Prescribed Arc Graphs

Abstract

Given a compact surface $\Sigma$ with boundary and a relation $\Gamma$ on $\pi_0(\partial\Sigma)$, we define the prescribed arc graph $\mathscr A(\Sigma,\Gamma)$ to be the full subgraph of the arc graph $\mathscr A(\Sigma)$ containing only classes of arcs between boundary components in $\Gamma$. We prove that $\mathscr(\Sigma,\Gamma)$ is connected and infinite-diameter (if $\Sigma$ is not the sphere with three boundary components), and classify when it is Gromov hyperbolic: in particular, $\mathscr(\Sigma,\Gamma)$ is Gromov hyperbolic if and only if $\Gamma$ is not bipartite, except in some sporadic cases.