In this short note, we propose a definition of complete Hurwitz schemes (and stacks) in mixed characteristic. We follow an idea of R. Pandharipande, and define the complete Hurwitz stack as a substack of stable maps of degree d of nodal pointed curves of genus g to the universal curve over the moduli stack of stable pointed curves of genus h. This substack is simply the closure of the locus of Hurwitz covers in characteristic 0.
We describe in detail the reduction modulo 2 of the complete Hurwitz stack of genus 1 double covers of the projective line. The result is wilder than you would imagine in your wildest dreams.
We end by speculating about a possible relationship with the work of Abramovich-Vistoli about stable maps into Deligne-Mumford stacks.
We derive explicit formulae for the generating series of mixed Grothendieck dessins d'enfant/monotone/simple Hurwitz numbers, via the semi-infinite wedge formalism. This reveals the strong piecewise polynomiality in the sense of Goulden-Jackson-Vakil, generalising a result of Johnson, and provides a new explicit proof of the piecewise polynomiality of the mixed case. Moreover, we derive wall-crossing formulae for the mixed case. These statements specialise to any of the three types of Hurwitz numbers, and to the mixed case of any pair.
We consider a generalized Riemann-Hurwitz formula as it may be applied to rational maps between projective varieties having an indeterminacy set and fold-like singularities. The case of a holomorphic branched covering map is recalled. Then we see how the formula can be applied to iterated maps having branch-like singularities. Separately, we consider a further application involving the Chern classes of determinantal varieties when the latter are realized as the degeneracy loci of certain vector bundle morphisms.
Simple Hurwitz numbers enumerate branched morphisms between Riemann surfaces with fixed ramification data. In recent years, several variants of this notion for genus $0$ base curves have appeared in the literature. Among them are so-called monotone Hurwitz numbers, which are related to the HCIZ integral in random matrix theory and strictly monotone Hurwitz numbers which count certain Grothendieck dessins d'enfants. We generalise the notion of Hurwitz numbers to interpolations between simple, monotone and strictly monotone Hurwitz numbers to any genus and any number of arbitrary but fixed ramif…
Let $R$ be a complete discrete valuation ring of equal characteristic $p>0$. Given a $\mathbb{Z}/p$-Galois cover of a formal disc over $R$, one can derive from it a semi-stable model for which the specializations of branch points are distinct and lie in the smooth locus of the special fiber. The description leads to a combinatorial object which resembles a classical Hurwitz tree in mixed characteristic, which we will give the same name. The existence of a Hurwitz tree is necessary for the existence of a $\mathbb{Z}/p$-cover whose branching data fit into that tree. We show that the conditions i…
We prove an analogue of the Riemann-Hurwitz theorem for computing Euler characteristics of pullbacks of coherent sheaves through finite maps of smooth projective varieties, subject only to the condition that the irreducible components of the branch and ramification locus have simple normal crossings.
We study the irreducible components of special loci of curves whose group of symmetries is given as certain group extension. We introduce some relative Hurwitz data, which we show by using mixed étale cohomology theory, identifies some irreducible components for rational and normal non-abelian special loci and Hurwitz spaces. A heuristic, that is supported by three classes of examples, provides an additional context for building further irreducible loci.
Let R be a complete discrete valuation ring of mixed characteristics (0,p). Given an order p-automorphism of a formal disc (or annulus) over R, we describe the minimal semi-stable model for which the specialisations of fixed points are distincts and lie in the smooth locus of the special fiber. The description leads to a combinatorial object called Hurwitz tree. Our main result is a necessary and sufficient condition for a Hurwitz tree to arise from an order p-automorphism.
In the context of orientable circuits and subcomplexes of these as representing certain singular spaces, we consider characteristic class formulas generalizing those classical results as seen for the Riemann-Hurwitz formula for regulating the topology of branched covering maps and that for monoidal transformations which include the standard blowing-up process. Here the results are presented as cap product pairings, which will be elements of a suitable homology theory, rather than characteristic numbers as would be the case when taking Kronecker products once Poincaré duality is defined. We fur…
The classical Hurwitz numbers which count coverings of a complex curve have an analog when the curve is endowed with a theta characteristic. These "spin Hurwitz numbers", recently studied by Eskin, Okounkov and Pandharipande, are interesting in their own right. By the authors' previous work, they are also related to the Gromov-Witten invariants of Kahler surfaces. We prove a recursive formula for spin Hurwitz numbers, which then gives the dimension zero GW invariants of Kahler surfaces with positive geometric genus. The proof uses a degeneration of spin curves, an invariant defined by the spec…
In this paper we use admissible covers to investigate the gonality of a stable curve $C$ over $\mathbb{C}$. If $C$ is irreducible, we compare its gonality to that of its normalization. If $C$ is reducible, we compare its gonality to that of its irreducible components. In both cases we obtain lower and upper bounds. Furthermore, we show that four admissible covers constructed give rise to generically injective maps between Hurwitz schemes. We show that the closures of the images of three of these maps are components of the boundary of the target Hurwitz schemes, and the closure of the image of …
We construct moduli spaces of rational covers of an arbitrary smooth tropical curve in R^r as tropical varieties. They are contained in the balanced fan parametrizing tropical stable maps of the appropriate degree to R^r. The weights of the top-dimensional polyhedra are given in terms of certain lattice indices and local Hurwitz numbers.
Thom (residual) polynomials in characteristic classes are used in the analysis of geometry of functional spaces. They serve as a tool in description of classes Poincaré dual to subvarieties of functions of prescribed types. We give explicit universal expressions for residual polynomials in spaces of functions on complex curves having isolated singularities and multisingularities, in terms of few characteristic classes. These expressions lead to a partial explicit description of a stratification of Hurwitz spaces.
We construct a natural branch divisor for equidimensional projective morphisms where the domain has lci singularities and the target is nonsingular. The method involves generalizing a divisor contruction of Mumford from sheaves to complexes. The construction is valid in flat families. The generalized branch divisor of a stable map to a nonsingular curve X yields a canonical morphism from the space of stable maps to a symmetric product of X. This branch morphism (together with virtual localization) is used to compute the Hurwitz numbers of covers of P^1 for all genera and degrees in terms of Ho…
We use tropical and nonarchimedean geometry to study the moduli space of genus $0$ stable maps to $\mathbb{P}^1$ relative to two points. This space is exhibited as a tropical compactification in a toric variety. Moreover, the fan of this toric variety may be interpreted as a moduli space for tropical relative stable maps with the same discrete data. As a consequence, we confirm an expectation of Bertram and the first two authors, that the tropical Hurwitz cycles are tropicalizations of classical Hurwitz cycles. As a second application, we obtain a full descendant correspondence for genus $0$ r…
We define the tropical moduli space of covers of a tropical line in the plane as weighted abstract polyhedral complex, and the tropical branch map recording the images of the simple ramifications. Our main result is the invariance of the degree of the branch map, which enables us to give a tropical intersection-theoretic definition of tropical triple Hurwitz numbers. We show that our intersection-theoretic definition coincides with the one given by Bertrand, Brugallé and Mikhalkin in the article "Tropical Open Hurwitz numbers" where a Correspondence Theorem for Hurwitz numbers is proved. Thus …
We develop a theory for stable maps to curves with divisible ramification. For a fixed integer $r>0$, we show that the condition of every ramification locus being divisible by $r$ is equivalent to the existence of an $r$th root of a canonical section. We consider this condition in regards to both absolute and relative stable maps and construct natural moduli spaces in these situations. We construct an analogue of the Fantechi-Pandharipande branch morphism and when the domain curves are genus zero we construct a virtual fundamental class. This theory is anticipated to have applications to $r$-s…
We consider the notion of mixed multiplicities for multigraded modules by using Hilbert series, and this is later applied to study the projective degrees of rational maps. We use a general framework to determine the projective degrees of a rational map via a computation of the multiplicity of the saturated special fiber ring. As specific applications, we provide explicit formulas for all the projective degrees of rational maps determined by perfect ideals of height two or by Gorenstein ideals of height three.
We prove a version of weakly functorial big Cohen-Macaulay algebras that suffices to establish Hochster-Huneke's vanishing conjecture for maps of Tor in mixed characteristic. As a corollary, we prove an analog of Boutot's theorem that direct summands of regular rings are pseudo-rational in mixed characteristic. Our proof uses perfectoid spaces and is inspired by the recent breakthroughs on the direct summand conjecture by André and Bhatt.
We explain the theory of refined cycle maps associated to arithmetic mixed sheaves. This includes the case of arithmetic mixed Hodge structures, and is closely related to work of Asakura, Beilinson, Bloch, Green, Griffiths, Mueller-Stach, Murre, Voisin and others.
We equip integral graded-polarized mixed period spaces with a natural $\mathbb{R}_{alg}$-definable analytic structure, and prove that any period map associated to an admissible variation of integral graded-polarized mixed Hodge structures is definable in $\mathbb{R}_{an,exp}$ with respect to this structure. As a consequence we reprove that the zero loci of admissible normal functions are algebraic.
The ELSV formula, first proved by Ekedahl, Lando, Shapiro, and Vainshtein, relates Hurwitz numbers to Hodge integrals. Graber and Vakil gave another proof of the ELSV formula by virtual localization on moduli spaces of stable maps to the projective line, and also explained how to simplify their proof using moduli spaces of relative stable maps to the projective line relative to a point. In this expository article, we explain what the ELSV formula is and how to prove it by virtual localization on moduli spaces of relative stable maps, following Graber-Vakil. This note is based on lectures given…
We prove a mixed version of a conjecture of Griffiths: that the closure of the image of any admissible mixed period map is quasiprojective, with a natural ample bundle. Specifically, we consider the map from the image of the mixed period map to the image of the period map of the associated graded. On the one hand, we show in a precise manner that the parts of this map parametrizing extension data of non-adjacent-weight pure Hodge structures are quasi-affine. On the other hand, extensions of adjacent-weight pure polarized Hodge structures are parametrized by a compact complex torus (the interme…
Let X be a complete complex nonsingular algebraic variety and D a closed algebraic subset of X. We show that the cup product maps H^i(X \setminus D) \otimes H^j(X,D) \to H^{i+j}(X,D) are morphisms of mixed Hodge structures. As a corollary we obtain a new proof of a duality result of Fujiki. We also deal with the extraordinary cup product.
By exploring the consequences of the triviality of the monodromy group for a class of surfaces of which the mixed Hodge structure is pure, we extend results of Miyanishi and Sugie, Dimca, Zaidenberg and Kaliman.
We study the bifurcation values of real polynomial maps $f: \bR^{2n} \to \bR^2$ which reflect the lack of asymptotic regularity at infinity. We formulate real counterparts of some structure results which have been previously proved in case of complex polynomials by Kushnirenko, Némethi and Zaharia and other authors, emphasizing the typical real phenomena that occur.
