Relative Prym varieties associated to the double cover of an Enriques surface

Abstract

Given an Enriques surface $T$, its universal K3 cover $f: S\to T$, and a genus $g$ linear system $|C|$ on $T$, we construct the relative Prym variety $P_H=\Prym_{v, H}(\D/\CC)$, where $\CC\to |C|$ and $\D\to |f^*C|$ are the universal families, $v$ is the Mukai vector $(0,[D], 2-2g)$ and $H$ is a polarization on $S$. The relative Prym variety is a $(2g-2)$-dimensional possibly singular variety, whose smooth locus is endowed with a hyperk\"ahler structure. This variety is constructed as the closure of the fixed locus of a symplectic birational involution defined on the moduli space $M_{v,H}(S)$. There is a natural Lagrangian fibration $\eta: P_H \to |C|$, that makes the regular locus of $P_H$ into an integrable system whose general fiber is a $(g-1)$-dimensional (principally polarized) Prym variety, which in most cases is not the Jacobian of a curve. We prove that if $|C|$ is a hyperelliptic linear system, then $P_H$ admits a symplectic resolution which is birational to a hyperk\"ahler manifold of K3$^{[g-1]}$-type, while if $|C|$ is not hyperelliptic, then $P_H$ admits no symplectic resolution. We also prove that any resolution of $P_H$ is simply connected and, when $g$ is odd, any resolution of $P_H$ has $h^{2,0}$-Hodge number equal to one.