Gian Pietro Pirola, Asymptotic directions on the moduli space of curves

We present some computational improvements that allow us to study asymptotic lines in the tangent of the moduli space M_g of the curves of genus g. The asymptotic directions are those tangent directions that are annihilated by the second fundamental form induced by the Torelli map. We give examples of asymptotic lines for any g > 3 and we study their rank. The rank r(v) of a tangent direction at M_g is defined to be the rank of the cup product map associated to the infinitesimal deformation map, that is the infinitesimal variation of Hodge structure in that direction. We show that if v is not zero and r(v)< (cliff(C) + 1) where cliff(C) is the Clifford index of C, then v is not asymptotic and we study the case when r(v)= cliff(C). Finally all asymptotic directions of rank 1 are determined and a description of the rank 2 case is given. It is a joint work with Elisabetta Colombo and Paola Frediani.