No label defined (Q4037221)

[For the entire collection see Zbl 0755.00010.] A curve of genus \(g=7\) with the maximal number of automorphisms \((=84(g- 1)=504)\) was given by \textit{A. M. Macbeath} in Proc. Lond. Math. Soc., III. Ser. 15, 527-542 (1965; Zbl 0146.427)]. Its group of automorphisms is the simple group PSL(2,8). The curve can be realized as eight-sheeted covering of the sphere branched over the 7th roots of unity. In the article under review the authors combinatorically represent the monodromy of the covering and use these data to calculate a canonical homology basis of the Macbeath curve. This is done by a computer implementation of an algorithm introduced by \textit{C. L. Tretkoff} and \textit{M. D. Tretkoff} in Contributions to group theory, Contemp. Math. 33, 467-519 (1984; Zbl 0557.30036). With respect to the canonical homology basis the periods of a basis of the holomorphic differentials (given by Macbeath) are calculated. After normaliztion the entries of the \(7\times 7\) period matrix are given. They are rational expressions in a complex number \(t\), where \(t\) is the ratio of periods of a certain elliptic integral. The authors point out that these entries are algebraic numbers if and only if the associated elliptic curve has complex multiplication. This question was not investigated in the paper.