The moduli spaces of hyperelliptic curves and binary forms (Q1433431)

Let \({\mathcal M}_g\) denote the moduli space of smooth curves of genus \(g \geq 2\) over the field of complex numbers, and denote by \(\overline{{\mathcal M}}_g\) the Deligne-Mumford compactification consisting of stable curves of (arithmetic) genus \(g\). Let \({\mathcal H}_g \subset \overline{{\mathcal M}}_g\) be the moduli space of smooth hyperelliptic curves of genus \(g\). The closure \(\overline{{\mathcal H}}_g \subset \overline{{\mathcal M}}_g\) is the space of stable hyperelliptic curves. A smooth hyperelliptic curve of genus \(g \geq 2\) may be thought as a binary form of degree \(2 g + 2\), with nonzero discriminant, and there is a canonical isomorphism between \({\mathcal H}_g\) and \({\mathcal B}_{2 g + 2}\), the moduli space of such binary forms. Let \(\overline{{\mathcal B}}_{2 g + 2}\) be the usual one-point compactification of \({\mathcal B}_{2 g + 2}\). The aim of the work under review is to study the relationship between \(\overline{{\mathcal H}}_g\) and \(\overline{{\mathcal B}}_{2 g + 2}\). Among many results, the main theorem states that the canonical isomorphism \({\mathcal H}_g \rightarrow {\mathcal B}_{2 g + 2}\) extends to a holomorphic map \(\overline{{\mathcal H}}_g \rightarrow \overline{{\mathcal B}}_{2 g + 2}\) (the authors describe this extension explicitly, it is a composition of a canonical homomorphism between \(\overline{{\mathcal H}}_g\) and the moduli space \(\overline{{\mathcal M}}_{0, 2g + 2} \) of stable \((2 g + 2)\)-marked curves of genus zero, and a holomorphic map \(\overline{{\mathcal M}}_{0, 2g + 2} \rightarrow \overline{{\mathcal B}}_{2 g + 2}\)).