The Euler characteristics of \(\mathcal H_{g,n}\) (Q2463873)

Let \(\mathcal M_{g,n}\) denote the moduli space of non-singular complex curves of genus \(g\) with \(n\) marked points. Denote by \(\mathcal H_{g,n}\subset\mathcal M_{g,n}\) the locus of hyperelliptic curves with \(n\) marked points. In this short note, general formulas for the ordinary topological Euler characteristic and the orbifold Euler characteristic of \(\mathcal H_{g,n}\) are given. As an application, the formulas so obtained are used to deduce an identity involving hypergeometric functions. The calculation of the orbifold Euler characteristic easily follows from the fact that the forgetful morphism \(\mathcal H_{g,n}\rightarrow \mathcal H_g\) is a fibration in the category of analytic orbifolds. The calculation of the usual Euler characteristic is more involved, and is achieved by considering the stratification of \(\mathcal H_{g,n}\) by the number of marked points which are fixed by the hyperelliptic involution, and the number of pairs of marked points which are hyperelliptic conjugate. Then each connected component of such a stratum can be described as a covering space of \(\mathcal M_{0,m}\) for some integer \(m\). This generalizes to arbitrary \(g\) the construction in [\textit{G. Bini}, \textit{G. Gaiffi} and \textit{M. Polito}, Math. Z. 236, No. 3, 491--523 (2001; Zbl 1056.14505)] for \(g=2\).