On the Jacobian locus in the Prym locus and geodesics (Q2157803)

The study of the extrinsic geometry of the Jacobian locus \(\overline{J_g}\) in the moduli space \(A_g\) of principally polarized abelian varieties, namely of the closure of the locus of Jacobian varieties in \(A_g\), has been stimulated by different many problems throughout its history (two of the best known are the Torelli and Schottky problems). In particular, the theory of generalized Prym varieties as developed by [\textit{A. Beauville}, Invent. Math. 41, 149--196 (1977; Zbl 0333.14013)] highlighted a natural inclusion of the Jacobian locus inside boundary of the Prym locus \(\overline{P_{g+1}}\), which is the closure in \(A_g\) of the locus of Prym varieties associated to étale coverings of degree \(2\) onto smooth projective curves of genus \(g+1\). In terms of the study of the extrinsic geometry of \(\overline{J_g}\subset A_g\) such a theory suggested a refined study of \(\overline{J_g}\subset \overline{P_{g+1}}\) by using the parametrization of Jacobian varieties as generalized Prym varieties. Let \(M_g\) be the moduli space of curves of genus \(g\) and let \(R_{g+1}\) be the moduli space of degree \(2\) étale coverings of curves of genus \(g+1\). For any \([C]\in M_g\), let \(JC\) be the Jacobian variety and let \(\mathrm{Cliff }C\) denote the Clifford index of \(C\) (see [\textit{E. Arbarello} et al., Geometry of algebraic curves. Volume II. With a contribution by Joseph Daniel Harris. Berlin: Springer (2011; Zbl 1235.14002)]). For any \(\zeta \in T_{[JC]}J_g\), let \(\xi \in H^1(C, T_C)\) such that \(\zeta \) can be identified with the cup product map \(\cup \xi: H^0(C, \omega_C)\to H^0(C, \omega_C)^\vee\), under the isomorphism \(T_{[JC]}A_g\simeq \mathrm{Sym}^2H^0(C, \omega_C)^\vee\). We define the rank of \(\zeta\) as the rank of \(\cup \xi\). The following is one of the main results of the paper. Theorem 1. Let \(JC\) be a general Jacobian variety of dimension \(g\geq 7\). Then for any \(\zeta\in T_{[JC]}J_g\) of rank \(k=rk\zeta <\mathrm{Cliff }C-3\), the local geodesic in \(A_g\) at \([JC]\) with direction \(\zeta\) (defined with respect to the Siegel metric) is not contained in the Prym locus \(\overline{P_{g+1}}\) (in particular, also in \(\overline{J_g}\subset \overline{P_{g+1}}\)). Assume \(g\geq 7\). Let \(M_g\) be the moduli space of curves of genus \(g\) and let \(A_g\) be the moduli space of principally polarized abelian varieties. The Torelli morphism \[ j: M_g\to A_g , \quad [C]\mapsto [JC] \] sends a genus \(g\) smooth projective curve \(C\) to its Jacobian variety \(JC\) (up to isomorphism). Its image \(J_g=j(M_g)\subset A_g\) defines a proper locus for \(g>3\) and its closure \(\overline{J_g}\subset A_g\) is called the Jacobian locus. By using the isomorphisms \[ T_{[C]}M_g\simeq H^1(C,T_C), \quad T_{[JC]}A_g\simeq \mathrm{Sym}^2H^0(C, \omega_C)^{\vee}, \] the differential of the Torelli map \[ dj:H^1(C,T_C)\to \mathrm{Sym}^2H^0(C, \omega_C)^{\vee},\quad \xi \mapsto \zeta \] is given by \(\zeta=\cup\xi:H^0(C, \omega_C)\to H^0(C,\omega_C)^\vee,\) the cup product map with \(\xi.\) Let \(R_{g+1}\) be the moduli space parametrizing \(2\)-sheeted étale coverings \(\pi: \tilde{C}\to C'\) between smooth projective curves of genus \(\tilde{g}=g(\tilde{C})=2g(C')-1\) and \(g'=g(C')=g+1\), respectively (modulo isomorphism). A point in \(R_{g+1}\) is an isomorphism class assigned equivalently by \begin{itemize} \item[(i)] a pair \((\tilde{C}, i)\), where \(i:\tilde{C}\to \tilde{C}\) is an involution such that \(\tilde{C}/(i)=C'\), \item[(ii)] a pair \((C', \eta)\), where \(\eta \in \mathrm{Pic}^0(C')\setminus \{\mathcal O_{C'}\}\) is a \(2\)-torsion point and \(\tilde{C}= \mathrm{spec} (\mathcal O_C\oplus \eta)\). \end{itemize} One can reconstruct the data \((i)\) from \((ii)\) and conversely (see [\textit{A. Beauville}, Invent. Math. 41, 149--196 (1977; Zbl 0333.14013)], [\textit{D. Mumford}, in: Contribut. to Analysis, Collect. of Papers dedicated to Lipman Bers, 325--350 (1974; Zbl 0299.14018)]) and so with a little abuse of notations we will describe a point of \(R_{g+1}\) in both ways depending on the setting. The Prym morphism \[ Pr: R_{g+1}\to A_g, \quad [(C', \eta)]\mapsto [P(C',\eta)] \] maps a pair \((C', \eta)\) to its Prym variety \(P(C',\eta)\)(up to isomorphisms). By definition, the Prym variety is \(P(C',\eta)=\ker Nm^0,\) namely the connected component containing zero in the kernel of the norm map \(Nm: J\tilde{C}\to JC'\), and it is a principally polarized abelian variety of dimension \(g\), with the principal polarization given by one half of the restriction of that on \(J\tilde{C}\). The image \(P_{g+1}=Pr(R_{g+1})\subset A_g\) of the Prym morphism defines a proper locus for \(g\geq 6\) and its closure \(\overline{P_{g+1}}\) is called the Prym locus. By construction, the forgetful functor \(\pi_{R_{g+1}}: R_{g+1}\to M_{g+1},\) sending \([(C',\eta)]\mapsto [C']\), is an étale finite covering and so we can identify \(T_{[(C', \eta)]}R_{g+1}\simeq T_{[C']}M_g.\) Using the isomorphisms \[ T_{[C', \eta]}R_{g+1}\simeq H^1(C', T_{C'}), \quad T_{[P(C, \eta)]}A_g\simeq \mathrm{Sym}^2H^1(C',\eta)\simeq \mathrm{Sym}^2 H^0(C', \omega_{C'}\otimes \eta)^{\vee}, \] the differential of the Prym map \[ d Pr:H^1(C', T_{C'})\to \mathrm{Sym}^2H^1(C',\eta), \quad \xi' \longmapsto \zeta', \] is given by \(\zeta'=\cup\xi':H^0(C', \omega_{C'}\otimes \eta)\to H^0(C', \omega_{C'}\otimes \eta)^{\vee}\), the cup product with \(\xi'.\) Let \(C\) be a smooth projective curve. The gonality and the Clifford index of \(C\) are defined as \begin{align*} &\operatorname{gon} C= \min\{n\in\mathbb N \,| \, C \mbox{ has a } g^1_n\} ;\\ &\mathrm{Cliff }C = \min\{\mathrm{Cliff }D=\deg D- 2 (h^0(D)-1)\, | \, D\subset C \mbox{ divisor}, h^0(D)\geq 2, h^1(D)\geq 2 \}. \end{align*} By [\textit{M. Coppens} and \textit{G. Martens}, Compos. Math. 78, No. 2, 193--212 (1991; Zbl 0741.14035)], these are related by \[ \operatorname{gon} C -3 \leq\mathrm{Cliff }C \leq \operatorname{gon} C- 2 , \] where the second inequality is an equality on a general \(C\) in \(M_g\), while the first one is conjectured to be extremely rare [\textit{D. Eisenbud} et al., Compos. Math. 72, No. 2, 173--204 (1989; Zbl 0703.14020)]. The followings are well known. \begin{itemize} \item[1.] \(\operatorname{gon} C \leq \left\lfloor \frac{g+3}{2}\right \rfloor\) (and so \(\mathrm{Cliff} C \leq \left\lfloor \frac{g-1}{2}\right \rfloor\)) and the equality holds for a general curve \([C]\in M_g\) (see [\textit{E. Arbarello} et al., Geometry of algebraic curves. Volume II. With a contribution by Joseph Daniel Harris. Berlin: Springer (2011; Zbl 1235.14002)]); \item[2.] let \(f:\mathcal C\to B\) be a fibration of projective curves over a complex curve \(B\) and such that the general fibre is smooth. The invariants \(\operatorname{gon} C_b \) and \(\mathrm{Cliff} C_b\) are maximal on a general fibre \(C_b\) of the set of smooth fibres ([\textit{K. Konno}, J. Algebr. Geom. 8, No. 2, 207--220 (1999; Zbl 0979.14004)]). \end{itemize} An \textit{admissible covering} of degree \(k\) with \(m\) ramification points is the data of \begin{itemize} \item[1.] a stable \(m\)-pointed reduced connected curve \((E, x_1, \dots ,x_m)\) of arithmetic genus \(0\) (i.e. a curve with ordinary double points where any rational component is smooth and stable and the dual graph is connected); \item[2.] a reduced connected curve \(X\) with ordinary double points and a morphism \(\pi : X \to E\) of degree \(k\) (everywhere) such that over any marked point \(x_i\) of \(E\), \(X\) is smooth and \(f\) has a unique simple ramification point \(y_i\), on any smooth point of \(E\), \(f\) is étale and over double points \(p\) of \(E\), \(X\) has an ordinary double point \(q\) and \(f\) is locally described as \[ X\,:\, xy=0; \quad E\,:\, uv=0;\quad \, f\,:\, u=x^{k'}\quad ,\, v= y^{k'}, \] for some \(k'\leq k\). \end{itemize} We have the following Lemma. Let \(C'\) be a stable nodal curve of genus \(g'\), let \(\nu': C^{\nu'}\to C'\) be its normalization and let \(C\subset C^{\nu'}\) be a smooth connected curve of genus \(g\). Consider \(f':\mathcal C'\to \Delta\), a family of smooth projective curves of genus \(g'\) over \(\Delta \setminus \{0\}\), the complex disk minus zero, such that \(C'=f^{-1}(0)\). Then any family of pencils \(g^1_k(t)\) over \( \Delta\setminus\{0\}\) compatible with \(f\) (i.e. \(g^1_k(t)\) is a pencil on \(C'_t=f^{-1}(t)\)) defines a pencil \(g^1_{k'}\) on \(C\) for some \(k'\leq k\). In particular, \(\operatorname{gon} C\leq \operatorname{gon} C'_t\) and \(\mathrm{Cliff }C\leq \mathrm{Cliff }C'_t+1\), for a general fibre \(C'_t=f^{-1}(t)\). Let \(Y\) be a smooth complex variety and let \((\mathbb H_{\mathbb Z}, \mathcal H^{1,0}, \mathcal Q) \) be a polarized variation of Hodge structures (pvhs, in short) of weight 1 on \(Y\). Namely, \(\mathbb H_Z\) is a local system of lattices, \(\mathcal H^{1,0}\) is a Hodge bundle of type \((1,0)\) (equivalently, the Hodge filtration in this case) and \(\mathcal Q\) is a polarization. Let \(\mathbb H_{\mathbb C}=\mathbb H_{\mathbb Z}\otimes_{\mathbb Z}\mathbb C\) and let \(\mathcal H=\mathbb H_{\mathbb C} \otimes \mathcal O_Y\) be the holomorphic flat bundle with the holomorphic flat connection \(\nabla\) defined by \(\ker \nabla \simeq \mathbb H_{\mathbb C}\), the Gauss-Manin connection. The holomorphic inclusion \(\mathcal H^{1,0}\subset\mathcal H\) of vector bundles induces the short exact sequence \[ \begin{tikzcd} 0 \arrow{r} & \mathcal H^{1,0} \arrow{r} & \mathcal H \arrow{r}{\pi^{{0,1}}} & \mathcal H/\mathcal H^{1,0} \arrow{r}& 0. \end{tikzcd} \] Let \(\pi^{{0,1}'}: \mathcal H\otimes \Omega^1_Y\to\mathcal H/\mathcal H^{1,0}\otimes \Omega^1_Y\) be the map induced by \(\pi^{0,1}\) and \(\sigma =\pi^{{0,1}'}\circ \nabla: \mathcal H^{1,0}\to\mathcal H/\mathcal H^{1,0}\otimes \Omega_Y^1\) the second fundamental form of \(\mathcal H^{1,0}\subset\mathcal H\) with respect to \(\nabla\). Following [\textit{A. Ghigi} et al., Commun. Contemp. Math. 23, No. 3, Article ID 2050020, 13 p. (2021; Zbl 1455.14013)], let \(\mathbb U=\ker \nabla_{|\mathcal H^{1,0}}\) and define \[ \mathcal U:=\mathbb U\otimes \mathcal O_Y,\quad \quad \mathcal K:=\ker ( \sigma : \mathcal H^{1,0}\longrightarrow\mathcal H /\mathcal H^{1,0} \otimes \Omega_Y^1). \] Then \(\mathcal U\) is a holomorphic vector bundle and \(\mathcal K\) is a coherent sheaf which is a vector bundle when \(\sigma\) is of constant rank. Definition 1. We call \(\\mathcal U\) and \(\mathcal K\) as defined in (1), \textit{the unitary flat bundle} and \textit{the kernel sheaf} of the variation, respectively Proposition 1. We have \( \mathcal U\subset \mathcal K\) and if \(\tau\equiv 0\), then \(\mathcal U=\mathcal K\). For any \(B\subset A_g\) smooth complex curve, let \(f: \mathcal A\to B\) be the family of abelian varieties (defined up to finite base change) and let \(A_b\) be the fibre over \(b\in B\). Then the p.v.h.s. is defined by \[ \mathbb H_{\mathbb Z}\simeq R^1f_\ast \mathbb Z, \quad \mathcal H^{1,0}= f_\ast \Omega^1_{\mathcal A/B}\subset \mathcal H= R^1f_\ast \mathbb C\otimes \mathcal O_{B}; \] \[ \mbox{where }\quad (R^1f_\ast \mathbb Z)_b\simeq H^1(A_b,\mathbb Z), (f_\ast\Omega^1_{\mathcal A/B })_b\simeq H^0(A_b, \Omega^1_{A_b}), {(R^1f_\ast \mathbb C\otimes \mathcal O_{B})}_b\simeq H^1(A_b, \mathbb C). \] Let \(H_g\) denote the Siegel upper half space. As a symmetric space of non-compact type it is endowed by a symmetric metric \(h^s\), called the Siegel metric, defining a metric connection \(\nabla^{LC}\) on the tangent bundle \(TH_g\). As a parametrizing space of weight \(1\) p.v.h.s., it carries a universal p.v.h.s. \((\mathbb H_{\mathbb Z},\mathcal H^{1,0}, \mathcal Q)\) with its Hodge metric defined by \(Q\), inducing a metric \(h\) together with a metric connection \(\nabla^{hdg}\) on \(\mathrm{Hom} (\mathcal H^{1,0}, \mathcal H/\mathcal H^{1,0})\). There is a natural inclusion \[ (TH_g, \nabla^{LC})\subset (\mathrm{Hom} (\mathcal H^{1,0}, \mathcal H/\mathcal H^{1,0}), \nabla^{hdg}) \] compatible with the metric structure (see e.g. a classical reference [\textit{P. A. Griffiths}, in: Actes Congr. internat. Math. 1970, 1, 113--119 (1971; Zbl 0227.14008)] or some more recent references [\textit{A. Ghigi}, Boll. Unione Mat. Ital. 12, No. 1--2, 133--144 (2019; Zbl 1444.14028)], [\textit{A. Ghigi} et al., Commun. Contemp. Math. 23, No. 3, Article ID 2050020, 13 p. (2021; Zbl 1455.14013)]). Consider the universal covering \(\psi: H_g\to A_g\) and the metric properties introduced before on \(H_g\). Let \([A]\in A_g\) and let \(\zeta\in T_{[A]}A_g\). Take \(\tilde{A}\in \psi^{-1}([A])\) and consider \(\zeta\) as \(\zeta \in T_{\tilde{A}}H_g\simeq T_{[A]}A_g\). Then in \(H_g\) a (local) geodesic at \((\tilde{A}, \zeta)\) is simply a curve \(\gamma:(-\epsilon, \epsilon)\to H_g\) such that \(\gamma(0)=\tilde{A}\) and \(\gamma'(0)=\zeta\) satisfying \(\nabla^{LC}_{\gamma'}\gamma'=0\). Working locally, we can assume w.l.o.g that \(\gamma((-\epsilon, \epsilon))\) is contained in one sheet of \(\psi\). Definition 2. Let \([A]\in A_g\) and let \(\zeta\in T_{[A]}A_g\) A (local) geodesic associated to \(([A], \zeta)\) is a map \(\psi\circ \gamma: (-\epsilon, \epsilon)\to A_g\), where \(\gamma\) is a local geodesic in \(H_g\) defined as above. We are interested in points of \(J_g\subset A_g\) and directions in \(T_{[A]}J_g\subset T_{[A]}A_g\). If \([A]=[JC]\), namely the Jacobian of some \([C]\in M_g\), and \(\zeta = \cup \xi\), for some \(\xi \in H^1(C, T_C)\), under the isomorphisms \(T_{[C]}M_g\simeq H^1(C, T_C)\) and \(T_{[J_g]}A_g\simeq \mathrm{Sym}^2H^1(C, \mathcal O_C)\simeq \mathrm{Sym}^2H^0(C, \omega_C)^\vee\), we will also refer to the geodesic at \((JC, \zeta)\) as the geodesic at \((C, \xi)\). This is admitted since the Torelli map is an immersion outside the Hyperelliptic locus and we are not considering hyperelliptic curves. We have the following (see [\textit{A. Ghigi} et al., Commun. Contemp. Math. 23, No. 3, Article ID 2050020, 13 p. (2021; Zbl 1455.14013), Lemma 3.3 and Lemma 3.4] for the proof) Lemma 2. Let \(\gamma:(-\epsilon, \epsilon)\to A_g\) be a local geodesic associated to \(([A], \zeta)\). Then there exists a complex curve \(B\subset H_g\) containing the geodesic and such that \(\mathcal K =\mathcal U\). We can shrink \(B\) around \(\gamma((-\epsilon, \epsilon))\) in such a way that it is contained in one sheet on \(\psi\) and so we can then look at it as a curve in \(A_g\). Let \(C\) be a smooth projective curve, let \(\mathcal F\) be a rank \(2\) vector bundle over \(C\) and let \(\alpha: \bigwedge^2H^0(C,\mathcal F)\to H^0(C,\det \mathcal F)\) be a linear map. A subspace \(W\subset H^0(C,\mathcal F) \) is called \textit{isoptropic} with respect to \(\alpha\) if \(\alpha_{|\bigwedge^2 W}\equiv 0\). Let \(\mathcal L, \mathcal L'\) be two line bundles on \(C\), let \(0\to\mathcal L \to\mathcal F \to\mathcal L'\to 0\) be a s.e.s. associated to \(\xi\in \mathrm{Ext}^1_{\mathcal O_C}(\mathcal L', \mathcal L)\) and let \(\alpha: \bigwedge^2H^0(C,\mathcal F)\to H^0(C,\det \mathcal F)\simeq H^0(C,\mathcal L\otimes\mathcal L')\). A subspace \(V\subset H^0(C,\mathcal L')\) is called \textit{isotropic} with respect to \(\alpha\) if it lifts to a subspace \(W\subset H^0(C,\mathcal F)\) isotropic with respect to \(\alpha\). Note that a subspace \(V \subset H^0(C,\mathcal L')\) lifts to \(W\subset H^0(C,\mathcal F)\) if and only if it lies in the kernel of the coboundary morphism \(\delta: H^0(C,\mathcal L')\to H^1(C,\mathcal L)\) on the long exact sequence in cohomology. Theorem 2. Let \(f: \mathcal C\to B\) be a fibration of smooth projective curves over a smooth complex curve \(B\) and let \(\mathcal U\subset f_\ast \omega_{\mathcal C/B}\) be the associated unitary flat bundle (Definition 1). Assume that the fibres \(U_b\subset H^0(\omega_{C_b})\) are isotropic subspaces with respect to \(\alpha_b\) for any \(b\in B\). Then (up to a finite base change) there exists a smooth projective curve \(\Sigma\) of genus \(g'=rk \mathcal U\) and a non constant fibre-preserving map \(\varphi: \mathcal C \to \Sigma\) such that \(U_b\simeq \varphi^\ast H^0(\Sigma,\omega_{\Sigma})\).