Singularities of theta divisors and the geometry of \(\mathcal A_5\) (Q479511)

Inside the moduli space \(\mathcal{A}_g\) of principally polarized abelian varieties (ppav's), the condition that the theta divisor of a ppav be singular is of codimension \(1\). The locus where this holds is the well-known \textit{Andreotti-Mayer divisor} \(N_0\). It consists of two irreducible components \(N_0 = \theta_{\mathrm{null}} \cup N_0'\), depending on whether the singularity occurs at a \(2\)-torsion point or not. The subloci of these components where the singularity is not an ordinary double point are denoted by \(\theta_{\mathrm{null}}^{g-1}\) and \({N_0'}^{g-1} =: H\), respectively. The authors explicitly compute the class \([H] \in CH^2(\mathcal{A}_g)\), and furthermore show that \(\theta_{\mathrm{null}}^{g-1} \subsetneq H\) for \(g \geq 5\), while \(\theta_{\mathrm{null}}^3 = H\) if \(g = 4\). It was previously known that \(\theta_{\mathrm{null}}^{g-1} \subset \theta_{\mathrm{null}} \cap N_0'\). The authors then proceed to investigate the situation more concretely in genus \(g = 5\). Here it is shown that \(H\) decomposes into two irreducible components \(H = \theta_{\mathrm{null}}^4 \cup H_1\), both of which are characterized as images under the Prym map \(P: \mathcal{R}_6 \to \mathcal{A}_5\) of loci of Prym curves satisfying certain explicit conditions. This description enables the authors to conclude that in fact both components are unirational. As an application of these results, the authors are able to determine the slope \(s(\overline{\mathcal{A}}_5) = 54/7\) of the perfect cone compactification of \(\mathcal{A}_5\) (in fact the slope is the same for all toroidal compactifications). The slope is attained by \(\overline{N_0'}\), and this divisor is shown to be rigid ({i.e.}, its Kodaira-Iitaka dimension is \(0\)).