Anisotropic real curves and bordered line arrangements (Q952913)

Let \(X\) be a smooth real algebraic curve of genus \(g\geq 2\). \(X\) is said to be ``anisotropic'' if its canonical model is isomorphic to a smooth projective rational curve with affine equation \(x^2+y^2=-1\), the so-called ``empty circle''. Anisotropic curves have necessarilly odd genus and have no real points [see \textit{B. H. Gross} and \textit{J. Harris}, Ann. Sci. Éc. Norm. Supér. (4) 14, 157--182 (1981; Zbl 0533.14011)]. In the present paper the authors study the moduli space of anisotropic curves showing that it is isomorphic to the moduli space of double coverings of the real projective plane \(\mathbb P^2\) ramified along real line arrangements. The authors start by recalling some basic facts about anisotropic curves and their moduli. The set of isomorphism classes of anisotropic curves, \(\mathcal H_g\), is shown to be a semianalytic subset of the moduli space of smooth real curves with no real points, \(\mathcal M_g^\emptyset\), which is a semianalytic variety [see \textit{J. Huisman}, Compos. Math. 118, No. 1, 43--60 (1999; Zbl 0949.14017)] and the branch loci of its canonical map is studied in detail. The authors then study the space of isometry classes of double coverings of \(\mathbb P^2\) ramified along a real line arrangement of degree \(n\), \(\mathcal D_n\), by identifying it with the space of isometry classes of bordered real line arrangements of degree \(n\). These consist of pairs \((A,O)\) where \(A\) is a real line arrangement and \(O\) is a closed subset of \(\mathbb P^2(\mathbb R)\) whose boundary is equal to \(A(\mathbb R)\). The main result of the paper consists in showing that there is a real analytic isomorphism of semianalytic spaces between \(\mathcal D_{g+1}\) and \(\mathcal H_g\). This result also allows the authors to improve results by \textit{B. H. Gross} and \textit{J. Harris} [Ann. Sci. Éc. Norm. Supér. (4) 14, 157--182 (1981; Zbl 0533.14011)]: anisotropic curves admit a representation in affine \(3\)-space by a pair of equations of the form \(x^2+y^2 =-1\) and \(w^2=p(x,y)\), where \(p\) is a product of linear real polynomials, allowing to determine explicitly when two such curves are isomorphic. In the last section of the paper the authors apply their results to the case \(g=3\). Examples and general properties of genus \(3\) anisotropic curves with fixed automorphism group are exhibited.