A compact moduli space for Cohen-Macaulay curves in projective space

We define a moduli functor parametrizing finite maps from a projective (locally) Cohen-Macaulay curve to a fixed projective space. The definition of the functor includes a number of technical conditions, but the most important is that the map is almost everywhere an isomorphism onto its image. The motivation for this definition comes from trying to interpolate between the Hilbert scheme and the Kontsevich mapping space. The main result of this thesis is that our functor is represented by a proper algebraic space. As an application we obtain interesting compactifications of the spaces of smooth curves in projective space. We illustrate this in the case of rational quartics, where the resulting space appears easier than the Hilbert scheme.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Mathematics.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2004

Author dc:creator

• Hønsen, Morten Oskar, 1973-

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Aise Johan de Jong.

• Mathematics.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

en_US

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/28826

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/28826