The Poincar\'e polynomial of the type B analogue of $\overline{\mathcal{M}}_{0,n+1}$

Abstract

We establish formulas for the Poincar\'e polynomial of the type B analogue of the Deligne--Knudsen--Mumford moduli space of rational curves with $n$ marked points, providing type B counterparts to results by Keel, Manin, Getzler and Yuzvinsky. We establish functional and differential equations satisfied by the bivariate exponential generating function of these polynomials. We show how this generating function relates to the classical one in type A. We deduce the gamma-positivity of these polynomials via a quadratic recursion and discuss a type B analogue of a formula found by Aluffi, Marcolli and Nascimento in type A.