Related papers: Hurwitz space components; and the Coleman-Oort Con…

Each finite $p$-perfect group $G$ ($p$ a prime) has a universal central $p$-extension. For a perfect group these central extensions come from its {\sl Schur multiplier}. Serre gave a Stiefel-Whitney class approach to analyzing spin covers…

Main Theorem: Spaces of r-branch point 3-cycle covers, degree n or Galois of degree n!/2 have one (resp. two) component(s) if r=n-1 (resp. r\ge n). Improves Fried-Serre on deciding when sphere covers with odd-order branching lift to…

Sect 1 introduces Nielsen classes attached to (G,C), where C is r conjugacy classes in a finite group G, and a braid action on them. These give reduced Hurwitz spaces, denoted H(G,C)^rd. The section concludes with a braid formula for the…

Hurwitz spaces which parametrize branched covers of the line play a prominent role in inverse Galois theory. This paper surveys fifty years of works in this direction with emphasis on recent advances. Based on the Riemann-Hurwitz theory of…

We define the dimension 2g-1 Faber-Hurwitz Chow/homology classes on the moduli space of curves, parametrizing curves expressible as branched covers of P^1 with given ramification over infinity and sufficiently many fixed ramification points…

Moduli spaces of algebraic curves and closely related to them Hurwitz spaces, that is, spaces of meromorphic functions on the curves, arise naturally in numerous problems of algebraic geometry and mathematical physics, especially in…

We extend results by Mirzakhani in [Mir07] to moduli spaces of Hurwitz covers. In particular we obtain equations relating Weil-Petersson volumes of moduli spaces of Hurwitz covers, Hurwitz numbers and certain Hurwitz cycles on…

We consider the moduli space $\mathfrak{M}_{g,n}$ of Riemann surfaces of genus $g\ge0$ with $n\ge1$ ordered and directed marked points. For $d\ge 2g+n-1$ we show that $\mathfrak{M}_{g,n}$ is homotopy equivalent to a component of the…

Given a smooth, projective curve $Y$, a point $y_0 \in Y$, a positive integer $n$, and a transitive subgroup $G$ of the symmetric group $S_{d}$ we study smooth, proper families, parameterized by algebraic varieties, of pointed degree $d$…

Hurwitz numbers are a weighted count of degree d ramified covers of curves with specified ramification profiles at marked points on the codomain curve. Isomorphism classes of these covers can be included as a dense open set in a moduli…

For a fixed finite group $G$, we study the fields of definition of geometrically irreducible components of Hurwitz moduli schemes of marked branched $G$-covers of the projective line. The main focus is on determining whether components…

The genus of projective curves discretely separates decidedly different two variable algebraic relations. So, we can focus on the connected moduli M_g of genus g curves. Yet, modern applications require a data variable (function) on such…

We use algebraic methods to compute the simple Hurwitz numbers for arbitrary source and target Riemann surfaces. For an elliptic curve target, we reproduce the results previously obtained by string theorists. Motivated by the Gromov-Witten…

In this survey article we give an overview of how noncongruence modular curves can be viewed as Hurwitz moduli spaces of covers of elliptic curves at most branched above the origin. We describe some natural questions that arise, and…

Gives the most precise available description of the p-Frattini module for any p-perfect finite group G=G_0 (Thm. 2.8), and therefore of the groups G_{k,ab}, k \ge 0, from which we form the abelianized M(odular) T(ower). \S 4 includes a…

In [5] I.P. Goulden, D.M. Jackson, and R. Vakil formulated a conjecture relating certain Hurwitz numbers (enumerating ramified coverings of the sphere) to the intersection theory on a conjectural Picard variety. We are going to use their…

We define hypergeometric functions using intersection homology valued in a local system. Topology is emphasized; analysis enters only once, via the Hodge decomposition. By a pull-back procedure we construct special subsets S_{pi}, derived…

For a finite group $G$, the Hurwitz space $\mathcal{H}^{in}_{r,g}(G)$ is the space of genus $g$ covers of the Riemann sphere with $r$ branch points and the monodromy group $G$. In this paper, we give a complete list of primitive genus one…

There are two famous Abel Theorems. Most well-known is his description of abelian (analytic) functions on a one dimensional compact complex torus. The other collects together those complex tori, with their prime degree isogenies, into one…

Hodge classes on the moduli space of admissible covers with monodromy group G are associated to irreducible representations of G. We evaluate all linear Hodge integrals over moduli spaces of admissible covers with abelian monodromy in terms…