Dan Margalit

We prove that the cohomological dimension of the Torelli group for a closed, connected, orientable surface of genus g ≥ 2 g \geq 2 is equal to 3 g − 5 3g-5 . This answers a question of Mess, who proved the lower bound and settled the case of g = 2 g=2 . We also find the cohomological dimension of the Johnson kernel (the subgroup of the Torelli group generated by Dehn twists about separating curves) to be 2 g − 3 2g-3 . For g ≥ 2 g \geq 2 , we prove that the top dimensional homology of the Torelli group is infinitely generated. Finally, we give a new proof of the theorem of Mess that gives a precise description of the Torelli group in genus 2. The main tool is a new contractible complex, called the “complex of minimizing cycles”, on which the Torelli group acts.

The main result of this paper is a universal finiteness theorem for the set of all small dilatation pseudo-Anosov homeomorphisms, ranging over all surfaces. More precisely, we consider pseudo-Anosovs F:S to S with |chi(S)| log(lambda(F)) bounded above by some constant, and we prove that, after puncturing the surfaces at the singular points of the stable foliations, the resulting set of mapping tori is finite. Said differently, there is a finite set of fibered hyperbolic 3-manifolds so that all small dilatation pseudo-Anosovs occur as the monodromy of a Dehn filling on one of the 3-manifolds in the finite list, where the filling is on the boundary slope of a fiber.

We construct nontrivial roots of Dehn twists about nonseparating curves.

We show that any two elements of the pure braid group either commute or generate a free group, settling a question of Luis Paris. Our proof involves the theory of 3-manifolds and the theory of group actions on trees.

We construct nontrivial roots of Dehn twists about nonseparating curves.