In 1907 Enriques and Severi published an extensive and fascinating account of hyperelliptic surfaces. In general a hyperelliptic surface is that expressed by the necessary relation connecting three meromorphic functions of two variables which have four columns of periods. Such functions arise naturally by associating the two variables, in accordance with Jacobi's inversion problem for hyperelliptic integrals of genus 2, with a pair of points of a hyperelliptic curve. When the primitive periods of the functions are those arising for the curve, and the set of three functions chosen is representative, in the sense that only one pair of (incongruent) values of the variables arises for given values of the functions, the surface is called by Enriques and Severi a Jacobian surface; but, if several sets of (incongruent) values of the variables arise for given values of the functions, say r sets, the surface is said to be of rank r. For example, when the three functions are all even, to each set of values of these there belong not only the values u, v of the variables, but also the values −u, − v, and r is thus even, being 2 at least, as in the case of the Kummer surface. In the paper referred to, many cases in which r > 1, corresponding to particular hyperelliptic curves possessing involutions of order r, are worked out. In general the method followed consists in arguing, from the character of the associated group of order r, to the character and equation of the hyperelliptic surface Φ of rank r; and from this the Jacobian surface F is inferred upon which there exists an involution of sets of r points, the surface Φ being the representation of this involution. The argumentation is always beautiful, but often not very brief. The hyperelliptic surfaces for which the primitive periods of the functions are not those of a hyperelliptic curve are also shown in the paper to arise from involutions on the Jacobian surface; with these I am not here concerned.
The field of meromorphic functions on a sigma divisor of a hyperelliptic curve of genus 3 and applications