A Geometric Proof of Mordell's Conjecture for Function Fields

Abstract

Let $\Cal C,\Cal C'$ be curves over a base scheme $S$ with $g(\Cal C)\ge 2$. Then the functor $T\mapsto\{$generically smooth $T$-morphisms $T\times_S\Cal C'\to T\times_S\Cal C\}$ from $((S$-schemes)) to ((sets)) is represented by a quasi-finite unramified $S$-scheme. From this one can deduce that for any two integers $g\ge 2$ and $g'$, there is an integer $M(g,g')$ such that for any two curves $C,C'$ over any field $k$ with $g(C)=g$, $g(C')=g'$, there are at most $M(g,g')$ separable $k$-morphisms $C'\to C$. It is conjectured that the arithmetic function $M(g,g')$ is bounded by a linear function of $g'$.