Boundary of Hurwitz spaces and explicit patching (Q5927993)

The explicit computation of families of covers of the Riemann sphere is a difficult computational problem. For families of genus \(0\) covers, the author has developed several sophisticated methods for such a computation, see \textit{J.-M. Couveignes} [Lond. Math. Soc. Lect. Note Ser. 256, 38-65 (1999; Zbl 1016.14012)]. The main ingredients are the study of degenerate covers and patching arguments of \textit{D. Harbater} [Aspects of Galois theory, Lect. Notes Math. 1240 (1987; Zbl 0627.12015)]. A striking application of these methods was the computation of a polynomial with Galois group isomorphic to the Mathieu group \(M_{24}\) by \textit{L. Granboulan} [Exp. Math. 5, 3-14 (1996; Zbl 0871.12006)]. In the paper under review, the author generalizes his methods to the higher genus case. Using the theory of Jacobians, the new problems which arise are reduced to the combinatorial study of the intersection graph of singular fibers. This graph is studied using an associated \(CW\)-complex, called the ``Kirchhoff complex''. As applications of his methods, the author treats the case of modular curves (in order to produce modular units) and explicitly computes a family of genus one covers.