Brill-Noether with ramification at unassigned points (Q392122)

Classical Brill-Noether theory states that the space of linear systems of rank \(r\) and degree \(d\) on a general curve \(C\) of genus \(g\) has dimension \[ \rho(g, r, d) = g - (r+1) (g-d+r). \] If this so-called Brill-Noether number is negative, its absolute value gives an upper bound on the codimension in \(\mathcal{M}_g\) of the locus of curves admitting such a linear system. In developing their theory of limit linear series, \textit{D. Eisenbud} and \textit{J. Harris} showed that the existence of linear systems with presribed ramification sequences \(\bar{\alpha}^1, \dots, \bar{\alpha}^n\) at fixed points \(p_1, \dots, p_n \in C\) is likewise governed by the modified Brill-Noether number \[ \rho(g, r, d, \bar{\alpha}^1, \dots, \bar{\alpha}^n) = \rho(g, r, d) - \sum_{j=1}^n \sum_{i=0}^r \alpha_i^j, \] where again a negative number bounds the codimension in \(\mathcal{M}_{g,n}\). The present paper asks for a result of this type in case the ramification is prescribed, but the points \(p_1, \dots, p_n\) are not fixed ahead of time. In the \(1\)-pointed case it is shown that if \(\rho(g, r, d, \bar{\alpha}) < -1\), the general curve of genus \(g \geq 2\) does not admit a \(g^r_d\) with ramification sequence \(\bar{\alpha}\) at any point \(p \in C\). Moreover, the author conjectures that if \(\rho(g, r, d, \bar{\alpha}) < -2\), the locus of such curves has codimension at least \(2\) in \(\mathcal{M}_g\). The result is generalized to the case of multiple points in the sense that if \(\rho(g, r, d, \bar{\alpha}^1, \dots, \bar{\alpha}^n) < -1\), the locus of pointed curves \((C; p_1, \dots, p_n)\) admitting a \(g^r_d\) with ramification sequence \(\bar{\alpha}^i\) at \(p_i\) has codimension at least \(2\) in \(\mathcal{M}_{g,n}\). Interestingly enough, the proof by induction on \(g\) only starts from \(g = 3\) due to the presence of an additional relation in the Picard group of \(\overline{\mathcal{M}}_{2,1}\). The cases of genus \(2\) and \(3\) are established by explicit methods using the geometry of low-genus curves.