Interpreting the number of ramified covering of a Riemann surface by Riemann surfaces as the relative Gromov-Witten invariants and applying a gluing formula, we derive a recursive formula for the number of ramified covering of a Riemann surface by Riemann surface with elementary branch points and prescribed ramification type over a special point.
We prove that the ramified Prym map $\mathcal P_{g, r}$ which sends a covering $π:D\longrightarrow C$ ramified in $r$ points to the Prym variety $P(π):=\text{Ker}(\text{Nm}_π)$ is an embedding for all $r\ge 6$ and for all $g(C)>0$. Moreover, by studying the restriction to the locus of coverings of hyperelliptic curves, we show that $\mathcal P_{g, 2}$ and $\mathcal P_{g, 4}$ have positive dimensional fibers.
Let $f:C\rightarrow D$ be a nonconstant separable morphism between irreducible smooth projective curves defined over an algebraically closed field. We say that $f$ is genuinely ramified if ${\mathcal O}_D$ is the maximal semistable subbundle of $f_*{\mathcal O}_C$ (equivalently, the homomorphism of etale fundamental groups is surjective). We prove that the pullback $f^*E\rightarrow C$ is stable for every stable vector bundle $E$ on $D$ if and only if $f$ is genuinely ramified.
We are interested in studying the variation of the Hitchin fibration in moduli spaces of parabolic Higgs bundles, under the action of a ramified covering. Given a degree two map $π$ : Y $\rightarrow$ X between compact Riemann surfaces, we may pull back a Higgs bundle from X to Y , the lifted Higgs bundle tends to have many apparent singularities, then we perform a suitable birational transformation in order to eliminate them. This correspondence preserves the Hitchin fibrations and then its restriction to a general fiber gives a map between Abelian varieties. The aim of this paper is to descri…
Let A be the algebra generated by the power series \sum n^{n-1} q^n/n! and \sum n^n q^n /n! . We prove that many natural generating functions lie in this algebra: those appearing in graph enumeration problems, in the intersection theory of moduli spaces M_{g,n} and in the enumeration of ramified coverings of the sphere. We argue that ramified coverings of the sphere with a large number of sheets provide a model of 2-dimensional gravity. Our results allow us to compute the asymptotic of the number of coverings as the number of sheets goes to infinity. The leading terms of such asymptotics are t…
Let $X$ be a compact Riemann surface, $Σ$ a finite set of points and $M = X\setminus Σ$. We study the $L^2$ cohomology of a polarized complex variation of Hodge structure on a Galois covering of the Riemann surface of finite type $M$. In this article we treat the case when the covering comes from a branched covering of $X$, and where $M$ is endowed with a metric asymptotic to a Poincaré metric. We prove that after tensorisation with the algebra of affiliated operators, the $L^2$ cohomology admits a pure Hodge structure.
The Hurwitz space is a compactification of the space of rational functions of a given degree. The Lyashko-Looijenga map assigns to a rational function the set of its critical values. It is known that the number of ramified coverings of CP^1 by CP^1 with prescribed ramification points and ramification types is related to the degree of the Lyashko--Looijenga map on various strata of the Hurwitz space. Here we explain how the degree of the Lyashko-Looijenga map is related to the intersection theory on this space. We describe the cohomology algebra of the Hurwitz space and prove several relations …
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 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.
An almost Belyi covering is an algebraic covering of the projective line, such that all ramified points except one simple ramified point lie above a set of 3 points of the projective line. In general, there are 1-dimensional families of these coverings with a fixed ramification pattern. (That is, Hurwitz spaces for these coverings are curves.) In this paper, three almost Belyi coverings of degrees 11, 12, and 20 are explicitly constructed. We demonstrate how these coverings can be used for computation of several algebraic solutions of the sixth Painleve equation.
An explicit expression is obtained for the generating series for the number of ramified coverings of the sphere by the torus, with elementary branch points and prescribed ramification type over infinity. This proves a conjecture of Goulden, Jackson and Vainshtein for the explicit number of such coverings.
In this paper we consider the Prym map for double coverings of curves of genus $g$ ramified at $r>0$ points. That is, the map associating to a double ramified covering its Prym variety. The generic Torelli theorem states that the Prym map is generically injective as soon as the dimension of the space of coverings is less or equal to the dimension of the space of polarized abelian varieties. We prove the generic injectivity of the Prym map in the cases of double coverings of curves with: (a) $g=2$, $r=6$, and (b) $g= 5$, $r=2$. In the first case the proof is constructive and can be extended to …
As is well known, the Lefschetz theorems for the étale fundamental group of SGA1 do not hold. We fill a small gap in the literature showing they do for tame coverings. Let $X$ be a regular projective variety over a field $k$, and let $D\hookrightarrow X$ be a strict normal crossings divisor. Then, if $Y$ is an ample regular hyperplane intersecting $D$ transversally, the restriction functor from tame étale coverings of $X\setminus D$ to those of $Y\setminus D\cap Y$ is an equivalence if dimension $X \ge 3$, and fully faithful if dimension $X=2$. The method is dictated by Grothendieck-Murre ("Th…
An explicit expression is obtained for the generating series for the number of ramified coverings of the sphere by the double torus, with elementary branch points and prescribed ramification type over infinity. Thus we are able to prove a conjecture of Graber and Pandharipande, giving a linear recurrence equation for the number of these coverings with no ramification over infinity. The general form of the series is conjectured for the number of these coverings by a surface of arbitrary genus that is at least two.
The Hurwitz space is a compactification of the space of rational functions of a given degree. We study the intersection of various strata of this space with its boundary. A study of the cohomology ring of the Hurwitz space then allows us to obtain recurrence relations for certain numbers of ramified coverings of a sphere by a sphere with prescribed ramifications. Generating functions for these numbers belong to a very particular subalgebra of the algebra of power series.
A finite étale map between irreducible, normal varieties is called tame, if it is tamely ramified with respect to all partial compactifications whose boundary is the support of a strict normal crossings divisor. We prove that if the Galois group of a Galois covering contains a normal nilpotent subgroup of index bounded by a constant N, then the covering is tame if and only if it is tamely ramified with respect to a single distinguished partial compactification only depending on N. The main tools used in the proof are Temkin's local purely inseparable uniformization and a Lefschetz type theorem…
A bracket is a function that assigns a number to each monomial in variables τ_0, τ_1, ... We show that any bracket satisfying the string and the dilaton relations gives rise to a power series lying in the algebra A generated by the series \sum n^{n-1} q^n/n! and \sum n^n q^n /n! . As a consequence, various series from A appear in the intersection theory of moduli spaces of curves. A connection between the counting of ramified coverings of the sphere and the intersection theory on moduli spaces allows us to prove that some natural generating functions enumerating the ramified coverings lie, yet…
We obtain an explicit expression for the number of ramified coverings of the sphere by the torus with given ramification type for a small number of ramification points, and conjecture this to be true for an arbitrary number of ramification points. In addition, the conjecture is proved for simple coverings of the sphere by the torus. We obtain corresponding expressions for surfaces of higher genera for a small number of ramification points, and conjecture the general form for this number in terms of a symmetric polynomial that appears to be new. The approach involves the analysis of the action …
Let X be a smooth projective curve over a field of characteristic p>0 and G a finite group of automorphism of X. Let n(X,G) be the characteristic of the versal equivariant deformation ring R(X,G) of (X,G). When the ramification is weak (i.e. all second ramification groups are trivial),we prove that n(X,G) is 0 or p and we compute R(X,G).
We derive a closed-form expression for all genus 1 Hurwitz numbers, and give a simple new graph-theoretic interpretation of Hurwitz numbers in genus 0 and 1. (Hurwitz numbers essentially count irreducible genus g covers of the sphere, with arbitrary specified branching over one point, simple branching over other specified points, and no other branching. The problem is equivalent to counting transitive factorisations of permutations into transpositions.) These results prove a conjecture of Goulden and Jackson, and extend results of Hurwitz and many others.
In continuation of our work in Comm. in Algebra, vol. 28 (2000), we study ramified coverings of projective manifolds, in particular over Fano manifolds and investigate positivity properties of the associated vector bundle. Moreover we study the topology of low degree coverings and the structure of the ramification divisor.
In this work we use arithmetic, geometric, and combinatorial techniques to compute the cohomology of Weil divisors of a special class of normal surfaces, the so-called rational ruled toric surfaces. These computations are used to study the topology of cyclic coverings of such surfaces ramified along Q-normal crossing divisors.
Enumerating ramified coverings of the sphere with fixed ramification types is a well-known problem first considered by A. Hurwitz. Up to now, explicit solutions have been obtained only for some families of ramified coverings, for instant, those realized by polynomials in one complex variable. In this paper we obtain an explicit answer for a large new family of coverings, namely, the coverings realized by simple almost polynomials, defined below. Unlike most other results in the field, our formula is obtained by elementary methods.
We study the projective normality of a minimal surface $X$ which is a ramified double covering over a rational surface $S$ with $\dim|-K_S|\ge 1$. In particular Horikawa surfaces, the minimal surfaces of general type with $K^2_X=2p_g(X)-4$, are of this type, up to resolution of singularities. Let $π$ be the covering map from $X$ to $S$. We show that the $\mathbb{Z}_2$-invariant adjoint divisors $K_X+rπ^*A$ are normally generated, where the integer $r\ge 3$ and $A$ is an ample divisor on $S$.
Let $S$ be a rational surface with $\dim|-K_S|\ge 1$ and let $π: X\rightarrow S$ be a ramified cyclic covering from a nonruled smooth surface $X$. We show that for any integer $k\ge 3$ and ample divisor $A$ on $S$, the adjoint divisor $K_X+kπ^*A$ is very ample and normally generated. Similar result holds for minimal (possibly singular) coverings.
We study the existence of $L^2$ holomorphic sections of invariant line bundles over Galois coverings of Zariski open sets in Moishezon manilolds. We show that the von Neuman dimension of the space of $L^2$ holomorphic sections is bounded below under reasonable curvature conditions. We also give criteria for a a compact complex space with isolated singularities and some related strongly pseudoconcave manifolds to be Moishezon. Their coverings are then studied with the same methods. As applications we give weak Lefschetz theorems using the Napier--Ramachandran proof of the Nori theorem.
The Chisini conjecture asserts that a generic ramified covering over the complex projective plane of degree at least 5 is uniquely determined by its branch curve. We prove this for degree at least 12 using the work of Kulikov (math-AG/9803144).
We study the components of the Hurwitz scheme of ramified coverings of $\mathbb{P}^1$ with monodromy given by the alternating group $A_6$ and elements in the conjugacy class of product of two disjoint cycles. In order to detect the connected components of the Hurwitz scheme, inspired by the case of the spin structures studied by Fried for the $3$-cycles, we use as invariant the lifting to the Valentiner group, triple covering of $A_6$. We prove that the Hurwitz scheme has two irreducible components when the genus of the covering is greater than zero, in accordance with the asymptotic solution …
In this paper we find an explicit formula for the number of topologically different ramified coverings $C\to\CP^1$ (C is a compact Riemann surface of genus g) with only one complicated branching point in terms of Hodge integrals over the moduli space of genus g curves with marked points.
For any nonconstant f,g in C(x) such that the numerator H(x,y) of f(x)-g(y) is irreducible, we compute the genus of the normalization of the curve H(x,y)=0. We also prove an analogous formula in arbitrary characteristic when f and g have no common wildly ramified branch points, and generalize to (possibly reducible) fiber products of nonconstant morphisms of curves f:A-->D and g:B-->D.
The notion of a tamely ramified covering is canonical only for curves. Several notions of tameness for coverings of higher dimensional schemes have been used in the literature. We show that all these definitions are essentially equivalent. Furthermore, we prove finiteness theorems for the tame fundamental groups of arithmetic schemes.
This article is an extended version of preprint math.AG/9902104. We find an explicit formula for the number of topologically different ramified coverings of a sphere by a genus g surface with only one complicated branching point in terms of Hodge integrals over the moduli space of genus g curves with marked points.
We extend results on Weierstrass semigroups at ramified points of double covering of curves to any numerical semigroup whose genus is large enough. As an application we strengthen the properties concerning Weierstrass weights in \cited{To}.
We consider ramified coverings of P^1 with arbitrary ramification type over 0 and infinity and simple ramifications elsewhere and prove that the generating function for the numbers of such coverings is a tau-function for the Toda lattice hierarchy of Ueno and Takasaki.
Hurwitz numbers count ramified covers of a Riemann surface with prescribed monodromy. As such, they are purely combinatorial objects. Tautological classes, on the other hand, are distinguished classes in the intersection ring of the moduli spaces of Riemann surfaces of a given genus, and are thus ``geometric.'' Localization computations in Gromov-Witten theory provide non-obvious relations between the two. This paper makes one such computation, and shows how it leads to a ``master'' relation (Theorem 0.1) that reduces the ratios of certain interesting tautological classes to the pure combinato…
We define the notion of inseparable coverings of schemes and we propose a ramification formalism for them, along the lines of the classical one. Using this formalism we prove a formula analogous to the classical Riemann-Hurwitz formula for generic torsors under infinitesimal diagonalizable group schemes.
We consider the holomorphic unramified mapping of two arbitrary finite bordered Riemann surfaces. Extending the map to the doubles $X_1$ and $X_2$ of Riemann surfaces we define the vector bundle on the second double as a direct image of the vector bundle on first double. %% We choose line bundles of half-order differentials $Δ_1$ and $Δ_2$ so that the vector bundle $V^{X_2}_{χ_\ad} \otimes Δ_2$ on $X_2$ would be the direct image of the vector bundle $V^{X_1}_{χ_\ao} \otimes Δ_1$. We then show that the Hardy spaces $H_{2, J_1(p)} (S_1,V_{χ_\ao} \otimes Δ_1)$ and $H_{2,J_2(p)} (S_2,V_{χ_\ad} \ot…
Given a closed Riemann surface $Σ$ equipped with a volume form $ω$, we construct a natural probability measure on the space $\mathcal{M}_d(Σ)$ of degree $d$ branched coverings from $Σ$ to the Riemann sphere $\mathbb{C}\mathbb{P}^1.$ We prove a large deviations principle for the number of critical points in a given open set $U\subset Σ$: given any sequence $ε_d$ of positive numbers, the probability that the number of critical points of a branched covering deviates from $2d\cdot\textrm{Vol}(U)$ more than $ε_d$ is smaller than $\exp(-C_Uε^3_d d)$, for some positive constant $C_U$. In particular, …
Given a covering of the projective line with ramifications defined over a number field, we define a plain model of the algebraic curve realizing the Riemann existence theorem for this covering, and bound explicitly the defining equation of this curve and its definition field.
Let $ϕ:S^2 \to S^2$ be an orientation-preserving branched covering whose post-critical set has finite cardinality $n$. If $ϕ$ has a fully ramified periodic point $p_{\infty}$ and satisfies certain additional conditions, then, by work of Koch, $ϕ$ induces a meromorphic self-map $R_ϕ$ on the moduli space $\mathcal{M}_{0,n}$; $R_ϕ$ descends from Thurston's pullback map on Teichmüller space. Here, we relate the dynamics of $R_ϕ$ on $\mathcal{M}_{0,n}$ to the dynamics of $ϕ$ on $S^2$. Let $\ell$ be the length of the periodic cycle in which the fully ramified point $p_{\infty}$ lies; we show that $R…
A curve $X$ is said to be of type $(N,γ)$ if it is an $N$--sheeted covering of a curve of genus $γ$ with at least one totally ramified point. A numerical semigroup $H$ is said to be of type $(N,γ)$ if it has $γ$ positive multiples of $N$ in $[N,2Nγ]$ such that its $γ^{th}$ element is $2Nγ$ and $(2γ+1)N \in H$. If the genus of $X$ is large enough and $N$ is prime, $X$ is of type $(N,γ)$ if and only if there is a point $P \in X$ such that the Weierstrass semigroup at $P$ is of type $(N,γ)$ (this generalizes the case of double coverings of curves). Using the proof of this result and the Buchweitz…
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…
Let $Y_K\to X_K$ be a ramified cyclic covering of curves, where $K$ is a cyclotomic field. In this work we study the $p$-rank of the reduction $\rm{mod}\, p$ of a model of the jacobian of $Y_K$. In this way, we obtain counterparts of the Deuring polynomial, defined for elliptic curves, for genus greater than one. Moreover, we show that curves $Y_K$ give Hecke characters for cyclotomic fields. To carry out this study we use Jacobi sums and certain $L$-functions.
Esnault-Viehweg developed the theory of cyclic branched coverings $\tilde X\to X$ of smooth surfaces providing a very explicit formula for the decomposition of $H^1(\tilde X,\mathbb{C})$ in terms of a resolution of the ramification locus. Later, the first author applies this to the particular case of coverings of $\mathbb{P}^2$ reducing the problem to a combination of global and local conditions on projective curves. In this paper we extend the above results in three directions: first, the theory is extended to surfaces with quotient singularities, second the ramification locus can be partiall…