Tau-functions on Hurwitz spaces (Q1876636)

The authors consider (flat) holomorphic line bundles over Hurwitz spaces \(H_{g,N}(1,\dots,1)\) (the spaces of meromorphic functions on Riemann surfaces or, what is the same, the spaces of branched coverings of the Riemann sphere \(\mathbb P^1\)) and over coverings of Hurwitz spaces. The covariant constant sections (called tau-functions) of these bundles are the main object of this investigation. Let \(v(P)\) be a holomorphic (not necessarily Normalized) differential on an elliptic covering \(\mathcal L\in H_{1,N}(1,\dots,1)\). Introduce the notation \(f_m \equiv f_m(0)\), \(h_k = h_k(0)\), where \(v(P) = f_m(x_m)\,dx_m\) near the branch point \(P_m\) and \(v(P)=h_k(\zeta)\,d\zeta\) near the infinity of the \(k\)th sheet; \(\zeta = 1/\lambda\), where \(\lambda\) is the coordinate of the projection of a point \(P\in\mathcal L\) to \(\mathbb P^1\). Then the Wirtinger tau-function on \(H_{g,N}(1,\dots,1)\) is given by the formula \[ \tau_W= {\left\{\prod_{k=1}^Nh_k\right\}^{1/6}}\!\!\!\left/ {\left\{\prod_{m=1}^Mf_m\right\}^{1/12}}\right.. \] The results in genera 0, 1 follow from the study of the properly regularized Dirichlet integral \({\mathbf S} = 1/2\pi\int_\mathcal L| \phi_\lambda| ^2\), where \(e^\phi| d\lambda| ^2\) is the flat metric on \(\mathcal L\) obtained by projecting down the standard metric \(| dz| ^2\) on the universal covering \(\overline{\mathcal L}\). The derivatives of \({\mathbf S}\) with respect to the branch points are expressed through the values of the Schwarzian connection at the branch points; this reveals a close link of \({\mathbf S}\) with the modulus of the tau-function. On the other hand, the integral \({\mathbf S}\) admits an explicit calculation via the asymptotics of the flat metric near the branch points and the infinities of the sheets of the covering. Moreover, it admits a `holomorphic factorization' i.e. it can be explicitly represented as the modulus square of some holomorphic function, which allows one to compute the tau-function itself. The same tools (except the explicit holomorphic factorization) also work in case of higher genus, when two equivalent approaches are possible. One exploits the Fuchsian uniformization of the surface \(\mathcal L\) and the determinant of the Laplacian on \(\mathcal L\). Let \({\mathbf S}_{\text{Fuchs}}\) be the regularized Liouville action corresponding to the metric of constant curvature \(-1\) on \(\mathcal L\), \({\mathbf S}_{\text{Chottky}}\) the regularized Dirichlet integral, and \({\mathbf B}\) the matrix of \(b\)-periods of the branched covering. Then the modulus square of the Bergmann and Wirtinger tau-functions of the covering \(\mathcal L\) are expressed as follows: \[ | \tau_B| ^2 = e^{-{\mathbf S}_{\text{Fuchs}}/6}\frac{\det\Delta}{\det{\mathbf B}\,\text{Im}}, \] \[ | \tau_W| ^2 = {\mathbf S}e^{-_{\text{Fuchs}}/6}\frac{\det\Delta}{\det{\mathbf B}\,\text{Im}} \prod_{\beta\,\,\text{even}}| \Theta[\beta](0| {\mathbf B})| ^{-2/(4^{g-1}+2^{g-2})}. \] Another approach uses the Schottky uniformization and the holomorphic determinant of the Cauchy-Riemann operator acting in the trivial line bundle over \(\mathcal L\). Then \[ | \tau_B| ^2 = e^{-{\mathbf S}_{\text{Schottky}}/6}| \det{\overline\partial}| ^2, \] \[ | \tau_W| ^2 = e^{-{\mathbf S}_{\text{Schottky}}/6}| \det{\overline\partial}| ^2 \prod_{\beta\,\,\text{even}}| \Theta[\beta](0|{\mathbf B})| ^{-2/(4^{g-1}+2^{g-2})}. \]