Asymptotic mapping class groups of Cantor manifolds and their finiteness properties

We prove that the infinite family of asymptotic mapping class groups of surfaces of defined by Funar--Kapoudjian and Aramayona--Funar are of type $F_\infty$, thus answering questions of Funar-Kapoudjian-Sergiescu and Aramayona-Vlamis. As it turns out, this result is a specific instance of a much more general theorem which allows to deduce that asymptotic mapping class groups of Cantor manifolds, also introduced in this paper, are of type $F_\infty$, provide the underlying manifolds satisfy some general hypotheses. As important examples, we will obtain $F_\infty$ asymptotical mapping class groups that contain, respectively, the mapping class group of every compact surface with non-empty boundary, the automorphism group of every free group of finite rank, or infinite families of arithmetic groups. In addition, for certain types of manifolds, the homology of our asymptotic mapping class groups coincides with the stable homology of the relevant mapping class groups, as studied by Harer and Hatcher--Wahl.Comment: With an appendix by Oscar Randal-Williams. (v3: Rewritten introduction to include more motivation.) 63 pages, 7 figure

Block mapping class groups and their finiteness properties

A Cantor surface $\mathcal C_d$ is a non-compact surface obtained by gluing copies of a fixed compact surface $Y^d$ (a block), with $d+1$ boundary components, in a tree-like fashion. For a fixed subgroup $H<Map(Y^d)$ , we consider the subgroup $\mathfrak B_d(H)<Map(\mathcal C_d)$ whose elements eventually send blocks to blocks and act like an element of $H$; we refer to $\mathfrak B_d(H)$ as the block mapping class group with local action prescribed by $H$. The family of groups so obtained contains the asymptotic mapping class groups of \cite{SW21a,ABF+21, FK04}. Moreover, there is a natural surjection onto the family symmetric Thompson groups of Farley--Hughes \cite{FH15}; in particular, they provide a positive answer to \cite[Question 5.37]{AV20}. We prove that, when the block is a (holed) sphere or a (holed) torus, $\mathfrak B_d(H)$ is of type $F_n$ if and only if $H$ is of type $F_n$. As a consequence, for every $n$, $Map(C_d)$ has a subgroup of type $F_n$ but not $F_{n+1}$ which contains the mapping class group of every compact subsurface of $\mathcal C_d$.Comment: 21 pages, 1 figur

Effectively Closed Infinite-Genus Surfaces and the String Coupling

The class of effectively closed infinite-genus surfaces, defining the completion of the domain of string perturbation theory, can be included in the category $O_G$, which is characterized by the vanishing capacity of the ideal boundary. The cardinality of the maximal set of endpoints is shown to be 2^{\mit N}. The product of the coefficient of the genus-g superstring amplitude in four dimensions by $2^g$ in the $g\to \infty$ limit is an exponential function of the genus with a base comparable in magnitude to the unified gauge coupling. The value of the string coupling is consistent with the characteristics of configurations which provide a dominant contribution to a finite vacuum amplitude.Comment: TeX, 33 page

Surface Houghton groups

For every $n\ge 2$, the {\em surface Houghton group} $\mathcal B_n$ is defined as the asymptotically rigid mapping class group of a surface with exactly $n$ ends, all of them non-planar. The groups $\mathcal B_n$ are analogous to, and in fact contain, the braided Houghton groups. These groups also arise naturally in topology: every monodromy homeomorphisms of a fibered component of a depth-1 foliation of closed 3-manifold is conjugate into some $\mathcal B_n$. As countable mapping class groups of infinite type surfaces, the groups $\mathcal B_n$ lie somewhere between classical mapping class groups and big mapping class groups. We initiate the study of surface Houghton groups proving, among other things, that $\mathcal B_n$ is of type $F_{n-1}$, but not of type $FP_n$, analogous to the braided Houghton groups.Comment: 19 pages, 1 figur