Mathematics

I will present some results obtained in collaborationwith E. Colombo, A. Ghigi and M. Penegini on Shimurasubvarieties of A_g generically containedin the Prym locus.I will explain the construction of 1-dimensional families ofdouble covers compatible with a fixed group action on thebase curve C such that the quotient of C by the group is theprojective line. I will give a simplecriterion for the image of these families under the Prym mapto be a Shimura curve. I will show that this criterionallows us to construct several examples of Shimura curvesgenerically contained in the Prym locus in A_g for g<13.