# The fundamental group of the circle with some points identified

I'm thinking about the fundamental group of a circle with some points identified. I mean let $r:\mathbb S^1\to \mathbb S^1$ be a quotient map mapping the point of the circle $(cos \theta, sin \theta )$ to $(cos(\theta+2\pi /n),sin (\theta+2\pi /n))$. Form a quotient space identifying $x$ to $r(x), r^2(x), \ldots,r^{n-1}(x)$.

I need help to find this fundamental group.

Thanks

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You probably mean $(\cos(\theta), \sin(\theta)) \mapsto (\cos(\theta + \frac{2\pi}{n}), \sin(\theta + \frac{2\pi}{n}))$. Anyway, can you identify the quotient space itself? Say, when $n = 2$? –  levap Nov 25 '12 at 3:35
@levap yes of course thank you, I'm editing right now –  user42912 Nov 25 '12 at 3:39
@levap Maybe we have a homeomorphism between a bouquet of n circles and this space, am I correct? –  user42912 Nov 25 '12 at 3:45
Not really. In a bouquet of $n$ circles there is a point at which you "wedge" the circles. Which point would it be in the quotient? When $n = 2$, a fundamental domain for the action is the half circle $(\cos(\theta), \sin(\theta))$ where $0 \leq \theta < \pi$. That is, each equivalence class in the quotient has two members and you can always choose a member in the equivalence class to lie in the half circle. What is the relation between $(\cos(0),\sin(0))$ and $(\cos(\pi), \sin(\pi))$ in the quotient? –  levap Nov 25 '12 at 4:02
This and several related questions illustrate the advantages of having the notion of the fundamental groupoid $\pi_1(X,A)\;\;$ on a set $A$ of base points, since one may want to identify some of the points of $A$. There is an appropriate groupoid construction, due to Philip Higgins, see Categories and Groupoids. Given a groupoid $G\;$ with object set $X$ and a function $f: X \to Y\;\;$ there is a groupoid $f_*(G)\;$, or $U_f(G)\;$ in C&G, Chapter 8, which is universal for morphisms from $G$ whose object map factors through $f\;$. The construction of this generalises that of free groups and of free products of groups.
The philosophical point here is that to model the gluing of spaces, one needs algebraic objects with structure in a range of dimensions starting with $0$, since in homotopy theory identifications in low dimensions have homotopical effects in high dimensions. Groupoids may be seen as having structure in dimensions $0,1\;$. This philosophy does carry over to higher dimensions, but one needs appropriate models.