Sharp bounds and gap phenomena for large $p$-subgroups of automorphism groups of curves

Source abstract

Let $X$ be a curve of genus $g\ge2$ over an algebraically closed field of odd characteristic $p$, and let $G=\mathrm{Aut}(X)$. A theorem of Giulietti and Korchmaros shows that if $G$ fixes no point and a $p$-subgroup $S\le G_P$ satisfies $|S|>\frac{p}{p-1}g$, then $X$ is one of the classical hyperelliptic, Hermitian, or Ree curves. We determine the sharp boundary and the first gap below it. At equality, besides the classical curves, exactly three types occur: the ordinary curves $y^p-y=x+c/x$, the zero-$p$-rank curves $y^3=x^p-x$ for $p\equiv2\pmod3$, and, in characteristic $3$, the ordinary genus-six family $y^3-y=c\left(x+\frac1{x^3-x}\right)$. As a key ingredient, we classify zero-$p$-rank curves whose full automorphism group fixes no point and which admit a $p$-subgroup of order larger than the genus. We then prove that, when $|S|>p$, the boundary classification already follows from the weaker inequality $|S|>p(g-p+1)/(p-1)$. For $|S|\ge p^3$, the forbidden interval above $m=(p-1)|S|/p$ has width at least $p(p-1)/2$, and below $m+(p^2-1)/2$ at most one further genus can occur, with a rigid ramification structure. Finally, we classify the first admissible layer: it occurs only for $|S|=p^2$, and the resulting ordinary curves admit a complete description in terms of two-dimensional Artin--Schreier spaces.