Given an integer $g>2$ , we state necessary and sufficient conditions for a finite Abelian group to act as a group of automorphisms of some compact nonorientable Riemann surface of genus g. This result provides a new method to obtain the symmetric cross-cap number of Abelian groups. We also compute the least symmetric cross-cap number of Abelian groups of a given order and solve the maximum order problem for Abelian groups acting on nonorientable Riemann surfaces.

Every finite group $G$ acts on some nonorientable unbordered surfaces. The minimal topological genus of those surfaces is called the symmetric crosscap number of $G$. It is known that 3 is not the symmetric crosscap number of any group but it remains unknown whether there are other such values, called gaps. In this paper we obtain group presentations which allow one to find the actions realizing the symmetric crosscap number of groups of each group of order less than or equal to 63.

This paper is devoted to determine the connectedness of the branch loci of the moduli space of non-orientable unbordered Klein surfaces. We obtain a result similar to Nielsen's in order to determine topological conjugacy of automorphisms of prime order on such surfaces. Using this result we prove that the branch locus is connected for surfaces of topological genus 4 and 5.

A real algebraic curve of genus g is a pair (S,〈 τ 〉), where S is a closed Riemann surface of genus g and τ: S → S is a symmetry, that is, an anti-conformal involution. A Schottky uniformization of (S,〈 τ 〉) is a tuple (Ω,Γ,P:Ω → S), where Γ is a Schottky group with region of discontinuity Ω and P:Ω → S is a regular holomorphic cover map with Γ as its deck group, so that there exists an extended Möbius transformation $\widehat{\tau}$ keeping Ω invariant with P o $\widehat{\tau}$=τ o P. The extended Kleinian group K=〈 Γ, $\widehat{\tau}$〉 is called an extended Schottky groups of rank g. The interest on Schottky uniformizations rely on the fact that they provide the lowest uniformizations of closed Riemann surfaces. In this paper we obtain a structural picture of extended Schottky groups in terms of Klein–Maskit's combination theorems and some basic extended Schottky groups. We also provide some insight of the structural picture in terms of the group of automorphisms of S which are reflected by the Schottky uniformization. As a consequence of our structural description of extended Schottky groups, we get alternative proofs to results due to Kalliongis and McCullough (J. Kalliongis and D. McCullough, Orientation-reversing involutions on handlebodies, Trans. Math. Soc. 348(5) (1996), 1739–1755) on orientation-reversing involutions on handlebodies.

Historical note. A non-orientable surface of genus 2 (meaning 2 cross-caps) is popularly known as the Klein bottle. However, the term Klein surface comes from Felix Klein's book “On Riemann's Theory of Algebraic Functions and their Integrals” (1882) where he introduced such surfaces in the final chapter.

A compact hyperbolic surface of genus g is called an extremal surface if it admits an extremal disc, a disc of the largest radius determined by g. Our problem is to find how many extremal discs are embedded in non-orientable extremal surfaces. It is known that non-orientable extremal surfaces of genus g > 6 contain exactly one extremal disc and that of genus 3 or 4 contain at most two. In the present paper we shall give all the non-orientable extremal surfaces of genus 5, and find the locations of all extremal discs in those surfaces. As a consequence, non-orientable extremal surfaces of genus 5 contain at most two extremal discs.

Two projective nonsingular complex algebraic curves X and Y defined over the field R of real numbers can be isomorphic while their sets X(R) and Y(R) of R-rational points could be even non homeomorphic. This leads to the count of the number of real forms of a complex algebraic curve X, that is, those nonisomorphic real algebraic curves whose complexifications are isomorphic to X. In this paper we compute, as a function of genus, the maximum number of such real forms that a complex algebraic curve admits.

Let G be a finite group. The real genus ρ(G) is the minimum algebraic genus of any compact bordered Klein surface on which G acts. Here we obtain a good general lower bound for the real genus of the group G. We use the standard representation of G as a quotient of a non-euclidean crystallographic group by a bordered surface group. The lower bound is used to determine the real genus of several infinite families of groups; the lower bound is attained for some of these families. Among the groups considered are the dicyclic groups and some abelian groups. We also obtain a formula for the real genus of the direct product of an elementary abelian 2-group and an “even” dicyclic group. In addition, we calculate the real genus of an abstract family of groups that includes some interesting 3-groups. Finally, we determine the real genus of the direct product of an elementary abelian 2-group and a dihedral group.