English

Self-intersection of the Torelli map

Algebraic Geometry 2025-09-17 v1

Abstract

The Torelli map t ⁣:MgctAgt\colon \mathcal{M}^{ct}_g \to \mathcal{A}_g is far from an immersion for g3g\geq 3: the self-fiber product of the Torelli map for g3g\geq 3 has several components with nontrivial intersections. We give a stratification of the self-fiber product for arbitrary genus and describe how components in the fiber product intersect. In genus 44, the Torelli fiber product is nonreduced, which we prove by analyzing the expansion of the period map near a nodal curve. We use the geometry of the Torelli fiber product to: Calculate the class of the pullback to M4ct\mathcal{M}^{ct}_4 of the Torelli cycle t[M4ct]t_*[\mathcal{M}^{ct}_4] on A4\mathcal{A}_4; Find the class t[M4]t_*[\overline{\mathcal{M}}_4] for suitable toroidal compactifications A4\overline{\mathcal{A}}_4; Calculate the class tt[M5ct]M5t^*t_*[\mathcal{M}^{ct}_5]|_{\mathcal{M}_5}. In the first appendix, we write down a calculation for finding the Chern classes of Mg,n\overline{\mathcal{M}}_{g,n}. In the second, we give a formula for a coefficient occurring in an intersection of excess dimension.

Cite

@article{arxiv.2509.12449,
  title  = {Self-intersection of the Torelli map},
  author = {Lycka Drakengren},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2509.12449},
  year   = {2025}
}

Comments

58 pages

R2 v1 2026-07-01T05:37:56.582Z