Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-probability-statistics-and-options-ii-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2007/e/4/b/solution

Treat the two squares as a single edge-pairing construction, including the identifications between different squares. Number the corners of the left square counterclockwise from its lower left corner by , and similarly use on the right. The single arrows identify with and with . The double arrows identify with and with . The triple arrows identify with and with . The quadruple arrows identify with and with .
Thus there are precisely two vertex classes, and . There are four edge classes and two two-dimensional cells, so the resulting closed connected surface has Euler characteristic
It is a nonorientable surface: on the left square the quadruple-arrow sides have the same orientation relative to a traversal of its boundary, giving a twisted band after gluing. Equivalently, no choice of orientations for the two faces makes the induced directions opposite on every paired edge. The vertex links are circles, so these edge identifications produce a closed surface, rather than a singular cell space. The classification of compact surfaces now gives
A torus also has Euler characteristic zero, but is excluded by the failed orientation test.

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