Here we focus on the compactification of the moduli space of curves of genus g together with an unramified double cover, constructed by Arnaud Beauville in order to compactify the Prym mapping. We present an alternative description of it, inspired by the moduli space of spin curves of Maurizio Cornalba, and we discuss in detail its main features, both from a geometrical and a combinatorial point of view.
We discuss the geometry of the moduli space of Prym varieties. The article is based on series of lectures given in Bedlewo and Luminy. The first section of the paper contains a detailed historical account of the lives of Friedrich Prym and Friedrich Schottky.
We show that the moduli spaces of non-triple cyclic coverings of genus 2 curves and that of even spin curves of genus 2 are birationally isomorphic via the Prym map. We describe the log canonical models of the moduli space of even spin curves of genus 2 and use this to extend the above birational map.
We present a structure theorem for the moduli space R_7 of Prym curves of genus 7 as a projective bundle over the moduli space of 7-nodal rational curves. The existence of this parametrization implies the unirationality of R_7 and that of the moduli space of Nikulin surfaces of genus 7, as well as the rationality of the moduli space of Nikulin surfaces of genus 7 with a distinguished line. Using the results in genus 7, we then establish that R_8 is uniruled.
We study the enumerative geometry of the moduli space R_g of Prym varieties of dimension g-1 (also known as the space of admissible double covers). Our main result is that the compactification of R_g is of general type as soon as g>13. We achieve this by computing the class of two types of cycles on R_g: one defined in terms of Koszul cohomology of Prym curves, the other defined in terms of Raynaud theta divisors associated to certain vector bundles on curves. We formulate a Prym-Green conjecture on syzygies of Prym-canonical curves. In the appendix we show that even though R_g has non-canonic…
We prove that in characteristic p>0 the locus of stable curves of p-rank at most f is pure of codimension g-f in the moduli space of stable curves. Then we consider the Prym map and analyze it using tautological classes. We study the locus of curves with an etale double cover of p-rank 0 in some detail. In particular, in genus 2 we obtain a formula for the number of such curves. We end with several examples illustrating our formula.
We study the Prym varieties arising from étale cyclic coverings of degree 7 over a curve of genus 2. These Prym varieties are products of Jacobians JY x JY of genus 3 curves Y with polarization type D=(1,1,1,1,1,7). We describe the fibers of the Prym map between the moduli space of such coverings and the moduli space of abelian sixfolds with polarization type D, admitting an automorphism of order 7.
In a previous paper, the authors proved that the Prym variety of any non-cyclic etale triple cover of a smooth curve of genus 2 is a Jacobian variety of dimension 2. This gives a map from the moduli space of such covers to the moduli space of Jacobian varieties of dimension 2. We extend this map to a proper map of a certain moduli space of admissible $S_3$-covers of genus 7 to the moduli space of principally polarized abelian surfaces. The main result is that this map is finite surjective of degree 10.
We study moduli spaces of K3 surfaces endowed with a Nikulin involution and their image in the moduli space R_g of Prym curves of genus g. We observe a striking analogy with Mukai's well-known work on ordinary K3 surfaces. Many of Mukai's results have a very precise Prym-Nikulin analogue, for instance: (1) A general Prym curve from R_g is a section of a Nikulin surface if and only if g\leq 7, g\neq 6. (2) R_7 has the structure of a Mori fibre space over the corresponding moduli space of polarized Nikulin surfaces. (3) In the case of genus next to maximal (g=6), the Prym-Nikulin locus in R_6 is…
We prove that the moduli space of double covers ramified at two points $\mathcal{R}_{g,2}$ is uniruled for $3\leq g\leq 6$ and of general type for $g\geq 16$. Furthermore, we consider Prym-canonical divisorial strata in the moduli space $\overline{\mathcal{C}^n\mathcal{R}}_g$ parametrizing $n$-pointed Prym curves, and we compute their classes in $\mathrm{Pic}_\mathbb{Q}(\overline{\mathcal{C}^n\mathcal{R}}_g)$.
The main purpose of this paper is to present a conceptual approach to understanding the extension of the Prym map from the space of admissible double covers of stable curves to different toroidal compactifications of the moduli space of principally polarized abelian varieties. By separating the combinatorial problems from the geometric aspects we can reduce this to the computation of certain monodromy cones. In this way we not only shed new light on the extension results of Alexeev, Birkenhake, Hulek, and Vologodsky for the second Voronoi toroidal compactification, but we also apply this to ot…
We prove that a very general hypersurface of bidegree (2, n) in P^2 x P^2 for n bigger than or equal to 2 is not stably rational, using Voisin's method of integral Chow-theoretic decompositions of the diagonal and their preservation under mild degenerations. At the same time, we also analyse possible ways to degenerate Prym curves, and the way how various loci inside the moduli space of stable Prym curves are nested. No deformation theory of stacks or sheaves of Azumaya algebras like in recent work of Hasset-Kresch-Tschinkel is used, rather we employ a more elementary and explicit approach via…
We prove that the locus of Prym curves $(C,η)$ of genus $g \geq 5$ for which the Prym-canonical system $|ω_C(η)|$ is base point free but the Prym--canonical map is not an embedding is irreducible and unirational of dimension $2g+1$.
In this paper we study Koszul cohomology and the Green and Prym-Green conjectures for canonical and Prym-canonical binary curves. We prove that if property $N_p$ holds for a canonical or a Prym-canonical binary curve of genus $g$ then it holds for a generic canonical or Prym-canonical binary curve of genus $g+1$. We also verify the Green and Prym-Green conjectures for generic canonical and Prym-canonical binary curves of low genus ($6\leq g\leq 15$, $g\neq 8$ for Prym-canonical and $3\leq g\leq 12$ for canonical).
The Prym variety for a branched double covering of a nonsingular projective curve is defined as a polarized abelian variety. We prove that any double covering of an elliptic curve which has more than $4$ branch points is recovered from its Prym variety.
We prove the generic injectivity of the Prym map, sending a double covering of an elliptic curve ramified at r>4 points to its polarized Prym variety. For r=6 the map is birational.
For an Abel-Prym curve contained in a Prym variety, we determine the cohomological support loci of its twisted ideal sheaves and the dimension of its theta-dual.
We show that the Verlinde formula for moduli spaces of spin bundles on an algebraic curve gives dimensions of direct sums of spaces of theta functions over the finite set of Prym varieties of unramified double covers of the curve. We then construct a natural duality (though we do not show it is nondegenerate) between the latter spaces and the spaces of sections of the theta bundles on the moduli spaces of spin bundles corresponding to the orthogonal representation. Finally, it is remarked that this should be viewed as a special case of a conjectured `strange duality' for spin bundles.
Given a possibly reducible and non-reduced spectral cover X over a smooth projective complex curve C we determine the group of connected components of the Prym variety Prym(X/C). As an immediate application we show that the finite group of n-torsion points of the Jacobian of C acts trivially on the cohomology of the twisted SL_n-Higgs moduli space up to the degree which is predicted by topological mirror symmetry. In particular this yields a new proof of a result of Harder--Narasimhan, showing that this finite group acts trivially on the cohomology of the twisted SL_n stable bundle moduli spac…
Throughout the paper, among other esults, we give partial analogues of theorem 1.1 for projectivized tangent cone quadrics of rank equal or less than 4, for Prymians.
We show that the Prym variety associated to a triple covering f: Y --> X of curves is principally polarized of dimension > 1, if and only if f is non-cyclic, etale and X is of genus 2. We investigate some properties of these Prym varieties and their moduli.
This article shows that on a generic principally polarized abelian variety of dimension five the $\mathbb{Q}$-vector space of algebraic equivalences among the 27 Abel-Prym curves has dimension 20.
We study the Prym map for degree-7 etale cyclic coverings over a curve of genus 2. We extend this map to a proper map on a partial compactification of the moduli space of such coverings, and prove that the Prym map is generically finite onto its image of degree 10.
We prove canonical isomorphisms between Spin Verlinde spaces, i.e, spaces of global sections of a determinant line bundle over the moduli space of semistable Spin-bundles over a smooth projective curve C, and the dual spaces of theta functions over Prym varieties of unramified double covers of C.
We study Shimura curves of PEL type in $\mathsf{A}_g$ generically contained in the Prym locus. We study both the unramified Prym locus, obtained using étale double covers, and the ramified Prym locus, corresponding to double covers ramified at two points. In both cases we consider the family of all double covers compatible with a fixed group action on the base curve. We restrict to the case where the family is 1-dimensional and the quotient of the base curve by the group is $\mathbb{P}^1$. We give a simple criterion for the image of these families under the Prym map to be a Shimura curve. Usin…
In this paper the ubiquity of the Igusa quartic $B \subset \mathbb P^4$ shows up again, this time related to the Prym map $\mathfrak p : \mathcal R_6 \to \mathcal A_5$. We introduce the moduli space $\mathcal X$ of those quartic threefolds $X$ cutting twice a quadratic section of $B$. A general $X$ is $30$-nodal and the intermediate Jacobian $J(X)$ of its natural desingularization is a $5$-dimensional p.p. abelian variety. Let $\frak j: \mathcal X \to \mathcal A_5$ be the period map sending $X$ to $J(X)$, in the paper we study $\frak j$ and its relation to $\frak p$. As is well known the degre…
Algebraic curves in Hilbert modular surfaces that are totally geodesic for the Kobayashi metric have very interesting geometric and arithmetic properties, e.g. they are rigid. There are very few methods known to construct such algebraic geodesics that we call Kobayashi curves. We give an explicit way of constructing Kobayashi curves using determinants of derivatives of theta functions. This construction also allows to calculate the Euler characteristics of the Teichmueller curves constructed by McMullen using Prym covers.
It is shown that the map from the Jacobian of the spectral curve to the moduli of stable bundles of rank 2 is generically simply branched along an irreducible divisor. This observation falsifies the key step in the "abelianization of the SU(2) WZW connection" presented in a recent paper [Yoshida, Annals 2006]
We study Shimura curves of PEL type in the space of polarised abelian varieties $A^δ_p$ generically contained in the ramified Prym locus. We generalise to ramified double covers, the construction done in [10] in the unramified case and in the case of two ramification points. Namely, we construct families of double covers which are compatible with a fixed group action on the base curve. We only consider the case of one-dimensional families and where the quotient of the base curve by the group is ${\mathbb P}^1$. Using computer algebra we obtain 184 Shimura curves contained in the (ramified) Pry…
We prove that the Jacobian of a general curve C of genus g=2a+1, with g>4, can be realized as a Prym-Tyurin variety for the Brill-Noether curve W^1_{a+2}(C). As a consequence of this result we are able to compute the class of the sum of the secant divisors for the curve C, embedded with a complete linear series g^{a-1}_{3a-2}
Let $k$ be a field of characteristic zero containing a primitive $n$-th root of unity. Let $C^0_n$ be a singular plane curve of degree $n$ over $k$ admitting an order $n$ automorphism, $n$ nodes as the singularities, and $C_n$ be its normalization. In this paper we study the factors of Prym variety $\mbox{Prym}(\widetilde{C}_n/C_n)$ associated to the double cover $\widetilde{C}_n$ of $C_n$ exactly ramified at the points obtained by the blow-up of the singularities. We provide explicit models of some algebraic curves related to the construction of $\mbox{Prym}(\widetilde{C}_n/C_n)$ as a Prym va…
The aim of the paper is twofold. First, some results of Shiota and Plaza-Martin on Prym varieties of curves with an involution are generalized to the general case of an arbitrary automorphism of prime order. Second, the equations defining the moduli space of curves with an automorphism of prime order as a subscheme of the Sato Grassmannian are given.
It is well known that the Prym variety of an étale cyclic covering of a hyperelliptic curve is isogenous to the product of two Jacobians. Moreover, if the degree of the covering is odd or congruent to 2 mod 4, then the canonical isogeny is an isomorphism. We compute the degree of this isogeny in the remaining cases and show that only in the case of coverings of degree 4 it is an isomorphism.
If the theta-null divisor $Θ_{\rm null}$ is moved to the Prym moduli space through the diagram $\mathcal{S}_{g}^{+}\rightarrow\mathcal{M}_{g}\leftarrow\mathcal{R}_{g}$, it splits into two irreducible components $\mathcal{P}_{\rm\! null}^{+}$ and $\mathcal{P}_{\rm\! null}^{-}$. Using test curve techniques, we compute the class of the closure of each of these components in terms of the generating classes of $\mathrm{Pic}(\overline{\mathcal{R}}_{g})_{\mathbb{Q}}$.
In this paper we compute the pullback of divisor classes under the Prym map (extended to the boundary), and apply this result to get a lower bound on the slope of effective divisors on the perfect cone compactification of the moduli space of principally polarized abelian fivefolds. In the appendix by Klaus Hulek, the notion of slope for arbitrary toroidal compactifications is discussed, and the slope bound is shown to hold in general.
We study Shimura (special) subvarieties in the moduli space $A_{p,D}$ of complex abelian varieties of dimension $p$ and polarization type $D$. These subvarieties arise from families of covers compatible with a fixed group action on the base curve such that the quotient of the base curve by the group is isomorphic to $\mathbb{P}^1$. We give a criterion for the image of these families under the Prym map to be a special subvariety and, using computer algebra, obtain 210 Shimura subvarieties contained in the Prym locus.
Theta functions of level n on the principally polarised Prym varieties of an algebraic curve are dual to sections of the orthogonal theta line bundle on the moduli space of Spin(n)-bundles over the curve. As a by-product of our computations we also note that when n is odd the pfaffian line bundle on moduli space has a basis of sections labelled by the even theta characteristics of the curve.
In this paper we prove that the Prym map, from the space of double coverings of a curve of genus g with r branch points to the moduli space of abelian varieties, is generically injective if r>6 and g>1, r=6 and g>2, r=4 and g>4, r=2 and g>5. We also show that a very generic Prym variety of dimension at least 4 is not isogenous to a Jacobian.
We construct two pencils of bielliptic curves of genus three and genus five. The first pencil is associated with a general abelian surface with a polarization of type $(1,2)$. The second pencil is related to the first by an unramified double cover, the Prym variety of which is canonically isomorphic to the Jacobian of a very general curve of genus two. Our results are obtained by analyzing suitable elliptic fibrations on the associated Kummer surfaces and rational double covers among them.
Let $π: Z \to X$ be Galois cover of smooth projective curves with Galois group $W$ a Weyl group of a simple Lie group $G$. For a dominant weight $λ$, we consider the intermediate curve $Y_λ= Z/\Stab(λ)$. One can realise a Prym variety $P_λ\subset \Jac(Y_λ)$ and we denote $φ_λ$ the restriction of the principal polarisation of $\Jac(Y_λ)$ upon $P_λ$. For two dominant weights $λ$ and $μ$, we construct a correspondence $Δ_{λμ}$ on $Y_λ\times Y_μ$ and calculate the pull-back of $φ_μ$ by $Δ_{λμ}$ in terms of $φ_λ$.
Starting from a beautiful idea of Kanev, we construct a uniformization of the moduli space A_6 of principally polarized abelian 6-folds in terms of curves and monodromy data. We show that the general ppav of dimension 6 is a Prym-Tyurin variety corresponding to a degree 27 cover of the projective line having monodromy the Weyl group of the E_6 lattice. Along the way, we establish numerous facts concerning the geometry of the Hurwitz space of such E_6-covers, including: (1) a proof that the canonical class of the Hurwitz space is big, (2) a concrete geometric description of the Hodge-Hurwitz ei…