On Kapranov's description of \overline{M}_{0,n} as a Chow quotient

Authors: NOAH GIANSIRACUSA, WILLIAM DANNY GILLAM

Abstract: We provide a direct proof, valid in arbitrary characteristic, of the result originally proven by Kapranov over C that the Hilbert quotient (P^1)^n//_HPGL_2 and Chow quotient (P^1)^n//_{Ch}PGL_2 are isomorphic to \overline{M}_{0,n}. In both cases this is done by explicitly constructing the universal family of orbit closures and then showing that the induced morphism is an isomorphism onto its image. The proofs of these results in many ways reduce to the case n = 4; in an appendix we outline a formalism of this phenomenon relating to certain operads.

Keywords: Chow quotient, Hilbert quotient, moduli of curves, configuration of points

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