Search results for "Pure subgroup"

Roots in the mapping class groups

2006

The purpose of this paper is the study of the roots in the mapping class groups. Let $\Sigma$ be a compact oriented surface, possibly with boundary, let $\PP$ be a finite set of punctures in the interior of $\Sigma$, and let $\MM (\Sigma, \PP)$ denote the mapping class group of $(\Sigma, \PP)$. We prove that, if $\Sigma$ is of genus 0, then each $f \in \MM (\Sigma)$ has at most one $m$-root for all $m \ge 1$. We prove that, if $\Sigma$ is of genus 1 and has non-empty boundary, then each $f \in \MM (\Sigma)$ has at most one $m$-root up to conjugation for all $m \ge 1$. We prove that, however, if $\Sigma$ is of genus $\ge 2$, then there exist $f,g \in \MM (\Sigma, \PP)$ such that $f^2=g^2$, $…