On the locus of genus 3 curves that admit meromorphic differentials with a zero of order 6 and a pole of order 2 (Q2152470)

Let \(X\) be a smooth projective irreducible complex curve of genus \(g\). For every partition \(\mu = (a_1,\ldots, a_n;-b_1,\ldots,-b_p)\) of the number \((2g-2)\) with \(a_i\), \(b_j > 1\) there is a moduli space \(\Omega \mathcal{M}_g(\mu)\) parametrizing the pairs \((X, \omega)\), where \(\omega\) is a meromorphic differential on \(X\) with zeroes of order \(a_i\), \(1\le i\le n\), and poles of order \(b_j\), \(1\le j\le p\), at some points of \(X\). Denote by \(\mathcal{M}_g\) the moduli space of curves of genus \(g\) and by \(\mathbb{P}\Omega\mathcal{ M}_g\) the projective bundle over \(\mathcal{M}_g\) with fibre \(\mathbb{P}^{g-1}\) induced by the projection \(\Omega \mathcal{M}_g\to \mathcal{M}_g\). The image of the stratum \(\mathcal{M}_g(\mu)\) in \(\mathbb{P}(\mathcal{M}_g)\) is called the projective stratum and is denoted by \(\mathbb{P}\Omega\mathcal{M}_g(\mu)\). There is a natural map \(\pi:\Omega \mathcal{M}_g(\mu)\to \mathcal{M}_g\) which factors through the space \(\mathbb{P}\Omega\mathcal{ M}_g(\mu)\). Denote by \(\mathcal{M}_g(\mu)\) the image of the stratum \(\Omega\mathcal{M}_g(\mu)\) under the mapping \(\pi\) and by \(\overline{\mathcal{M}}_g(\mu)\) its closure in the Deligne-Mumford moduli space of stable curves \(\overline{\mathcal{M}}_g\). The main result of the paper is Theorem 1.1. It states that the class of \(\overline{\mathcal{M}}_3(6;-2)\) in \(\text{Pic}(\overline{\mathcal{M}}_3)\otimes \mathbb{Q}\) is \([\overline{\mathcal{M}}_3(6;-2)]= 17108\lambda-1792\delta_0- 4396\delta_1\). Here \(\lambda\) is the first Chern class of the corresponding Hodge bundle, \(\delta_0\) and \(\delta_1\) are the classes of the closures of the locus of irreducible singular curves and the locus obtained by gluing a smooth genus \(1\) curve to a smooth genus \(2\) curve respectively. The proof is based on the usage of the Porteous formula, the theory of test curves and the compactification of strata introduced in [\textit{M. Bainbridge} et al., Duke Math. J. 167, No. 12, 2347--2416 (2018; Zbl 1403.14058)].