Slope inequalities for fibred surfaces via GIT (Q1001969)

The paper under review extends a result of \textit{M. Cornalba} and \textit{J. Harris} [Ann. Sci. Éc. Norm. Supér. (4) 21, No. 3, 455--475 (1988; Zbl 0674.14006)] and \textit{G. Xiao} [Math. Ann. 276, 449--466 (1987; Zbl 0596.14028)]. The author uses Geometric Invariant Theory (GIT), extending Cornalba-Harris' method, to give a new proof of the slope inequality for fibred surfaces \(f:S\longrightarrow B\) over a smooth complete curve \(B\) \[ s(f)\geq \frac{4(g-1)}{g} \] where \[ s(f)=\frac{(\omega_f\cdot\omega_f)}{\deg f_*\omega_f} \] with \(\omega_f=\omega_S\otimes (f^*\omega_B)^{-1}\). The inequality is also proved for non-semistable and for hyperelliptic fibrations. A similar bound for double cover fibrations of genus \((g,\gamma)\) (where \(g\) is the genus of a fibre and \(\gamma\) is the genus of the base \(B\)) is given (see also \textit{M. Cornalba} and \textit{L. Stoppino} [Mich. Math. J. 56, No. 3, 551--561 (2008; Zbl 1159.14006)] for a detailed proof).