On Weierstrass points of Hurwitz curves (Q2498862)

Let \(X\) be a compact Riemann surface of genus \(g \geq 2\) and \(G\) its automorphism group. It is well-known that \(| G| \leq 84(g-1)\). Curves attaining this bound are called Hurwitz curves and the corresponding groups are called Hurwitz group. Recall that a finite group is a Hurwitz group if and only if it is generated by three elements of orders \(2,3\) and \(7\) whose product is \(1\). The only Hurwitz curves of genus \(g<14\) are the famous Klein curve (of genus \(3\)) and the \textit{A. M. MacBeath} curve (of genus \(7\)) [Proc. Lond. Math. Soc., III. Ser. 15, 527--542 (1965; Zbl 0146.42705)]. Their automorphism groups \(G=L_2(7)\) (resp. \(G=L_2(8)\)) act transitively on the Weierstrass points. In this paper the authors prove that there are no other Hurwitz curves with this property, except possibly the Hurwitz curves of genus \(14\). Apart from several group-theoretic lemmas, the main tool is a lemma of \textit{B. Schoeneberg} [Abh. Math. Semin. Univ. Hamb. 17, 104--111 (1951; Zbl 0042.31902)]: If a nontrivial automorphism of a compact Riemann surface of genus \(g \geq 2\) has at least \(5\) fixed points then they are Weierstrass points.