Riemann surfaces

Since the classical work of Riemann, Plein, Chobe, and Poincaré, in mathematics the interest in the theory of Riemann surfaces and groups has not abated. The present survey covers papers reviewed in RZhMat during the period 1967–1976 primarily in the sections Algebra. Topology. Geometry. The following topics are considered most completely and thoroughly: the topology of Riemann surfaces and their automorphisms, Fuchsian groups, Teichmüller spaces, and spaces of moduli.Translated from Itogi Nauki i Tekhniki, Algebra, Topologiya, Geometriya, Vol. 16, pp. 191–245, 1978,     

On Cyclic Groups of Automorphisms of Riemann Surfaces

The question of extendability of the action of a cyclic groupof automorphisms of a compact Riemann surface is considered.Particular attention is paid to those cases corresponding toSingerman's list of Fuchsian groups which are not finitely-maximal,and more generally to cases involving a Fuchsian triangle group.The results provide partial answers to the question of whichcyclic groups are the full automorphism group of some Riemannsurface of given genus g>1.     

Automorphisms of Jacobian Kummer surfaces

We study automorphisms of a generic Jacobian Kummer surface. First weanalyse the action of classically known automorphisms on the Picard lattice of the surface, then proceed to construct new automorphisms not generated by classical ones. We find 192 such automorphisms, all conjugateby the symmetry group of the (16,6)-configuration.     

Crystallography and Riemann surfaces

The level set of an elliptic function is a doubly periodic point set in ℂ. To obtain a wider spectrum of point sets, we consider, more generally, a Riemann surface S immersed in ℂ² and its sections (“cuts”) by ℂ More specifically, we consider surfaces S defined in terms of a fundamental surface element obtained as a conformai map of triangular domains in ℂ. The discrete group of isometries of ℂ² generated by reflections in the triangle edges leaves S invariant and generalizes double-periodicity. Our main result concerns the special case of maps of right triangles, with the right angle being a regular point of the map. For this class of maps we show that only seven Riemann surfaces, when cut, form point sets that are discrete in ℂ. Their isometry groups all have a rank 4 lattice subgroup, but only three of the corresponding point sets are doubly periodic in ℂ. The remaining surfaces form quasiperiodic point sets closely related to the vertex sets of quasiperiodic tilings. In fact, vertex sets of familiar tilings are recovered in all cases by applying the construction to a piecewise flat approximation of the corresponding Riemann surface. The geometry of point sets formed by cuts of Riemann surfaces is no less “rigid” than the geometry determined by a tiling, and has the distinct advantage in having a regular behavior with respect to the complex parameter which specifies the cut.     

Conformal Versus Topological Conjugacy of Automorphisms on Compact Riemann Surfaces

We produce a family of algebraic curves (closed Riemann surfaces)S admitting two cyclic groups H₁ and H₂ of conformal automorphisms,which are topologically (but not conformally) conjugate andsuch that S/H_i is the Riemann sphere . The relevance of thisexample is that it shows that the subvarieties of moduli spaceconsisting of points parametrizing curves which occur as cycliccoverings (of a fixed topological type) of need not be normal.1991 Mathematics Subject Classification 14H10, 30F10.     

On gonality of Riemann surfaces

A compact Riemann surface X is called a (p, n)-gonal surface if there exists a group of automorphisms C of X (called a (p, n)-gonal group) of prime order p such that the orbit space X/C has genus n. We derive some basic properties of (p, n)-gonal surfaces considered as generalizations of hyperelliptic surfaces and also examine certain properties which do not generalize. In particular, we find a condition which guarantees all (p, n)-gonal groups are conjugate in the full automorphism group of a (p, n)-gonal surface, and we find an upper bound for the size of the corresponding conjugacy class. Furthermore we give an upper bound for the number of conjugacy classes of (p, n)-gonal groups of a (p, n)-gonal surface in the general case. We finish by analyzing certain properties of quasiplatonic (p, n)-gonal surfaces. An open problem and two conjectures are formulated in the paper.     

Uniformization of Riemann surfaces revisited

Annals of Global Analysis and Geometry - We give an elementary and self-contained proof of the uniformization theorem for noncompact simply connected Riemann surfaces.     

Limit surfaces of Riemann examples

The family of embedded, singly periodic minimal surfaces of Riemann have as limit-surfaces the helicoid, the catenoid, a single plane, or an infinite set of equally-spaced parallel planes.