Sets of periods for automorphisms of compact Riemann surfaces

Let G=〈f〉 be a finite cyclic group of order N that acts by conformal automorphisms on a compact Riemann surface S of genus g≥2. Associated to this is a set A of periods defined to be the subset of proper divisors d of N such that, for some x∈S, x is fixed by f^d but not by any smaller power of f. For an arbitrary subset A of proper divisors of N, there is always an associated action and, if g_A denotes the minimal genus for such an action, an algorithm is obtained here to determine g_A. Furthermore, a set A_max is determined for which g_A is maximal.