Stable degenerations of symmetric squares of curves (Q813281)

Consider a flat family \(C'\to \Delta'\) of smooth curves of genus \(g>2\) over the punctured disk \(\Delta'=\Delta-\{0\}\) and a stable extension \(C\) of \(C'\) over \(0\). The corresponding extension of the symmetric products \(C^{(2)}\) is not necessarily stable over the special point. The author describes a geometric modification of the family \(C^{(2)}\) over \(\Delta\) to a stable family. The first step consists in replacing \(C^{(2)}\) with the relative Hilbert scheme Hilb\(_2(C/\Delta)\). This gives, over \(0\), a surface with semi-log canonical singularities. A further modification yields a family whose special fiber \(S_0\) also has a dualizing sheaf \(\omega\) with some ample, locally free power. As a consequence, the author constructs an isomorphism between the moduli space of stable curves \(C\) and the component of the moduli space of surfaces which contains the product \(C^{(2)}\).