THE STRONG SYMMETRIC GENUS OF DIRECT PRODUCTS

Let G be a finite group. The strong symmetric genus sigma(0)(G) is the minimum genus of any Riemann surface on which G acts faithfully and preserving orientation. Assume that G is non-abelian and generated by two elements, one of which is an involution, and that n is relatively prime to |G|. Our first main result is the determination of the strong symmetric genus of the direct product Z(n) x G in terms of n, |G|, and a parameter associated with the group G. We obtain a variety of genus formulas. Finally, we apply these results to prove that for each integer g >= 2, there are at least four groups of strong symmetric genus g.