{"@context":["https://w3id.org/fdo/context/v1",{"schema":"https://schema.org/","prov":"http://www.w3.org/ns/prov#","fdo":"https://w3id.org/fdo/vocabulary/"}],"@id":"https://fdo.portal.mardi4nfdi.de/fdo/Q725643","@type":"DigitalObject","kernel":{"@id":"https://fdo.portal.mardi4nfdi.de/fdo/Q725643","digitalObjectType":"https://schema.org/ScholarlyArticle","primaryIdentifier":"mardi:Q725643","kernelVersion":"v1","immutable":true,"modified":"2026-03-26T19:20:37Z"},"profile":{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"ScholarlyArticle","@id":"https://portal.mardi4nfdi.de/entity/Q725643","name":"Generators for the mapping class group of a nonorientable surface","headline":"Generators for the mapping class group of a nonorientable surface","description":"scientific article; zbMATH DE number 6912406","url":"https://portal.mardi4nfdi.de/entity/Q725643","datePublished":"2018-08-01","author":[{"@id":"https://portal.mardi4nfdi.de/entity/Q422089"}],"publisher":[{"@id":"https://portal.mardi4nfdi.de/entity/Q169983"}],"identifier":{"@type":"PropertyValue","propertyID":"doi","value":"10.2996/KMJ/1521424829","url":"https://doi.org/10.2996/KMJ/1521424829"},"sameAs":["https://doi.org/10.2996/KMJ/1521424829"],"comment":"Let \\(N_g\\) denote the connected sum of \\(g\\) projective planes, and let \\(\\mathcal M(N_g)\\) denote the mapping class group of \\(N_g\\). Let \\(t_c\\) denote the right-handed Dehn twist about a two-sided simple closed curve \\(c\\) in \\(N_g\\). \\textit{J. S. Birman} and \\textit{D. R. J. Chillingworth} [Proc. Camb. Philos. Soc. 71, 437--448 (1972; Zbl 0232.57001)] obtained an explicit finite generating set for \\(\\mathcal M(N_g)\\) comprising \\(g\\) Dehn twists and a single crosscap slide. Moreover, it is a well known result of \\textit{S. P. Humphries} [Lect. Notes Math. 722, 44--47 (1979; Zbl 0732.57004)] that the mapping class group of a closed orientable surface of genus \\(g\\) is generated by no fewer than \\(2g+1\\) Dehn twists. The main theorem in this paper is a non-orientable analog of this result:  Theorem 2. If for \\(g \\geq 4\\), \\(\\mathcal M(N_g)\\) is generated by the set \\(\\{t_{c_1},\\ldots,t_{c_n}, Y_1, \\ldots, Y_k\\}\\), where the \\(c_i\\) are two-sided simple closed curves, and the \\(Y_i\\) are crosscap slides, then \\(n \\geq g\\) and \\(k \\geq 1\\).  In particular, the theorem above implies that the generating set derived in [Birman and Chillingworth, loc. cit.] is minimal. The author uses the notion of \\(\\mathbb{Z}_4\\)-quadratic forms over \\(H_1(N_g;\\mathbb{Z}_2)\\), and a result of \\textit{W. B. R. Lickorish} [Proc. Camb. Philos. Soc. 60, 769--778 (1964; Zbl 0131.20801)] that \\(\\mathcal M(N_g)\\) is not generated by Dehn twists, to obtain a proof of the main theorem."},"provenance":{"prov:generatedAtTime":"2026-03-26T19:20:37Z","prov:wasAttributedTo":"MaRDI Knowledge Graph"}}