Moduli of Prym Curves

Here we focus on the compactification of the moduli space of curves of genus $g$ together with an unramified double cover, constructed by Arnaud Beauville in order to compactify the Prym mapping. We present an alternative description of it, inspired by the moduli space of spin curves of Maurizio Cornalba, and we discuss in detail its main features, both from a geometrical and a combinatorial point of view.

2000 Mathematics Subject Classification: 14H10, 14H30.

Keywords and Phrases: moduli of curves, étale and admissible double covers, spin and Prym curves.

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