Cohomology of the moduli space of non-hyperelliptic genus four curves (Q2073614)

In this paper, the author computes the intersection Betti numbers of the GIT model of the moduli space of Brill-Noether-Petri general curves of genus four. The canonical model of such curves is a complete intersection of a smooth quadric and a cubic surface in \(\mathbb P^3\). This moduli space hence carries a natural GIT compactification: \[M := \mathbb PH^0(\mathbb P^1 \times \mathbb P^1, \mathcal O_{\mathbb P^1 \times \mathbb P^1}(3, 3)) // \mathrm{Aut}(\mathbb P^1 \times \mathbb P^1),\] and was shown to be the final non-trivial log canonical model for the moduli space of stable genus four curves by \textit{M. Fedorchuk} [Int. Math. Res. Not. 2012, No. 24, 5650--5672 (2012; Zbl 1258.14032)], under the Hassett-Keel program. Unstable points and strictly semistable points of the above GIT model are classified by \textit{S. Casalaina-Martin} et al. [J. Algebr. Geom. 23, No. 4, 727--764 (2014; Zbl 1327.14207)], and by \textit{M. Fedorchuk} [Int. Math. Res. Not. 2012, No. 24, 5650--5672 (2012; Zbl 1258.14032)]. There is a complete understanding of the rational cohomology of the Deligne-Mumford compactification \(\overline M_4\) due to \textit{J. Bergström} and \textit{O. Tommasi} [Math. Ann. 338, No. 1, 207--239 (2007; Zbl 1126.14030)]. The purpose of this paper is to compute the cohomology at the other end of the Hassett-Keel program, namely the Betti numbers of \(M\). The strategy of the cohomological computation relies on a general method developed by Kirwan to calculate the cohomology of GIT quotients of projective varieties, based on the equivariantly perfect stratification of the unstable points studied by Hesselink and others and a partial resolution of singularities. As the author mentioned, it will be an interesting project to explore the relation between the cohomology of \(M\) and \(\overline M_4\) by the wall crossing along the Hassett-Keel program.