A diagrammatic presentation and its characterization of non-split compact surfaces in the 3-sphere

We give a presentation for a non-split compact surface embedded in the 3-sphere [Formula: see text] by using diagrams of spatial trivalent graphs equipped with signs and we define Reidemeister moves for such signed diagrams. We show that two diagrams of embedded surfaces are related by Reidemeister moves if and only if the surfaces represented by the diagrams are ambient isotopic in [Formula: see text].

A characterization of alternating links in thickened surfaces

We use an extension of Gordon–Litherland pairing to thickened surfaces to give a topological characterization of alternating links in thickened surfaces. If $\Sigma$ is a closed oriented surface and $F$ is a compact unoriented surface in $\Sigma \times I$ , then the Gordon–Litherland pairing defines a symmetric bilinear pairing on the first homology of $F$ . A compact surface in $\Sigma \times I$ is called definite if its Gordon–Litherland pairing is a definite form. We prove that a link $L$ in a thickened surface is non-split, alternating, and of minimal genus if and only if it bounds two definite surfaces of opposite sign.

A fibering theorem for 3-manifolds

We generalize a result of Moon on the fibering of certain 3-manifolds over the circle. Our main theorem is the following: Let $M$ be a closed 3-manifold. Suppose that $G=\pi_1(M)$ contains a finitely generated group $U$ of infinite index in $G$ which contains a non-trivial subnormal subgroup $N\neq \mathbb{Z}$ of $G$, and suppose that $N$ has a composition series of length $n$ in which at least $n-1$ terms are finitely generated. Suppose that $N$ intersects nontrivially the fundamental groups of the splitting tori given by the Geometrization Theorem and that the intersections of $N$ with the fundamental groups of the geometric pieces are non-trivial and not isomorphic to $\mathbb{Z}$. Then, $M$ has a finite cover which is a bundle over $\mathbb{S}$ with fiber a compact surface $F$ such that $\pi_1(F)$ and $U$ are commensurable.

Linearization of topologically Anosov homeomorphisms of non compact surfaces of genus zero and finite type

We study the dynamics of {\it topologically Anosov} homeomorphisms of non-compact surfaces. In the case of surfaces of genus zero and finite type, we classify them. We prove that if $f\colon S \to S$, is a Topologically Anosov homeomorphism where $S$ is a non-compact surface of genus zero and finite type, then $S= \mathbb{R}^2$ and $f$ is conjugate to a homothety or reverse homothety (depending on wether $f$ preserves or reverses orientation). A weaker version of this result was conjectured in \cite{cgx}.

Homoclinic orbits for area preserving diffeomorphisms of surfaces

We show that $C^r $ generically in the space of $C^r$ conservative diffeomorphisms of a compact surface, every hyperbolic periodic point has a transverse homoclinic orbit.

Flexibility of measure-theoretic entropy of boundary maps associated to Fuchsian groups

Given a closed, orientable, compact surface S of constant negative curvature and genus $g \geq 2$ , we study the measure-theoretic entropy of the Bowen–Series boundary map with respect to its smooth invariant measure. We obtain an explicit formula for the entropy that only depends on the perimeter of the $(8g-4)$ -sided fundamental polygon of the surface S and its genus. Using this, we analyze how the entropy changes in the Teichmüller space of S and prove the following flexibility result: the measure-theoretic entropy takes all values between 0 and a maximum that is achieved on the surface that admits a regular $(8g-4)$ -sided fundamental polygon. We also compare the measure-theoretic entropy to the topological entropy of these maps and show that the smooth invariant measure is not a measure of maximal entropy.

Computation of free boundary minimal surfaces via extremal Steklov eigenvalue problems

Recently Fraser and Schoen showed that the solution of a certain extremal Steklov eigenvalue problem on a compact surface with boundary can be used to generate a free boundary minimal surface, i.e., a surface contained in the ball that has (i) zero mean curvature and (ii) meets the boundary of the ball orthogonally. In this paper, we develop numerical methods that use this connection to realize free boundary minimal surfaces. Namely, on a compact surface, Σ, with genus γ and b boundary components, we maximize σ j (Σ, g) L(∂Σ, g) over a class of smooth metrics, g, where σ j (Σ, g) is the j-th nonzero Steklov eigenvalue and L(∂Σ, g) is the length of ∂Σ.