Euler number of the compactified Jacobian and multiplicity of rational curves

Abstract

We show that the Euler number of the compactified Jacobian of a rational curve $C$ with locally planar singularities is equal to the multiplicity of the $\delta$-constant stratum in the base of a semi-universal deformation of $C$. In particular, the multiplicity assigned by Yau, Zaslow and Beauville to a rational curve on a K3 surface $S$ coincides with the multiplicity of the normalisation map in the moduli space of stable maps to $S$.