Lagrangian embeddings of the Klein bottle and combinatorial properties of mapping class groups

A proof of non-existence of Lagrangian embeddings of the Klein bottle K in \CP^2 is given. We exploit the existence of a special embedding of K in a symplectic Lefschetz pencil on \CP^2 and study its monodromy. As the main technical tool, we develop the theory of mapping class groups, considered as quotients of special Artin braid groups, and obtain some new results about combinatorial structure of such groups.