The addition on Jacobian varieties from a geometric viewpoint

Abstract

We give a geometric interpretation of the group law for Jacobian varieties by extending the geometric construction of chords and tangents on an elliptic curve. For any given algebraic curve $\mathcal X$ and reduced divisors $D_1, D_2 \in \mbox{Jac } \mathcal X$, we define curves $\mathcal X^\prime$ and $\mathcal X^{"}$ such that the intersection $\mathcal X \cap \mathcal X^\prime$ determines precisely the divisor $-(D_1+D_2)$ and the intersection $\mathcal X\cap \mathcal X^{"}$ determines $D_1+D_2$. For superelliptic curves such formulas are made explicit.