Explicit computation of the generic degree of the generalized Verschiebung in rank two

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to apply previous work on dormant opers to the study of the moduli space of stable bundles in positive characteristic. We affirmatively resolve the rank $2$ case of a conjecture proposed by the second author, which predicts a direct relationship between the number of higher-level dormant $\mathrm{PGL}_2$-opers and the generic degree of the generalized Verschiebung map for rank $2$ stable bundles induced by Frobenius pull-back. As a consequence, we obtain a procedure for explicitly determining these generic degrees in the previously unexplored range of genera by counting certain combinatorial objects.