Wild monodromy and automorphisms of curves (Q860114)

Let \(R\) be a complete discrete valuation ring of mixed characteristic \((0,p)\) with field of fractions \(K\) containing the \(p\)-th roots of unity. The paper deals with semi-stable models of \(p\)-cyclic covers \(C\to\mathbb{P}^1_K\) of the projective line \(\mathbb{P}^1_K\). It is known [\textit{M. Deschamps}, in: Séminaire sur les pinceaux de courbes de genre au moins 2, Astérisque 86, 1--34 (1981; Zbl 0505.14008)] there exists a minimal extension \(K'/K\) over which \(C\) admits semi-stable reduction. Namely, it is the extension generated by the \(\ell\)-torsion points of the Jacobian variety \(J(C)\) of \(C\) for a prime number \(\ell\geq3\) different from \(p\). The tame part of this extension has been described by \textit{Q. Liu} and \textit{D. Lorenzini} [Compos. Math. 118, No. 1, 61--102 (1999; Zbl 0962.14020)]. In this paper the authors concentrate on the wild part, i.e., the extension corresponding to the Sylow \(p\)-subgroup of \(\text{Gal}(K'/K)\). The main technical point of the paper is the construction of the monodromy polynomial \(\mathcal{L}(Y)\). If the cover is given birationally by the Kummer equation \(Z^p=f(X_0)\), then \(\mathcal{L}(Y)\) is related to the logarithmic derivative \(f'(Y)/f(Y)\). The main result of the paper (Theorem 5.1) is a new characterization of semi-stable models of \(p\)-cyclic covers of the affine line using the monodromy polynomial. As a consequence, this gives a good description of the minimal extension over which \(C\) admits a stable model.