A smooth compactification of genus two curves in projective space

Abstract: Questions of enumerative geometry can often be translated into problems of intersection theory on a compact moduli space of curves in projective space. Kontsevich's stable maps work extraordinarily well when the curves are rational, but in higher genus the burden of degenerate contributions is heavily felt, as the moduli space acquires several boundary components. The closure of the locus of maps with smooth source curve is interesting but troublesome, for its functor of points interpretation is most often unclear; on the other hand, after the work of Li--Vakil--Zinger and Ranganathan--Santos-Parker--Wise in genus one, points in the boundary correspond to maps that admit a nice factorisation through some curve with Gorenstein singularities (morally, contracting any higher genus subcurve on which the map is constant). The question becomes how to construct such a universal family of Gorenstein curves. In joint work with F. Carocci, we construct one such family in genus two over a logarithmic modification of the space of admissible covers. I will focus on how tropical geometry determines this logarithmic modification via tropical canonical divisors.

Mathematics

Audience: researchers in the topic

Tropical Geometry in Frankfurt/Zoom TGiF/Z

Series comments: Description: An afternoon seminar series on tropical geometry, known as the TGiZ ("Tropical Geometry in Zoom") or the TGiF ("Tropical Geometry in Frankfurt") seminar.

Please send an email to one of the organizers at the latest one day before a session if you wish to receive the Zoom link and password.

Videos of some past talks are available on YouTube here, while some slides can be found here.