Minimal Siegel modular threefolds

The starting point of this paper is the maximal extension Γ*t of Γt, the subgroup of Sp4(ℚ) which is conjugate to the paramodular group. Correspondingly we call the quotient [Ascr ]*t=Γ*t\ℍ2 the minimal Siegel modular threefold. The space [Ascr ]*t and the intermediate spaces between [Ascr ]t=Γt\ℍ2 which is the space of (1, t)-polarized abelian surfaces and [Ascr ]*t have not yet been studied in any detail. Using the Torelli theorem we first prove that [Ascr ]*t can be interpreted as the space of Kummer surfaces of (1, t)-polarized abelian surfaces and that a certain degree 2 quotient of [Ascr ]t which lies over [Ascr ]*t is a moduli space of lattice polarized K3 surfaces. Using the action of Γ*t on the space of Jacobi forms we show that many spaces between [Ascr ]t and [Ascr ]*t possess a non-trivial 3-form, i.e. the Kodaira dimension of these spaces is non-negative. It seems a difficult problem to compute the Kodaira dimension of the spaces [Ascr ]*t themselves. As a first necessary step in this direction we determine the divisorial part of the ramification locus of the finite map [Ascr ]t→[Ascr ]*t. This is a union of Humbert surfaces which can be interpreted as Hilbert modular surfaces.