English

Alternating Catalan numbers and curves with triple ramification

Algebraic Geometry 2020-01-28 v2 Combinatorics Group Theory

Abstract

It is known that the monodromy group of each cover of a general curve of genus g>3 equals either the symmetric or the alternating group. The classical Catalan numbers count the minimal degree covers (with symmetric monodromy) of a general curve of even genus. We solve the analogous problem for the alternating group and we determine the number of alternating covers of minimal degree 2g+1 of a general curve of genus g.

Cite

@article{arxiv.1906.10406,
  title  = {Alternating Catalan numbers and curves with triple ramification},
  author = {Gavril Farkas and Riccardo Moschetti and Juan Carlos Naranjo and Gian Pietro Pirola},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1906.10406},
  year   = {2020}
}

Comments

18 pages. Minor improvements, also referencing the related work of Lian. Final version to appear in Annali Scuola Normale di Pisa

R2 v1 2026-06-23T10:02:49.085Z