arXiv research

Enhances stability ranges for Torelli and congruence subgroup homologies.

Study Torelli subgroups of handlebody groups and their cohomology.

Study of Torelli subgroups of automorphism groups of free groups.

Abstract commensurators of ${ m{Aut}}(F_N)$ and ${ m{IA}}_N$ are the same.

Let S be a connected, compact and orientable surface of genus two having exactly one boundary component. We study automorphisms of the Torelli complex for S, and describe any isomorphism between finite index subgroups of the Torelli group for S. More generally, we study superinjective maps from the Torelli complex for …

Unified framework for studying Torelli group and congruence subgroup maps.

We give a new proof of a celebrated theorem of Dennis Johnson that asserts that the kernel of the Johnson homomorphism on the Torelli subgroup of the mapping class group is generated by separating twists. In fact, we prove a more general result that also applies to "subsurface Torelli groups". Using this, we extend Joh…

By Torelli topology the author understands aspects of the topology of surfaces (potentially) relevant to the study of Torelli groups. The present paper is devoted to a new approach to the results of W. Vautaw about Dehn multi-twists in Torelli groups and abelian subgroups of Torelli groups. The new proofs are more tran…

We prove that the handlebody subgroup of the Torelli group of an orientable surface is generated by genus one BP-maps. As an application, we give a normal generating set for the handlebody subgroup of the level $d$ mapping class group of an orientable surface.

We develop an analogue of the Birman exact sequence for the Torelli subgroup of Aut(F_n). This builds on earlier work of the authors who studied an analogue of the Birman exact sequence for the entire group Aut(F_n). These results play an important role in the authors' recent work on the second homology group of the To…

We study the complex of partial bases of a free group, which is an analogue for $\Aut(F_n)$ of the curve complex for the mapping class group. We prove that it is connected and simply connected, and we also prove that its quotient by the Torelli subgroup of $\Aut(F_n)$ is highly connected. Using these results, we give a…

We prove that rational homology of the Torelli group of genus g is infinite dimensional, provided g>6. This means that rational homology of the Torelli space of genus g>6 is infinite dimensional. The Torelli groups with marked points are also considered. In addition, we prove that rational homology of the subgroup of t…

The paper disproves the existence of certain subgroups with nontrivial rational abelianization.

Proving a conjecture of Dennis Johnson, we show that the Torelli subgroup of the mapping class group has a finite generating set whose size grows cubically with respect to the genus of the surface. Our main tool is a new space called the handle graph on which the Torelli group acts cocompactly.

Generators found for a specific subgroup of braid groups.

New descriptions of a subgroup in mapping class groups.

We examine groups whose resonance varieties, characteristic varieties and Sigma-invariants have a natural arithmetic group symmetry, and we explore implications on various finiteness properties of subgroups. We compute resonance varieties, characteristic varieties and Alexander polynomials of Torelli groups, and we sho…

We prove a representation stability result for the second homology groups of Torelli subgroups of mapping class groups and automorphism groups of free groups. This strengthens the results of Boldsen-Hauge Dollerup and Day-Putman. We also prove a new representation stability result for the homology of certain congruence…

Paper proves Torelli group's finiteness for surfaces with 2 boundaries.

Let S be a closed oriented surface of genus g > 1, and let T denote its Torelli group. First, given a set E of homotopically nontrivial, pairwise disjoint, pairwise nonisotopic simple closed curves on S, we determine precisely when a multitwist on E is an element of T by defining an equivalence relation on E and then a…

We discuss a number of open problems about mapping class groups of surfaces. In particular, we discuss problems related to linearity, congruence subgroups, cohomology, pseudo-Anosov stretch factors, Torelli subgroups, and normal subgroups.

For all but finitely many compact orientable surfaces, we show that any superinjective map from the complex of separating curves into itself is induced by an element of the extended mapping class group. We apply this result to proving that any finite index subgroup of the Johnson kernel is co-Hopfian. Analogous propert…

Study on torsion in homology of Torelli group for surfaces.

Study subgroup actions on mapping class groups using Heisenberg representations.

A mapping class group of an oriented manifold is a quotient of its diffeomorphism group by the isotopies. We compute a mapping class group of a hypekahler manifold $M$, showing that it is commensurable to an arithmetic subgroup in SO(3, b_2-3). A Teichmuller space of $M$ is a space of complex structures on $M$ up to is…

Let IA_n be the Torelli subgroup of Aut(F_n). We give an explicit finite set of generators for H_2(IA_n) as a GL_n(Z)-module. Corollaries include a version of surjective representation stability for H_2(IA_n), the vanishing of the GL_n(Z)-coinvariants of H_2(IA_n), and the vanishing of the second rational homology grou…

Study Heegaard Floer homology and word metric on Torelli group.

A palindrome in a free group F_n is a word on some fixed free basis of F_n that reads the same backwards as forwards. The palindromic automorphism group ΠA_n of the free group F_n consists of automorphisms that take each member of some fixed free basis of F_n to a palindrome; the group ΠA_n has close connections with h…

We show that for all but finitely many compact orientable surfaces, any superinjective map from the complex of separating curves into the Torelli complex is induced by an element of the extended mapping class group. As an application, we prove that any injective homomorphism from a finite index subgroup of the Johnson …

We prove that the cohomological dimension of the Torelli group for a closed connected orientable surface of genus g at least 2 is equal to 3g-5. This answers a question of Mess, who proved the lower bound and settled the case of g=2. We also find the cohomological dimension of the Johnson kernel (the subgroup of the To…

These are the lecture notes for my course at the 2011 Park City Mathematics Graduate Summer School. The first two lectures covered the basics of the Torelli group and the Johnson homomorphism, and the third and fourth lectures discussed the second cohomology group of the level p congruence subgroup of the mapping class…

We develop a theory of equivariant group presentations and relate them to the second homology group of a group. Our main application says that the second homology group of the Torelli subgroup of the mapping class group is finitely generated as an $Sp(2g,\mathbb{Z})$-module.

For any surface $Σ$ of infinite topological type, we study the Torelli subgroup ${\mathcal I}(Σ)$ of the mapping class group ${\rm MCG}(Σ)$, whose elements are those mapping classes that act trivially on the homology of $Σ$. Our first result asserts that ${\mathcal I}(Σ)$ is topologically generated by the subgroup of $…

Let $N$ be at least 4. We prove that every injective homomorphism from the Torelli subgroup into $Out(F_N)$ differs from the inclusion by a conjugation in $Out(F_N)$. This applies more generally to the following subgroups: every finite-index subgroup of $Out(F_N)$ (recovering a theorem of Farb and Handel); every subgro…

The hyperelliptic Torelli group is the subgroup of the mapping class group consisting of elements that act trivially on the homology of the surface and that also commute with some fixed hyperelliptic involution. The authors and Putman proved that this group is generated by Dehn twists about separating curves fixed by t…

The hyperelliptic Torelli group is the subgroup of the mapping class group consisting of elements that act trivially on the homology of the surface and that also commute with some fixed hyperelliptic involution. We prove a Birman exact sequence for hyperelliptic Torelli groups, and we show that this sequence splits. As…

The paper extends Johnson's result on Torelli group homology.

For a oriented genus g surface with one boundary component, S, the Torelli group is the group of orientation preserving homeomorphisms of S that induce the identity on homology. The Magnus representation of the Torelli group represents the action on F/F" where F=pi_1(S) and F" is the second term of the derived series. …

We give a new proof of the theorem of Birman-Powell that the Torelli subgroup of the mapping class group of a closed orientable surface of genus at least 3 is generated by simple homeomorphisms known as bounding pair maps. The key ingredient is a proof that the subcomplex of the curve complex of the surface spanned by …

We introduce machinery to allow ``cut-and-paste''-style inductive arguments in the Torelli subgroup of the mapping class group. In the past these arguments have been problematic because restricting the Torelli group to subsurfaces gives different groups depending on how the subsurfaces are embedded. We define a categor…

In this paper, we prove that each automorphism of the Torelli group of a surface is induced by a diffeomorphism of the surface, provided that the surface is a closed, connected, orientable surface of genus at least 3. This result was previously announced by Benson Farb for genus at least 4 and has recently been announc…

The paper calculates the top homology group of a specific Torelli group.

We prove that various subgroups of the mapping class group $Mod(Σ)$ of a surface $Σ$ are at least exponentially distorted. Examples include the Torelli group (answering a question of Hamenstadt), the "point-pushing" and surface braid subgroups, and the Lagrangian subgroup. Our techniques include a method to compute low…

We prove that every term of the lower central series and Johnson filtrations of the Torelli subgroups of the mapping class group and the automorphism group of a free group are finitely generated in a stable range. This was originally proved for the commutator subgroup by Ershov-He.

Finite index subgroups of certain groups cannot act faithfully on the circle.

Let {a,b} and {c,d} be two pairs of bounding simple closed curves on an oriented surface which intersect nontrivialy. We prove that if these pairs are invariant under the action of an orientation reversing involution, then the corresponding bounding pair maps generate a free group. This supports the conjecture stated b…

In this paper we prove that finite index subgroups of genus 3 mapping class and Torelli groups that contain the group generated by Dehn twists on bounding simple closed curves are not Kahler. These results are deduced from explicit presentations of the unipotent (aka, Malcev) completion of genus 3 Torelli groups and of…

In this paper, we construct an infinite presentation of the Torelli subgroup of the mapping class group of a surface whose generators consist of the set of all "separating twists", all "bounding pair maps", and all "commutators of simply intersecting pairs" and whose relations all come from a short list of topological …