Department of Mathematics, Middle East Technical University, 06531 Ankara, Turkey
Abstract:
Wajnryb proved in 1996 that the mapping class group of an orientable surface is generated by two elements. We prove that one of these generators can be taken as a Dehn twist. We also prove that the extended mapping class group is generated by two elements, again one of which is a Dehn twist. Another result we prove is that the mapping class groups are also generated by two elements of finite order.