THE STRONG FRANCHETTA CONJECTURE IN ARBITRARY CHARACTERISTICS (Q4474424)

The Franchetta conjecture was proved by \textit{E. Arbarello} and \textit{M. Cornalba}, [Topology 26, 153--171 (1987; Zbl 0625.14014) and Publ. Math., Inst. Hautes Étud. Sci. 88, 97--127 (1998; Zbl 0991.14012)] over the complex numbers and the strong Franchetta conjecture, which claims that the rational points in the Picard scheme of the generic curve of genus \(g\geq 3\) over \({\mathbb C}\) are precisely the multiples of the canonical class, was deduced by \textit{N. Mestrano} [Invent. Math. 87, 365--376 (1987; Zbl 0585.14011)] and \textit{A. Kouvidakis} [J. Differ. Geom. 34, No. 3, 839--850 (1991; Zbl 0780.14004)]. The author proves this conjecture in all characteristics for generic pointed curves, that is, their Picard groups are freely generated by the canonical class and the marked points. The author uses Moriwaki's calculation of the \({\mathbb Q}\)-Picard group of the moduli space of pointed curves in order to prove the above result. Using the Franchetta conjecture for generic pointed curves, he proves this conjecture for the generic unpointed curve over any base field. Moreover, the author deduces from Hilbert's irreducibility theorem and the theory of geometric unibranch singularities that there are many other nonclosed points in the moduli space of pointed curves fulfilling the Franchetta conjecture. This result was not known even in characteristic zero.