\(q\)-étale covers of cyclic \(p\)-gonal covers (Q2659121)

Let \(\mathcal{X}\) and \(\mathcal{Y}\) be two compact Riemann surfaces, in such a way that \(\psi : \mathcal{Y} \rightarrow \mathcal{X}\) is a \(q\)-cyclic étale cover, and \(\varphi : \mathcal{X} \rightarrow \mathbb{P}^1\) is a non-Galois cover of degree \(p\), for \(p\) and \(q\) different odd primes. The authors consider in this paper the composite cover \(\varphi \circ \psi : \mathcal{Y} \rightarrow \mathbb{P}^1\), which is the \(q\)-étale cover of a cyclic \(p\)-gonal cover in the title. The main result of the article is the characterization of the Galois group of the cover \(\varphi \circ \psi\) (Theorem 14). Using it, the authors obtain results on the isogenous decompositions of Prym and Jacobian varieties associated to certain intermediate subcovers.