Singularities of the moduli space of level curves (Q520734)

The moduli space of smooth genus \(g\) curves with an \(l\)-torsion line bundle was given a nice modular compactification \(\overline R_{g,l}\) by \textit{D. Abramovich} et al. [Commun. Algebra 31, No. 8, 3547--3618 (2003; Zbl 1077.14034)]. The paper under review studies the singularities of the coarse space of this compactification: it describes precisely the singular locus, as well as the sublocus of noncanonical singularities. A main motivation is the study of the Kodaira dimension of moduli spaces of curves. The Kodaira dimension is intrinsically a property of the coarse space (it is defined to be the Kodaira dimension of any desingularization of the coarse space). One would like to know whether or not it is enough to construct pluricanonical forms that are defined away from the locus of curves with automorphisms (which coincides with the singular locus of the coarse space), which in particular makes it important to determine the locus of noncanonical singularities of the coarse space. In their original study of the Kodaira dimension of \(\overline M_g\), Harris and Mumford determined completely the non-canonical singularities of \(\overline M_g\) (for \(g\geq 4\) they come from elliptic tails of \(j\)-invariant 0) and proved that all pluricanonical forms defined on the whole smooth locus extend across them. The authors prove that the moduli space of stable level \(l\) curves only has two kinds of non-canonical singularities: a non-canonical singular point corresponds either to what they call a T-curve or a J-curve. The T-curves are the level \(l\) versions of the noncanonical singularities encountered by Harris and Mumford, and Harris-Mumford's argument works mutatis mutandis to show that pluricanonical forms extend across them. They also prove that J-curves occur if and only if \(l = 5\) or \(l \geq 7\), so that for small values of \(l\) they will at least not pose any problem. These results are applied to the study of the Kodaira dimension of \(\overline R_{g,2}\) by the second author and \textit{K. Ludwig} [J. Eur. Math. Soc. (JEMS) 12, No. 3, 755--795 (2010; Zbl 1193.14043)] and \(\overline R_{g,3}\) by \textit{A. Chiodo} et al. [Invent. Math. 194, No. 1, 73--118 (2013; Zbl 1284.14006)].