The class of the Prym-Brill-Noether divisor

Abstract

For $r\geq 3$ and $g= \frac{r(r+1)}{2}$, we study the Prym-Brill-Noether variety $V^r(C,\eta)$ associated to Prym curves $[C,\eta]$. The locus $\mathcal{R}_g^r$ in $\mathcal{R}_g$ parametrizing Prym curves $(C, \eta)$ with nonempty $V^r(C,\eta)$ is a divisor. We compute some key coefficients of the class $[\overline{\mathcal{R}}_g^r]$ in $\mathrm{Pic}_\mathbb{Q}(\overline{\mathcal{R}}_g)$. Furthermore, we examine a strongly Brill-Noether divisor in $\overline{\mathcal{M}}_{g-1,2}$: we show its irreducibility and compute some of its coefficients in $\mathrm{Pic}_\mathbb{Q}(\overline{\mathcal{M}}_{g-1,2})$. As a consequence of our results, the moduli space $\mathcal{R}_{14,2}$ is of general type.