Monodromy groups of Hurwitz-type problems

We solve the Hurwitz monodromy problem for degree 4 covers. That is, the Hurwitz space H4,g of all simply branched covers of P¹ of degree 4 and genus g is an unramified cover of the space P2g+6 of (2g+6)-tuples of distinct points in P¹. We determine the monodromy of π₁(P2g+6) on the points of the fiber. This turns out to be the same problem as the action of π₁(P2g+6) on a certain local system of Z/2-vector spaces. We generalize our result by treating the analogous local system with Z/N coefficients, 3?N, in place of Z/2. This in turn allows us to answer a question of Ellenberg concerning families of Galois covers of P¹ with deck group ²(Z/N):S₃.     

Curves in the double plane

We study in detail locally Cohen-Macaulay curves in P⁴ which are contained in a double plane 2H, thus completing the classification of curves lying on surfaces of degree two. We describe the irreducible components of the Hilbert schemes H _d,g(2H) of lo-cally Cohen-Macaulay curves in 2H of degree d and arithmetic genus g, and we show that H _d,g(2H) is connected. We also discuss the Rao module of these curves and liaison and biliaison equiva-lence classes.     

Polydifferentials and the deformation functor of curves with automorphisms

We give a relation between the dimension of the tangent space of the deformation functor of curves with automorphisms and the Galois module structure of the space of 2-holomorphic differentials. We prove a homological version of the local-global principle similar to the one of J. Bertin and A. Mézard. Let G be a cyclic subgroup of the group of automorphisms of a curve X, so that the order of G is equal to the characteristic. By using the results of S. Nakajima on the Galois module structure of the space of 2-holomorphic differentials, we compute the dimension of the tangent space of the deformation functor.     

Counting singular plane curves via Hilbert schemes

We give a method of counting the number of curves with a given type of singularity in a suitably ample linear series on a smooth surface using punctual Hilbert schemes. The types of singularities for which our results suffice include the topological type with local equation x^a+y^b with ?a?3b. We work out the example of curves with the analytic type of singularity with local equation x²+yⁿ for 1<n<9.     

The Néron model over the Igusa curves

We analyze the geometry of rational p-division points in degenerating families of elliptic curves in characteristic p. We classify the possible Kodaira symbols and determine for the Igusa moduli problem the reduction type of the universal curve. Special attention is paid to characteristic 2 and 3, where wild ramification and stacky phenomena show up.     

Cube structures and intersection bundles

We define the notion of a hypercube structure on a functor between two commutative Picard categories which generalizes the notion of a cube structure on a G_m-torsor over an abelian scheme. We prove that the determinant functor of a relative scheme X/S of relative dimension n is canonically endowed with a (n+2)-cube structure. We use this result to define the intersection bundle I_X/S(L₁,…,L_n+1) of n+1 line bundles on X/S and to construct an additive structure on the functor I_X/S:PIC(X/S)ⁿ⁺¹→PIC(S). Then, we construct the resultant of n+1 sections of n+1 line bundles on X, and the discriminant of a section of a line bundle on X. Finally we study the relationship between the cube structures on the determinant functor and on the discriminant functor, and we use it to prove a polarization formula for the discriminant functor.     

Trigonal Gorenstein curves

We notice that the Maroni invariant of a trigonal Gorenstein curve of arithmetic genus g larger than four may be equal to zero, and we show that this happens if and only if the g₃¹ admits a non-removable base point, which is necessarily a singularity of the curve. We realize and study trigonal curves on rational scrolls, which in the case, where the g₃¹ admits a base point Q, degenerate to a cone with vertex Q.     

A characterization of bielliptic curves and applications to their moduli spaces

We deal with the covers of degree 4 naturally associated to a bielliptic curve of genus g≥6, giving a proof of the unirationality of the moduli space ? _g ^be of such curves, of the rationality of the Hurwitz scheme ℌ ^be _{4, g} of bielliptic curves of even genus g, whereas, when g is odd, we construct a finite map ℂ^{2 g -2}→? _g ^be and compute its degree. Received: March 25, 2000; in final form: March 10, 2001?Published online: May 29, 2002     

On the multiplicity and the Cohen-Macaulayness of fiber cones of graded algebras

Let A be a Noetherian local ring with the maximal ideal m and an m-primary ideal J. Let S=?_n≥0S_n be a finitely generated standard graded algebra over A. Set S⁺=?_n>0S_n. Denote by F_J(S)=?_n≥0→(S_n/JS_n) the fiber cone of S with respect to J. The paper characterizes the multiplicity and the Cohen-Macaulayness of F_J(S) in terms of minimal reductions of S⁺.     

Separators of points on algebraic surfaces

For a finite set of points X⊆Pⁿ and for a given point P∈X, the notion of a separator of P in X (a hypersurface containing all the points in X except P) and of the degree of P in X, (the minimum degree of these separators) has been largely studied. In this paper we extend these notions to a set of points X on a projectively normal surface S⊆Pⁿ, considering as separators arithmetically Cohen-Macaulay curves and generalizing the case S=P² in a natural way. We denote the minimum degree of such curves as and we study its relation to . We prove that if S is a variety of minimal degree these two terms are explicitly related by a formula, whereas only an inequality holds for other kinds of surfaces.     

Solving polynomial optimization problems via the truncated tangency variety and sums of squares

Let f,g_i,i=1,…,l,h_j,j=1,…,m, be polynomials on Rⁿ and S?{x∈Rⁿ∣g_i(x)=0,i=1,…,l,h_j(x)≥0,j=1,…,m}. This paper proposes a method for finding the global infimum of the polynomial f on the semialgebraic set S via sum of squares relaxation over its truncated tangency variety, even in the case where the polynomial f does not attain its infimum on S. Under a constraint qualification condition, it is demonstrated that: (i) The infimum of f on S and on its truncated tangency variety coincide; and (ii) A sums of squares certificate for nonnegativity of f on its truncated tangency variety. These facts imply that we can find a natural sequence of semidefinite programs whose optimal values converge, monotonically increasing to the infimum of f on S.     

Integration on moduli spaces of stable curves through localization

We introduce a new method of calculating intersections on , using localization of equivariant cohomology. As an application, we give a proof of Mirzakhani's recursion relation for calculating intersections of mixed ψ and κ₁ classes.     

Degree formulae for offset curves

In this paper, we present three different formulae for computing the degree of the offset of a real irreducible affine plane curve C given implicitly, and we see how these formulae particularize to the case of rational curves. The first formula is based on an auxiliary curve, called S, that is defined depending on a non-empty Zariski open subset of R². The second formula is based on the resultant of the defining polynomial of C, and the polynomial defining generically S. The third formula expresses the offset degree by means of the degree of C and the multiplicity of intersection of C and the hodograph H to C, at their intersection points.     

Naturality of Abel maps

We give a combinatorial characterization of nodal curves admitting a natural (i.e. compatible with and independent of specialization) dth Abel map for any d ≥ 1.     

On unramified normal coverings of hyperelliptic curves

It is well known that the number of unramified normal coverings of an irreducible complex algebraic curve C with a group of covering transformations isomorphic to Z₂⊕Z₂ is (2^4g−3⋅2^2g+2)/6. Assume that C is hyperelliptic, say . Horiouchi has given the explicit algebraic equations of the subset of those covers which turn out to be hyperelliptic themselves. There are of this particular type. In this article, we provide algebraic equations for the remaining ones.     

Further examples of maximal curves

It is shown that the curve over F_q²ⁿ with n≥3 odd, that generalizes Serre’s curve y⁴+y=x³ over F₆₄, is also maximal. We also investigate a family of maximal curves over F_q²ⁿ and provide isomorphisms between these curves.