition, the face‐width conditions are necessary too. Copyright © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Graph Theory 67:306‐315, 2011     

The complex of pant decompositions of a surface

We exhibit a set of edges (moves) and 2-cells (relations) making the complex of pant decompositions on a surface a simply connected complex. Our construction, unlike the previous ones, keeps the arguments concerning the structural transformations independent from those deriving from the action of the mapping class group. The moves and the relations turn out to be supported in subsurfaces with 3g−3+n=1,2 (where g is the genus and n is the number of boundary components), illustrating in this way the so-called Grothendieck principle.