Universal abelian covers of certain surface singularities

Every normal complex surface singularity with -homology sphere link has a universal abelian cover. It has been conjectured by Neumann and Wahl that the universal abelian cover of a rational or minimally elliptic singularity is a complete intersection singularity defined by a system of ``splice diagram equations'. In this paper we introduce a Neumann-Wahl system, which is an analogue of the system of splice diagram equations, and prove the following. If (X, o) is a rational or minimally elliptic singularity, then its universal abelian cover (Y, o) is an equisingular deformation of an isolated complete intersection singularity (Y₀, o) defined by a Neumann-Wahl system. Furthermore, if G denotes the Galois group of the covering Y → X, then G also acts on Y₀ and X is an equisingular deformation of the quotient Y₀/G. Dedicated to Professor Jonathan Wahl on his sixtieth birthday. This research was partially supported by the Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B), The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan.