Local degeneration of the moduli space of vector bundles and factorization of rank two theta functions. I

Supported in part by NSF Mathematics Postdoctoral Fellowship DMS-9007255     

A stability condition for line bundles on reducible varieties

Over a family of varieties with singular special fiber, the relative Picard functor (i.e. the moduli space of line bundles) may fail to be compact. We propose a stability condition for line bundles on reducible varieties that is aimed at compactifying it. This stability condition generalizes the notion of ‘balanced multidegree’ used by Caporaso in compactifying the relative Picard functor over families of curves. Unlike the latter, it is defined ‘asymptotically’; an important theme of this paper is that although line bundles on higher-dimensional varieties are more complicated than those on curves, their behavior in terms of stability asymptotically approaches that of line bundles on curves.Using this definition of stability, we prove that over a one-parameter family of varieties having smooth total space, any line bundle on the generic fiber can be extended to a unique semistable line bundle on the (possibly reducible) special fiber, provided the special fiber is not too complicated in a combinatorial sense.     

Harbater-Mumford subvarieties of moduli spaces of covers

We define Harbater-Mumford subvarieties, which are special kinds of closed subvarieties of Hurwitz moduli spaces obtained by fixing some of the branch points. We show that, for many finite groups, finding geometrically irreducible HM-subvarieties defined over is always possible. This provides information on the arithmetic of Hurwitz spaces and applies in particular to the regular inverse Galois problem with (almost all) fixed branch points. Profinite versions of our results can also be stated, providing new tools to study the geometry of modular towers and the regular inverse Galois problem for profinite groups.     

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.     

Quantum cohomology of moduli spaces of genus zero stable curves

We investigate the (small) quantum cohomology ring of the moduli spaces of stable n-pointed curves of genus 0. In particular, we determine an explicit presentation in the case n = 5 and we outline a computational approach to the case n = 6. This research was partially supported by MIUR and GNSAGA of INdAM (Italy).     

Torus fixed points of moduli spaces of stable bundles of rank three

By a result of Klyachko the Euler characteristic of moduli spaces of stable bundles of rank two on the projective plane is determined. Using similar methods we extend this result to bundles of rank three. The fixed point components correspond to moduli spaces of the subspace quiver. Moreover, the stability condition is given by a certain system of linear inequalities so that the generating function of the Euler characteristic can be determined explicitly.     

Some moduli stacks of symplectic bundles on a curve are rational

Let C be a smooth projective curve of genus g?2 over a field k. Given a line bundle L on C, let Sympl2n,L be the moduli stack of vector bundles E of rank 2n on C endowed with a nowhere degenerate symplectic form up to scalars. We prove that this stack is birational to BGm×As for some s if deg(E)=n⋅deg(L) is odd and C admits a rational point P∈C(k) as well as a line bundle ξ of degree 0 with ξ⊗2?OC. It follows that the corresponding coarse moduli scheme of Ramanathan-stable symplectic bundles is rational in this case.     

On real moduli spaces of holomorphic bundles over M-curves

Let F be a genus g curve and σ:F→F a real structure with the maximal possible number of fixed circles. We study the real moduli space N^′=Fix(σ#) where σ#:N→N is the induced real structure on the moduli space N of stable holomorphic bundles of rank 2 over F with fixed non-trivial determinant. In particular, we calculate H^?(N^′,Z) in the case of g=2, generalizing Thaddeus' approach to computing H^?(N,Z).     

The integral monodromy of hyperelliptic and trielliptic curves

We compute the and monodromy of every irreducible component of the moduli spaces of hyperelliptic and trielliptic curves. In particular, we provide a proof that the monodromy of the moduli space of hyperelliptic curves of genus g is the symplectic group . We prove that the monodromy of the moduli space of trielliptic curves with signature (r,s) is the special unitary group . Rachel Pries was partially supported by NSF grant DMS-04-00461.     

Moduli of reflexive sheaves on smooth projective 3-folds

We compute the expected dimension of the moduli space of torsion-free rank 2 sheaves at a point corresponding to a stable reflexive sheaf, and give conditions for the existence of a perfect tangent-obstruction complex on a class of smooth projective threefolds; this class includes Fano and Calabi-Yau threefolds. We also explore both local and global relationships between moduli spaces of reflexive rank 2 sheaves and the Hilbert scheme of curves.     

Hodge polynomials and birational types of moduli spaces of coherent systems on elliptic curves

In this paper we consider moduli spaces of coherent systems on an elliptic curve. We compute their Hodge polynomials and determine their birational types in some cases. Moreover we prove that certain moduli spaces of coherent systems are isomorphic. This last result uses the Fourier-Mukai transform of coherent systems introduced by Hernández Ruipérez and Tejero Prieto.     

The p-rank strata of the moduli space of hyperelliptic curves

We prove results about the intersection of the p-rank strata and the boundary of the moduli space of hyperelliptic curves in characteristic p?3. This yields a strong technique that allows us to analyze the stratum of hyperelliptic curves of genus g and p-rank f. Using this, we prove that the endomorphism ring of the Jacobian of a generic hyperelliptic curve of genus g and p-rank f is isomorphic to Z if g?4. Furthermore, we prove that the Z/?-monodromy of every irreducible component of is the symplectic group Sp2g(Z/?) if g?3, and ?≠p is an odd prime (with mild hypotheses on ? when f=0). These results yield numerous applications about the generic behavior of hyperelliptic curves of given genus and p-rank over finite fields, including applications about Newton polygons, absolutely simple Jacobians, class groups and zeta functions.     

Homotopy groups of moduli spaces of representations

We calculate certain homotopy groups of the moduli spaces for representations of a compact oriented surface in the Lie groups and . Our approach relies on the interpretation of these representations in terms of Higgs bundles and uses Bott-Morse theory on the corresponding moduli spaces.     

Components of the stack of torsion-free sheaves of rank 2 on ruled surfaces

Supported in part by NSA research grant MDA904-92-H-3009