A curve algebraically but not rationally uniformized by radicals (Q2386070)

Zariski proved that the generic Riemann surface of genus \(g > 6\) admits no mappings to the Riemann sphere with solvable monodromy group -- i.e. it cannot be uniformized by radicals. This result is sharp since every curve of genus \(6\) admits a degree \(4\) map to the Riemann sphere. The reviewer generalized this result in a series of papers with different coauthors by showing that if \(X\) is the generic Riemann surface of genus \(g \geq 4\) and \(f\) is an indecomposable rational map to the Riemann sphere of degree \(n\), then the monodromy group is \(S_n\) or \(A_n\) (and \(n > (g+1)/2\)). The reviewer and \textit{M. G. Neubauer} [in: Recent developments in the inverse Galois problem, Contemp. Math. 186, 325--352 (1995; Zbl 0845.20002)] extended Zariski's result by showing that for \(g > 6\), the subset of genus \(g\) Riemann surfaces admitting a solvable map to the Riemann sphere is contained in a proper closed subvariety of the moduli space of genus \(g\) curves. Zariski asked if it was possible that given a Riemann surface \(X\), there was always a \(Y\) covering \(X\) that had a solvable cover to the Riemann sphere (Zariski thought that this was unlikely). The point of this paper is produce a curve \(X\) of genus \(7\) that admits no solvable cover to the Riemann sphere but is itself is covered by a curve that is parametrized by radicals. The curves were actually exhibited in a paper by \textit{O. Debarre} and \textit{R. Fahlaoui} [Compos. Math. 88, 235--249 (1993; Zbl 0808.14025)]. The authors show that they satisfy the desired properties. This shows that there is a bigger class of curves (what the authors called algebraically parametrized by radicals) than curves admitting solvable maps. This is interesting but still far from settling the Zariski question (whether the class of curves that are algebraically parametrized by radicals is the class of all curves). The techniques are a refinement of the ideas used by Zariski to show that these curves admit no solvable maps to the Riemann sphere. The fact they are algebraically uniformized by radicals comes out of the fact that the fourth symmetric power of the curve contains an elliptic curve.