Trivial Extensions of Gentle Algebras and Brauer Graph Algebras

We show that two well-studied classes of tame algebras coincide: namely, the class of symmetric special biserial algebras coincides with the class of Brauer graph algebras. We then explore the connection between gentle algebras and symmetric special biserial algebras by explicitly determining the trivial extension of a gentle algebra by its minimal injective co-generator. This is a symmetric special biserial algebra and hence a Brauer graph algebra of which we explicitly give the Brauer graph. We further show that a Brauer graph algebra gives rise, via admissible cuts, to many gentle algebras and that the trivial extension of a gentle algebra obtained via an admissible cut is the original Brauer graph algebra. As a consequence we prove that the trivial extension of a Jacobian algebra of an ideal triangulation of a Riemann surface with marked points in the boundary is isomorphic to the Brauer graph algebra with Brauer graph given by the arcs of the triangulation.