English

Cohomological invariants of $\mathscr{M}_{3,n}$ via level structures

Algebraic Geometry 2025-09-12 v1

Abstract

We show that mod 22 cohomological invariants of the moduli stack M3,n\mathscr{M}_{3,n} of smooth pointed curves of genus three contain a free module with generators in degree 00, 22, 33, 44 and 66, formed by the invariants of the symplectic group Sp6(2)\mathrm{Sp}_6(2). We achieve this by showing that the torsor of full level two structures M3,n(2)M3,n\mathscr{M}_{3,n}(2) \to \mathscr{M}_{3,n} is versal. Along the way, we prove that the invariants of the stack of del Pezzo surfaces of degree two contain the invariants of the Weyl group W(E7)W(\mathsf{E}_7) and that the mod 22 cohomology of M3,n\mathscr{M}_{3,n} is non-zero in degree three. Our main result holds also for the stack A3\mathscr{A}_3 of principally polarized abelian threefolds.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2509.09661,
  title  = {Cohomological invariants of $\mathscr{M}_{3,n}$ via level structures},
  author = {Andrea Di Lorenzo},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2509.09661},
  year   = {2025}
}

Comments

19 pages, first version: might, or might not, be expanded in the future. Comments welcome!