Supersingular Ekedahl-Oort strata and Oort's conjecture

Abstract

Let $\mathcal{A}_g$ be the moduli space over $\overline{\mathbb{F}}_p$ of $g$-dimensional principally polarised abelian varieties, where $p$ is a prime. We show that if $g$ is even and $p\geq 5$, then every geometric generic member in the maximal supersingular Ekedahl-Oort stratum in $\mathcal{A}_g$ has automorphism group $\{ \pm 1\}$. This confirms Oort's conjecture in the case of $p\geq 5$ and even $g$. We also separately prove Oort's conjecture for $g=4$ and any prime $p$.