A compactification of Igusa varieties (Q2471758)

The author introduces a notion of Igusa level structure which generalizes the notion introduced by Harris and Taylor, and compares it to Drinfeld level structures. The underlying concept was first studied in the case of modular curves: The smooth components of the reduction modulo \(p\) of modular curves are smooth compactifications of finite Galois covers of the ordinary loci of modular curves of level prime to \(p\), and are called Igusa curves [\textit{J.-i. Igusa}, Am. J. Math. 81, 561--577 (1959; Zbl 0093.04502)]. This classical approach was extended by Carayol, and later by Harris and Taylor to the context of some simple Shimura varieties of PEL type [\textit{M. Harris} and \textit{R. Taylor}, The geometry and cohomology of some simple Shimura varieties. With an appendix by Vladimir G. Berkovich. Annals of Mathematics Studies 151. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press (2001; Zbl 1036.11027)]. Here the deformation behavior is controlled by one-dimensional Barsotti-Tate groups, and it is assumed that the \(p\)-rank of this Barsotti-Tate group be constant. Let \(K\) be a finite extension of \(\mathbb Q_p\), with ring of integers \(\mathcal O_K\), and denote by \(\mathcal P_K\) the maximal ideal of \(\mathcal O_K\). Let \(k\) be an algebraic closure of the residue class field \(\mathcal O_K/\mathcal P_K\). If \(S\) is a scheme over \(k\), and \(H\) is a one-dimensional Barsotti-Tate \(\mathcal O_K\)-module over \(S\) of constant \(p\)-rank, then an Igusa structure of level \(m\) is a trivialization of \(H^{\text{ét}}[\mathcal P_K^m]\). If the \(p\)-rank is not constant, then we cannot speak of the étale part \(H^{\text{ét}}\). In the general case (but assuming that \(S\) is reduced) the author makes the following definition: An Igusa structure of level \(m\) is a Drinfeld level structure on \(H[\mathcal P_K^m]/H[F^{(n-h)m}]\), where \(n\) is the height of \(H\), \(h\) is the maximal \(p\)-rank, and \(F\) is the Frobenius morphism. The corresponding Igusa cover is defined as the reduced subscheme underlying the Drinfeld cover attached to \(H[\mathcal P_K^m]/H[F^{(n-h)m}]\). It is shown that the Igusa cover is finite and flat, and that under an additional ``versality condition'' it is a smooth \(k\)-scheme. The relationship to Drinfeld level structures is analyzed. The final section contains an application to counting the number of connected components of Drinfeld covers. It is shown that, in the setup and using the notation of Harris and Taylor, the number of connected components is independent of the level at the fixed prime \(w\) over \(p\).