The rank of the Cartier operator on cyclic covers of the projective line (Q536006)

Let \(k\) be an algebraically closed field of characteristic \(p>0\). For an integer \(g\geq 1\), let \({\mathcal{A}}_{g,1}\) denote the moduli stack of principally polarized abelian varieties of dimension \(g\) defined over \(k\). Let \({\mathcal{M}}_g\) denote the moduli space of smooth projective curves of genes \(g\) defined over \(k\). Then \({\mathcal{M}}_g\), considered as a locus in \({\mathcal{A}}_{g,1}\), can be stratified by the invariants of the \(p\)-torsion of the Jacobian varieties of such curves. One such invariant is the \(a\)-number. If \(J(C)\) is the Jacobian variety of a curve \(C\), the \(a\)-number of \(C\) is defined by \(a_C:=\text{{dim}}_k\text{{Hom}}(\alpha_p,J(C)[p])\). In the paper under review, the lower and upper bound on the \(a\)-numbers of the Jacobian varieties of Kummer covers of the projective line are presented. The bounds are described in terms of their ramification data and the characteristic of the base field. Let \(\pi: C\to {\mathbf{P}}^1_k\) be a smooth branched cyclic cover of order \(n\) relatively prime to \(p\). Let \(\alpha_1,\dots,\alpha_r\in{\mathbf{P}}^1_k\) be the branch points of \(\pi\). Then \(C\) is realized as the projectivization of the affine curve \(y^n=\prod_{j=1}^{r}(x-\alpha_j)^{n_j}\) for some integers \(0<n_j<n\) and \(\alpha_j\neq\infty\). This is a Kummer cover of \({\mathbf{P}}^1_k\). The tuple \((n;n_1,\dots,n_r)\) with \(\gcd(n,n_1,\dots,n_r)=1\) is the ramification data. The genus of \(C\) is given by \(g_C={{1}\over {2}}n(r-1)-{{1}\over {2}}\sum_{j=1}^r(n,n_j)+1\). The main result gives the lower and upper bounds for the number \(g_C-a_C\) in terms of the ramification data and by computing the rank of the Cartier operator.