Regular flip equivalence of surface triangulations

Abstract

Any two triangulations of a closed surface with the same number of vertices can be transformed into each other by a sequence of regular flips, provided the number of vertices exceeds a number N depending on the surface. Examples show that in general N is bigger than the minimal number of vertices of a triangulation. The existence of N was known, but no estimate. This paper provides an estimate for N that is linear in the Euler characteristic of the surface.