Identifying variable points on a smooth curve (Q1382623)

Let \(X\) be a compact Riemann surface, \(n\geq 2\) an integer and \(x\) a point of the symmetric power \(S^n(X)\). There is a canonical way of defining a complex curve \(Y_x\) by identifying the points of \(X\) which belong to \(x\) which takes account of their multiplicity in \(x\). The curve \(Y_x\) has a unique singular point and the identification map \(f_x:X\to Y_x\) is the normalization of \(Y_x\). The object of this paper is to study the moduli of \(f_x\) as \(x\) varies. To do this, the author constructs a family of quotients of \(X\) parametrised by \(S^n(X)\) such that the quotient corresponding to \(x\) is precisely \(f_x\). This determines a holomorphic map \(S^n(X)\to Q_X\), where \(Q_X\) is the fine moduli space of all quotients of \(X\). The author proves that this map is a closed embedding and that the embedding dimension of \(Q_X\) at \(f_x\) is \(n(n-1)\). It follows that \(S^2 (X)\) is a smooth connected component of \(Q_X\). On the other hand, for \(n\geq 3\), a deformation argument shows that \(S^3(X)\) is contained in the singular locus of \(Q_X\).