On the connectedness of the branch loci of moduli spaces of orientable Klein surfaces (Q2516424)

A Klein surface \(X\) is a surface with a dianalytic structure. These surfaces can be seen as a generalization of Riemann surfaces that may be non-orientable and have a boundary. In this paper, compact Klein surfaces are considered. Analogously to the moduli space \(M_g\) of Riemann surfaces, we can study the moduli space \(M_t^K\) of Klein surfaces with fixed topological type \(t=(h,\pm, k)\), where \(h\) is the topological genus of the surface, \(k\) the number of boundary components and the sign is `+' when the surface is orientable, and `-' otherwise. The space \(M_t^K\) is an orbifold with universal covering of real dimension \(3\epsilon h +3k -6\), where \(\epsilon\) is 2 or 1 if the surface is orientable or not, respectively. The branch locus \(B_t^K\), where \(\epsilon h +k >3\) and \(t\neq (2,+,0)\), consists of the surfaces admitting non-trivial automorphisms, i.e., having symmetries. If \(\epsilon h +k =3\) or \(t= (2,+,0)\), the branch locus consists of surfaces with automorphisms different from the hyperelliptic involution. It is an interesting problem to study the connectedness of \(B_t^K\). Some previous results are known. The set \(B_{(h,-,0)}^K\) is connected for \(h\leq 5\) and \(B_{(h,+,0)}^K\) is connected for \(h\geq 2\). The main result in the paper under review is that \(B_{(h,+,k)}\) is connected for every \(h\) and \(k\) such that \(2h+k >3\) and \((g,k)\neq (2,0)\). This result contrasts with the case for Riemann surfaces, where it is known that \(B_g\) is always disconnected for \(g\geq 60\). The authors study the topological classification of automorphisms of orientable Klein surfaces and moduli spaces. In five lemmata, they deal with different numerical cases of the following construction: given a Klein surface with an automorphism of a fixed topological type, a new Klein surface is obtained, admitting an automorphism topologically equivalent to the first one and having an involution with some adequate properties. The main result is a consequence of this series of lemmata. The authors point out that the connectedness of \(B_t^K\) can be deduced of different references for the cases \((h,k) = (2,0), (0,3)\) and \((1,1)\). For the study of the branch locus of non-orientable bordered Klein surfaces, similar techniques can be used. It is convenient to observe that the reference [8] in the paper should be read as [\textit{E. Bujalance} et al., Glasg. Math. J. 57, No. 1, 211--230 (2015; Zbl 1316.57015)].