One dimensional equisymmetric strata in moduli space with genus 1 quotient surfaces (Q6144648)

Given an integer \(g \geq 2\), the moduli space \(\mathcal{M}_g\) is the space of analytic structures on a closed topological surface of genus \(g\). The singularity structure of a complex orbifold on \(\mathcal{M}_g\) provides a stratification of that moduli space into equisymmetric strata. Each such stratum corresponds to a collection of surfaces whose automorphism groups act in a topologically equivalent way. The dimension of the strata goes from 0, for the quasi-platonic surfaces, to \(2g-1\) for the hyperelliptic locus, and \(3g-3\) for the surfaces without non-trivial automorphisms. The paper under review is devoted to strata of dimension 1, which are punctured Riemann surfaces. Those strata split into two types. The so-called Type 1, consisting of strata whose surfaces \(S\) satisfy that \(S/\mathrm{Aut}(S)\) is a sphere and \(S \rightarrow S/\mathrm{Aut}(S)\) is branched over four points, and Type 2, for which \(S/\mathrm{Aut}(S)\) is a torus and \(S \rightarrow S/\mathrm{Aut}(S)\) is branched over one point. The authors studied already Type 1 strata in [``One dimensional equisymmetric strata in moduli space'', Contemp. Math. 776, 177--215 (2022)]. In the present article they consider Type 2. Firstly, they show an Example (3.2) of such a stratum corresponding to automorphism group \(G = C_q \rtimes C_3\) for a prime \(q \equiv 1\pmod 3\). Thus, Type 2 strata do exist. Then, a computation for all groups up to order 200 shows that the proportion of Type 2 strata with respect to Type 1 grows with the order. (A minor typo is to be noted in Table 1, there are 256 groups of order 2-50, and not 264). Finally, these Type 2 strata are completely described as coverings of Belyi curves, in the main Theorem 3.5, what leads to the open question on which Belyi curves appear in this way. The paper ends with an analysis of the Type 2 actions of non-Abelian groups of order \(pq\), of which example 3.2 is the first (and special) case.