A compactification of the moduli space of multiple-spin curves (Q6165498)

Let \(k\) be an algebraically closed field with char\((k)\neq 2\). A spin structure on a proper smooth curve \(C/k\) is a pair \((L, \alpha : L^{\otimes 2} \xrightarrow{\sim} \omega_{C/k})\) where \(L\) is a line bundle on \(C\) and \(\omega_{C/k}\) is the canonical bundle. The tuple \((C, L, \alpha)\) is called a \textit{spin curve}. It turns out that the moduli space \(\mathcal{S}_g\) of spin curves of genus \(g\) is quasi-finite over the moduli space \(\mathcal{M}_g\) of curves of genus \(g\). Now, fix a positive integer \(m\). A sequence \((L_i, \alpha_i)_{i=1}^m\) of spin structures on \(C\) is called a \textit{multiple-spin structure} on C, and the tuple \((C, (L_i, \alpha_i)_{i=1}^m)\) is called a \textit{ multiple-spin curve}. For each genus \(g\), the moduli space \(\mathcal{S}^m_g\) of multiple-spin curves is the \(m\)-fold fiber product \(\mathcal{S}_g\times_{\mathcal{M}_g}\times \cdots \times_{\mathcal{M}_g} \mathcal{S}_g\). The paper provides a natural compactification of \(\mathcal{S}^m_g\), determines its irreducible components, and describes its geometric properties. There is a compactification \(\overline{\mathcal{S}}_g \to \overline{\mathcal{M}}_g\) of \(\overline{\mathcal{S}}_g\) over the moduli space \(\overline{\mathcal{M}}_g\) of stable curves, whose coarse moduli scheme over the complex numbers was originally constructed by \textit{M. Cornalba} [in: Proceedings of the first college on Riemann surfaces held in Trieste, Italy, November 9-December 18, 1987. Teaneck, NJ: World Scientific Publishing Co.. 560--589 (1989; Zbl 0800.14011)], which was subsequently completed by \textit{T. J. Jarvis}, Compos. Math. 110, No. 3, 291--333 (1998; Zbl 0912.14010)] by the construction of the moduli stack. The construction in this paper is based on \(\overline{\mathcal{S}}_g^{\times m}:= \overline{\mathcal{S}}_g\times_{\overline{\mathcal{M}}_g}\times\cdots\times_{\overline{\mathcal{M}}_g}\overline{\mathcal{S}}_g\). Although \(\overline{\mathcal{S}}_g^{\times m}\) is compact, the issues with this are nicely explained in the introduction of the article. As an alternative, the article constructs the \textit{limit multiple-spin curves}, and denotes their moduli by \(\overline{\mathcal{S}}_g^{m}\). The following is proven: {Theorem.} The moduli space of limit multiple-spin curves \(\overline{\mathcal{S}}_g^{m}\) is a smooth and proper Deligne-Mumford stack. Moreover, the canonical inclusion \(\mathcal{S}_g^{m}\hookrightarrow \overline{\mathcal{S}}_g^{m}\) is dense and open. The forgetful map \(\overline{\mathcal{S}}_g^{m}\to \overline{\mathcal{M}}_g\) is quasi-finite. The second main theorem of the article gives a complete classification of the connected components of \(\overline{\mathcal{S}}_g^{m}\) based on certain \textit{syzygy relations}. The paper further gives an algorithmic way to calculate these syzygy relations.