On Cohen braids

Abstract

For a general surface $M$ and an arbitrary braid $\alpha$ from the surface braid group $B_{n-1}(M)$ we study the system of equations $d_1\beta=\cdots=d_{n}\beta=\alpha, $ where operation $d_i$ is deleting of $i$-th strand. We obtain that if $M\not=S^2$ or $\mathbb RP^2$ this system of equations has a solution $\beta\in B_{n}(M)$ if and only if $d_1\alpha=\ldots=d_n\alpha. $ The set of braids satisfying the last system of equations we call Cohen braids. We also construct a set of generators for the groups of Cohen braids. In the cases of the sphere and the projective plane we give some examples for the small number of strands.