Symmetry, Integrability and Geometry: Methods and Applications SIGMA 9 (2013), 046, 14 pages
On Addition Formulae for Sigma Functions
of Telescopic Curves
Takanori AYANO † and Atsushi NAKAYASHIKI ‡
† Department of Mathematics, Osaka University, Toyonaka, Osaka 560-0043, Japan
E-mail: tayano7150@gmail.com
‡ Department of Mathematics, Tsuda College, Kodaira, Tokyo 187-8577, Japan
E-mail: atsushi@tsuda.ac.jp
Received March 13, 2013, in final form June 14, 2013; Published online June 19, 2013
http://dx.doi.org/10.3842/SIGMA.2013.046
Abstract. A telescopic curve is a certain algebraic curve defined by m − 1 equations in
the affine space of dimension m, which can be a hyperelliptic curve and an (n, s) curve as
a special case. We extend the addition formulae for sigma functions of (n, s) curves to those
of telescopic curves. The expression of the prime form in terms of the derivative of the sigma
function is also given.
Key words: sigma function; tau function; Schur function; Riemann surface; telescopic curve;
gap sequence
2010 Mathematics Subject Classification: 14H70; 37K20; 14H55; 14K25
1 Introduction
In this paper we study the multivariate sigma functions of telescopic curves and derive addition
formulae together with their degenerate limits.
The multivariate sigma function originally introduced by F. Klein [12, 13] for hyperelliptic
curves is generalized and extensively studied for the last decade (see [6] and references therein).
Compared with Riemann’s theta function, the sigma function is more algebraic and is directly
related with the defining equation of an algebraic curve. A typical example where this nature
of the sigma function is exhibited is the inversion problem of algebraic integrals. It is well
known that the solution of Jacobi’s inversion problem for a hyperelliptic curve has a simple
description by hyperelliptic ℘-functions, the second logarithmic derivatives of the sigma func-
tion [2, 6]. The inversion of hyperelliptic or more general algebraic integrals of genus g on
the Abel–Jacobi image Wk of the k-th symmetric products of the curve with k < g is exten-
sively studied in connection with the problem of mathematical physics (see [3, 6] and references
therein). This problem is intimately related with the problem on the vanishing of the derivatives
of the sigma function on Wk. Recently it is recognized that the approach from the view point
of tau functions of integrable hierarchies provides a general and effective method to study such
a problem [21].
In Sato’s theory of Kadomtsev–Petviashvili (KP) hierarchy [24] the tau function is constructed
from a point of the universal Grassmann manifold (UGM). For a solution corresponding to an
algebraic curve the point of UGM is specified by expanding functions or sections of bundles on
the curve using a local coordinate at a given point. The point of UGM obtained in this way
belongs to the cell of UGM labeled by the partition λ determined from the gap sequence at
the point. The series expansion of the corresponding tau function begins from Schur function
associated with λ. The tau function corresponding to the point of UGM specified by the affine
ring of an (n, s) curve [7] had been used to study the sigma function in [20, 21].
2 T. Ayano and A. Nakayashiki
Therefore it is important to have such a pair (X, p∞) of an algebraic curve X and a point
p∞ ∈ X that satisfies the following two conditions. The first is that a basis, as a vector space,
of the space of regular functions on X\{p∞} can be explicitly described. The second is that
the gap sequence at p∞ can be computable. A traditional example is a non-singular plane
algebraic curve which can be completed by one point ∞ (= p∞) such as a hyperelliptic curve
of odd degree or more generally an (n, s) curve. Telescopic curves give new examples. They
can be hyperelliptic and (n, s) curves as special cases and are not realized as non-singular plane
algebraic curves in general. Before explaining telescopic curves let us briefly explain the origin
of the term “telescopic”.
Let a1, . . . , am be relatively prime positive integers. For a nonnegative integer n the problem
of determining nonnegative integers x1, . . . , xm satisfying the Diophantine equation
n = a1x1 + · · ·+ amxm (1)
has been studied in number theory since early times. It is well known that the equation (1)
has a solution if n is sufficiently large. The greatest number n for which the equation (1) has
no solution is called Frobenius number and we denote it by F (a1, . . . , am). Brauer [4] gave an
upper bound of the Frobenius number as
F (a1, . . . , am) ≤ −a1 +
m∑
i=2
ai
(
di−1
di
− 1
)
, (2)
where di = gcd(a1, . . . , ai). Also Brauer [4] and Brauer and Seelbinder [5] showed that the
equality in (2) holds if and only if
ai
di
∈
a1
di−1
Z≥0 + · · ·+
ai−1
di−1
Z≥0, 2 ≤ i ≤ m. (3)
The condition (3) is introduced in Brauer [4] for the first time and now it is called telescopic
condition. For a1, . . . , am satisfying (3) the semigroup S := a1Z≥0 + · · · + amZ≥0 is called
telescopic semigroup. The telescopic semigroup has many nice structures and has many applica-
tions in algebraic geometric code, algebraic curve cryptography, and commutative algebra (see
for instance [11, 17, 18]).
In [18] Miura introduced a certain canonical form, Miura canonical form, for defining equa-
tions of any non-singular algebraic curve. A telescopic curve [18] is a special curve for which
Miura canonical form is easy to determine. Let m ≥ 2 and (a1, . . . , am) a sequence of relatively
prime positive integers satisfying the telescopic condition (3). Then the telescopic curve associ-
ated with (a1, . . . , am) or the (a1, . . . , am) curve is the algebraic curve defined by certain m− 1
equations in Cm. The form of defining equations is explicitly computable from (a1, . . . , am)
(see (5)). If a telescopic curve is non-singular, then it can be completed by adding one point,
say ∞, and the gap sequence at ∞ becomes the complement of the telescopic semigroup [1, 18].
In such a case the genus of the curve is also explicitly computable (see (6)).
In [21] the vanishing and the expansion of the sigma function of an (n, s) curve on the
Abel–Jacobi image Wk for k < g are studied using the properties of the tau function of the
KP-hierarchy. Those results are then applied to study the restriction of the addition formulae
on Wk to the lower strata Wk′ with k′ < k. On the other hand the sigma function of the
telescopic curve is explicitly constructed in [1]. In this paper we show that almost results in [21]
are extended to the case of telescopic curves. The results imply two things. The first is that
telescopic curves are natural objects to study sigma functions. We expect, more generally, the
Miura canonical form is suitable to describe properties of the sigma functions. The second is
that the tau function approach is effective in a more general case than that of (n, s) curves.
On Addition Formulae for Sigma Functions of Telescopic Curves 3
We expect that the method by integrable hierarchies can equally be efficient to study sigma
functions with characteristics of arbitrary Riemann surfaces [15].
Finally we comment that the sigma functions of certain space curves, which are not telescopic,
are studied in [14, 16].
The present paper is organized as follows. In Section 2 the definition and examples of
telescopic curves are given. The construction of the sigma function, up to the normalization
constant, associated with telescopic curves is reviewed in Section 3. The local coordinate z at∞
is specified and the expression in terms of z of the variables appearing in the defining equations
of the curve is given. This is necessary to determine constants appearing in every formula in
later sections. In Section 4 the expression of the tau function is given using the sigma function.
The normalization constant necessary in the definition of the sigma function is specified with
the help of it. In Section 5 main results including the addition formulae are given. Their proofs
are indicated in Section 6. The example of addition formulae is given for a (4, 6, 5) curve in
Section 7. In Appendix A the detailed properties on the series expansion of the sigma function
are given for the sake of completeness of the construction of the sigma function.
2 Telescopic curves
In this section we briefly review the definition and properties of telescopic curves following [1, 18]
and give some examples.
Let m ≥ 2, (a1, . . . , am) a sequence of positive integers such that gcd(a1, . . . , am) = 1 and
di = gcd(a1, . . . , ai) for 1 ≤ i ≤ m. We call (a1, . . . , am) telescopic if
ai
di
∈
a1
di−1
Z≥0 + · · ·+
ai−1
di−1
Z≥0, 2 ≤ i ≤ m.
The following examples of telescopic sequences are given in [22].
Example 1.
(i) (a1, a2), s.t. gcd(a1, a2) = 1.
(ii) (k, k + 2, k + 1), s.t. k even.
(iii) (ab, bc, a+ c), s.t. gcd(a, c) = 1, gcd(b, a+ c) = 1.
(iv) (a1, . . . , am), s.t. ai = am−ibi−1, a > b, gcd(a, b) = 1.
Notice that whether a sequence is telescopic depends on the order of the numbers. For
example, (4, 6, 5) is telescopic while (4, 5, 6) is not.
In the following we assume that Am = (a1, . . . , am) is telescopic unless otherwise stated.
Let
B(Am) =
{
(l1, . . . , lm) ∈ Zm≥0 | 0 ≤ li ≤
di−1
di
− 1 for 2 ≤ i ≤ m
}
.
Lemma 1 ([1, 18]). For any a ∈ a1Z≥0+· · ·+amZ≥0, there exists a unique element (k1, . . . , km)
of B(Am) such that
m∑
i=1
aiki = a.
By this lemma, for any 2 ≤ i ≤ m, there exists a unique sequence (li1, . . . , lim) ∈ B(Am)
satisfying
m∑
j=1
ajlij = ai
di−1
di
. (4)
4 T. Ayano and A. Nakayashiki
Consider m− 1 polynomials in m variables x1, . . . , xm given by
Fi(x) = x
di−1/di
i −
m∏
j=1
x
lij
j −
∑
κ(i)j1...jmx
j1
1 · · ·x
jm
m , 2 ≤ i ≤ m, (5)
where κ(i)j1...jm ∈ C and the sum of the right hand side is over all (j1, . . . , jm) ∈ B(Am) such that
m∑
k=1
akjk < ai
di−1
di
.
Let Xaff be the common zeros of F2,. . . ,Fm:
Xaff =
{
(x1, . . . , xm) ∈ Cm |Fi(x1, . . . , xm) = 0, 2 ≤ i ≤ m
}
.
In [1, 18] Xaff is proved to be an affine algebraic curve. We assume that Xaff is nonsingular.
Let X be the compact Riemann surface corresponding to Xaff . Then X is obtained from Xaff
by adding one point, say ∞ [1, 18]. It is proved in [1, 18] that xi has a pole of order ai at ∞.
The genus of X is given by [1, 18]
g =
1
2
(
1 +
m∑
i=2
ai
di−1
di
−
m∑
i=1
ai
)
. (6)
We call X the (a1, . . . , am) curve or the telescopic curve associated with (a1, . . . , am). The
numbers a1,. . . ,am are a generator of the semigroup of non-gaps at ∞.
Example 2.
(i) The telescopic curve associated with a pair of relatively prime integers (n, s) is the (n, s)
curve introduced in [7].
(ii) For A3 = (2k, 2k + 2, 2k + 1), k ≥ 2, in (ii) of Example 1, polynomials Fi are given by
F2(x) = x
k
2 − x
k+1
1 −
∑(2)
κ(2)i1,i2,i3x
i1
1 x
i2
2 x
i3
3 ,
F3(x) = x
2
3 − x1x2 −
∑(3)
κ(3)i1,i2,i3x
i1
1 x
i2
2 x
i3
3 ,
where
∑(i), i = 2, 3 signify the sum over all (i1, i2, i3) ∈ B(A3) such that
2ki1 + 2(k + 1)i2 + (2k + 1)i3 <
{
2k(k + 1) for
∑(2),
2(2k + 1) for
∑(3).
The genus of X is g = k2.
(iii) For A3 = (ab, bc, a+ c), a 6= 1, in (iii) of Example 1, we have
F2(x) = x
a
2 − x
c
1 −
∑(2)
κ(2)i1,i2,i3x
i1
1 x
i2
2 x
i3
3 ,
F3(x) = x
b
3 − x1x2 −
∑(3)
κ(3)i1,i2,i3x
i1
1 x
i2
2 x
i3
3 ,
where
∑(i), i = 2, 3 denote the sum over all (i1, i2, i3) ∈ B(A3) such that
abi1 + bci2 + (a+ c)i3 <
{
abc for
∑(2),
b(a+ c) for
∑(3).
The genus of X is
g =
1 + abc− a− c
2
.
On Addition Formulae for Sigma Functions of Telescopic Curves 5
(iv) For Am = (a1, . . . , am) in (iv) of Example 1, we have
Fi(x) = x
a
i − x
b
i−1 −
∑
a1j1+···+amjm<aai
κ(i)j1...jmx
j1
1 · · ·x
jm
m .
The genus of X is
g =
a− b+ (b− 1)am − (a− 1)bm
2(a− b)
.
3 Sigma function of telescopic curves
An algebraic bilinear differential of a telescopic curve associated with (a1, . . . , am) is explicitly
constructed in [1]. Consequently an expression of the sigma function in terms of Riemann’s
theta function and some algebraic data had been given. We recall the results of [1] and add
some necessary results for our purpose.
Let X be a telescopic curve of genus g ≥ 1 associated with (a1, . . . , am) and (li1, . . . , lim) the
element of B(Am) specified by (4).
Lemma 2. For any i we have lij = 0 for j ≥ i.
Proof. Since Am is telescopic, there exist k1, . . . , ki−1 ∈ Z≥0 such that
ai
di−1
di
= a1k1 + · · ·+ ai−1ki−1. (7)
We prove that we can take 0 ≤ kj < dj−1/dj for any j ≥ 2 by changing kj appropriately if
necessary.
Suppose that kj′ ≥ dj′−1/dj′ for some j′. Take the largest number j satisfying this condition.
Let us write
kj =
dj−1
dj
q + r,
with q ≥ 1, 0 ≤ r < dj−1/dj . Since Am is telescopic, there exist u1, . . . , uj−1 ∈ Z≥0 such that
aj
dj−1
dj
= a1u1 + · · ·+ aj−1uj−1.
Then we have
ajkj = aj
dj−1
dj
q + ajr = a1qu1 + · · ·+ aj−1quj−1 + ajr.
Substituting this into (7) we get the expression of the form (7) with 0 ≤ kl < dl−1/dl for any
l ≥ j. Repeating similar change of kj′ for j′ smaller than j successively we finally get the
expression of aidi−1/di of the form (7) with 0 ≤ kj < dj−1/dj for any j ≥ 2.
By the definition of B(Am), (k1, . . . , ki−1, 0, . . . , 0) ∈ B(Am). Since the element of B(Am)
satisfying (4) is unique by Lemma 1, (li1, . . . , lim) = (k1, . . . , ki−1, 0, . . . , 0). 
For the defining equations (5), we assign degrees as
deg κ(i)j1...jm = aidi−1/di −
m∑
k=1
akjk.
6 T. Ayano and A. Nakayashiki
Lemma 3. It is possible to take a local parameter z around ∞ such that
x1 =
1
za1
, xk =
1
zak
(
1 +
∞∑
l=1
eklz
l
)
, 2 ≤ k ≤ m, (8)
where ekl belongs to Q
[{
κ(i)j1...jm
}]
and is homogeneous of degree l if ekl 6= 0.
Proof. It is possible to take a local parameter z0 around ∞ such that
x1 =
1
za10
.
Let ζ = exp
(
2pi
√
−1/a1
)
and i ≥ 0. Then zi := ζiz0 is also a local parameter around∞. Let e
(i)
k
be the coefficient of the first term of the series expansion of xk around ∞ with respect to zi:
xk =
e(i)k
zaki
(1 +O(zi)), 2 ≤ k ≤ m. (9)
We prove that there exists i such that e(i)2 = · · · = e
(i)
m = 1.
Let e(i) =
(
e(i)2 , . . . , e
(i)
m
)
for 0 ≤ i < a1. First we show e(i) 6= e(j) for i 6= j. Suppose
e(i) = e(j). Since e(i)k = ζ
akie(0)k , we have ζ
ak(i−j) = 1 for k = 2, . . . ,m. From gcd(a1, . . . , am) = 1
and 0 ≤ i, j < a1, we have i = j.
By Lemma 2 the defining equations of X are as follows:
xdk−1/dkk = x
lk1
1 · · ·x
lkk−1
k−1 +
∑
κ(k)j1...jmx
j1
1 · · ·x
jm
m , 2 ≤ k ≤ m. (10)
By substituting (9) to (10) and comparing the coefficients of z−akdk−1/dki , we have
(
e(i)2
)d1/d2 = 1,
(
e(i)k
)dk−1/dk =
(
e(i)2
)lk2 · · ·
(
e(i)k−1
)lkk−1 , 3 ≤ k ≤ m.
Let
S =
{
(s2, . . . , sm) ∈ Cm−1 | s
d1/d2
2 = 1, s
dk−1/dk
k = s
lk2
2 · · · s
lkk−1
k−1 , 3 ≤ k ≤ m
}
.
Since ]S = (d1/d2) · · · (dm−1/dm) = (d1/dm) = a1 and e(i) ∈ S for i = 0, . . . , a1 − 1, we have
S =
{
e(0), . . . , e(a1−1)
}
.
Since (1, . . . , 1) ∈ S, there exists i such that e(i) = (1, . . . , 1). For z := zi, xk is expanded as
x1 =
1
za1
, xk =
1
zak
(
1 +
∞∑
l=1
eklz
l
)
, ekl ∈ C.
Let us prove that ekl belongs to Q
[{
κ(i)j1...jm
}]
and is homogeneous of degree l if ekl 6= 0. We
define the order < in the set {ekl} so that ek′l′ < ekl if
1) l′ < l or
2) l′ = l and k′ < k.
On Addition Formulae for Sigma Functions of Telescopic Curves 7
We prove the statement by induction on this order. By (5) and Lemma 2 we have

1 +
∞∑
j=1
ekjz
j


dk−1
dk
=
k−1∏
s=2

1 +
∞∑
j=1
esjz
j


lks
+
∑
κ(k)j1...jmz
akdk−1
dk
−
m∑
s=1
asjs
m∏
s=2

1 +
∞∑
j=1
esjz
j


js
, (11)
where we define the empty product from s = 2 to 1 to be one in the first term of the right hand
side.
In (11) for k = 2, the coefficient of z of the left hand side is (d1/d2)e21 and that of the right
hand side is the sum of κ(2)j1...jm with (j1, . . . , jm) satisfying the equation (a2d1/d2)−
m∑
s=1
asjs = 1.
Therefore the statement is valid for the minimal element e21.
Assume that the statement holds for any ek′l′ satisfying ek′l′ < ekl. The coefficient of zl of
the left hand side of (11) is (dk−1/dk)ekl + T , where T is a sum of
∏
i ekqi satisfying
∑
i qi = l
and qi < l. In the right hand side of (11), the coefficient of zl of the first term is the sum
of
∏
i epiqi satisfying 2 ≤ pi < k and
∑
i qi = l, and that of the second term is the sum of
κ(k)j1...jm
∏
i epiqi with (j1, . . . , jm) satisfying
∑
i qi = l− (akdk−1/dk) +
m∑
s=1
asjs. Therefore, by the
assumption of induction, we find that ekl belongs to Q
[{
κ(i)j1...jm
}]
and is homogeneous of degree
l if ekl 6= 0. 
For a meromorphic function f on X we denote by ord∞(f) the order of a pole at∞. Then we
have ord∞(xi) = ai. We enumerate the monomials x
α1
1 · · ·x
αm
m , (α1, . . . , αm) ∈ B(Am) according
as the order of a pole at ∞ and denote them by ϕi, i ≥ 1. In particular we have ϕ1 = 1.
Let (w1, . . . , wg) be the gap sequence at ∞:
{wi | 1 ≤ i ≤ g} = Z≥0
∖
{
m∑
i=1
aiZ≥0
}
, w1 < · · · < wg.
In particular w1 = 1, since g ≥ 1.
A basis of holomorphic one forms is given by
duwi = −
ϕg+1−i
detG(x)
dx1, (12)
where G(x) is the Jacobian matrix
G(x) =
(
∂Fi
∂xj
)
2≤i,j≤m
.
The following lemma is proved in [1].
Lemma 4. We have wg = 2g − 1. In particular du2g−1 has a zero of order 2g − 2 at ∞.
More precisely we have the following properties.
Proposition 1.
(i) The following expansion is valid around ∞:
du2g−1 = z
2g−2
(
1 +
∞∑
l=1
e′lz
l
)
dz,
where e′l belongs to Q
[{
κ(i)j1...jm
}]
and is homogeneous of degree l if e′l 6= 0.
8 T. Ayano and A. Nakayashiki
(ii) For 1 ≤ i ≤ g the expansion of duwi at ∞ is of the form
duwi = z
wi−1(1 +O(z))dz.
Proof. (i) From Lemmas 2, 3, we have, around ∞,
detG(x) = a1z
−
m∑
i=2
((di−1/di)−1)ai
(
1 +
∞∑
l=1
e′′l z
l
)
dz,
where e′′l belongs to Q[{κ
(i)
j1...jm}] and is homogeneous of degree l if e
′′
l 6= 0. Therefore, from (6),
we obtain the assertion.
(ii) Let w∗i = ord∞(ϕi), W = {w1, . . . , wg}, and W
′ = {w∗1, . . . , w
∗
g}. Note that W ∪W
′ =
{0, 1, . . . , 2g− 1}. If w ∈W ′, then wg−w ∈W . In fact, if wg−w ∈W ′, then wg ∈W ′, which is
contradiction. Since wg = 2g− 1, we have 2g− 1−w∗g+1−i = wi for any i. Therefore, from (12),
Lemma 3, and Proposition 1(i), we obtain the assertion. 
The algebraic bilinear differential takes the form
ω̂(x, y) = dyΩ(x, y) +
g∑
i=1
duwi(x)dri(y),
where x = (x1, . . . , xm), y = (y1, . . . , ym) are points on X,
Ω(x, y) =
detH(x, y)
(x1 − y1) detG(x)
dx1,
H = (hij)2≤i,j≤m with
hij =
Fi(y1, . . . , yj−1, xj , xj+1, . . . , xm)− Fi(y1, . . . , yj−1, yj , xj+1, . . . , xm)
xj − yj
,
and dri is a second kind differential with a pole only at∞. By construction {duwi , dri} becomes
a symplectic basis of the cohomology group H1(X,C) (see [1, 19]).
Take a symplectic basis {αi, βi} of the homology group and define the period matrices by
2ω1 =
(∫
αj
duwi
)
, 2ω2 =
(∫
βj
duwi
)
,
−2η1 =
(∫
αj
dri
)
, −2η2 =
(∫
βj
dri
)
.
The normalized period matrix is given by τ = ω−11 ω2.
Let δ = τδ′+δ′′, δ′, δ′′ ∈ Rg be the Riemann’s constant with respect to the choice ({αi, βi},∞).
We set δ = t(tδ′, tδ′′). Since du2g−1 has a zero of order 2g − 2 at ∞ by Lemma 4, we have
δ ∈ (Z/2)2g.
We define the function σ̂(u), u = (uw1 , . . . , uwg) by
σ̂(u) = exp
(
1
2
tuη1ω
−1
1 u
)
θ[δ]
(
(2ω1)
−1u, τ
)
,
where θ[δ](u) is the Riemann’s theta function with the characteristic δ.
On Addition Formulae for Sigma Functions of Telescopic Curves 9
4 Relation with tau function
In the case of (n, s) curves the expression of the tau function of the KP-hierarchy in terms of
the sigma function is given in [8, 10, 20]. For the tau function corresponding to the point of
Sato’s universal Grassmann manifold (UGM) specified by the affine ring of a telescopic curve a
similar expression holds.
Let A be the affine ring of X,
A = C[x1, . . . , xm]/I,
where I is the ideal generated by Fi(x), 2 ≤ i ≤ m. As a vector space A = ⊕∞i=1Cϕi.
We embed A in UGM as in Section 5 of [20] using the local parameter z in (8) and denote UA
the image of it. Let ξA be the normalized frame of UA and τ(t; ξA) the tau function corresponding
to ξA. Then we have the expansion of the form
τ(t; ξA) = sλ(t) +
∑
λ<µ
ξµsµ(t), (13)
where λ = (λ1, . . . , λg) is the partition defined by
λi = wg+1−i − g + i, 1 ≤ i ≤ g, (14)
sµ(t) is the Schur function corresponding to the partition µ and, in general, for two partitions
µ = (µ1, . . . , µl) and ν = (ν1, . . . , νl), µ ≤ ν if and only if µi ≤ νi for any i.
Define bij , q̂ij and ci by the expansions
duwi =
∞∑
j=1
bijz
j−1dz, ω̂(p1, p2) =


1
(z1 − z2)2
+
∞∑
i,j=1
q̂ijz
i−1
1 z
j−1
2

 dz1dz2,
log
(
z−g+1
√
du2g−1
dz
)
=
∞∑
i=1
ci
zi
i
,
where zi = z(pi).1 Let us set
B = (bij)1≤i≤g,1≤j , q̂(t) =
∞∑
i,j=1
q̂ijtitj , t =
t(t1, t2, . . . ).
Then we have
Theorem 1.
(i) There exists a constant C such that
τ(t; ξA) = C exp
(
−
∞∑
i=1
citi +
1
2
q̂(t)
)
σ̂(Bt).
(ii) The tau function τ(t; ξA) is a solution to the a1-reduced KP-hierarchy.
Proof. The proof of this theorem is completely pararell to the case of (n, s) curves in [20]. In
fact the special property of (n, s) curves we use in [20] is the existence of a holomorphic one
form which vanishes at ∞ to the order 2g − 2. In the present case du2g−1 has such a property
by Lemma 4. 
1In the right hand side of the defining equation of ci in [20], zi should be corrected as zi/i.
10 T. Ayano and A. Nakayashiki
Combining the expansion (13) with Theorem 1 we have
Corollary 1. We have the following expansion
Cσ̂(u) = sλ(t)|twi=uwi + · · · ,
where λ is defined by (14) and · · · part is a series in
g∏
i=1
uwi
γi,
g∑
i=1
γiwi >
g∑
i=1
λi.
Definition 1. We define the sigma function by
σ(u) = Cσ̂(u).
It follows from this definition and Corollary 1 that the series expansion of σ(u) at the origin
begins from Schur function corresponding to the gap sequence at ∞. It is possible to give more
precise properties of the expansion of σ(u) which is similar to the case of (n, s) curves (see
Appendix A).
5 Addition formulae
Our result is that all properties of the sigma functions of (n, s) curves given in Sections 4 and 5
of the paper [21] are valid, formally without any change, for sigma functions of telescopic curves.
The strategy of the proofs of theorems in this section is explained in the next section.
In order to state the results precisely we need the prime function of a telescopic curve which
was introduced in [19] for (n, s) curves.
Let E(p1, p2) be the prime form of a telescopic curve X. Since du2g−1 has a zero of order
2g − 2 at ∞ by Lemma 4, it is possible to define, as in the case of (n, s) curves, the prime
function E˜(p1, p2) by
E˜(p1, p2) = −E(p1, p2)
2∏
i=1
√
du2g−1(pi) exp
(
1
2
∫ p2
p1
tduη1ω
−1
1
∫ p2
p1
du
)
.
It is a multi-valued analytic function on X ×X which has similar properties to that for (n, s)
curves.
For a partition λ = (λ1, . . . , λl) and 0 ≤ k ≤ l we set
(wl, . . . , w1) = (λ1 + l − 1, λ2 + l − 2, . . . , λl),
Nλ,k = λk+1 + · · ·+ λl, N
′
λ,1 = λ2 + · · ·+ λl − l + 1,
c′λ,k =
Nλ,k!
l−k∏
i=1
wi!
l−k∏
i<j
(wj − wi), c˜λ =
N ′λ,1!
l−1∏
i=1
(wi − 1)!
l−1∏
i<j
(wj − wi),
where c′λ,l is considered to be 1.
The following theorems give the properties of the sigma function restricted to the Abel–Jacobi
image Wk of the k-th symmetric products of X for k < g.
Theorem 2. Let 1 ≤ k ≤ g and p1, . . . , pk ∈ X. Then
(i) We have
∂
Nλ,k
u1 σ
(
k∑
i=1
pi
)
= c′λ,kS(λ1,...,λk)(z1, . . . , zk) + · · · ,
On Addition Formulae for Sigma Functions of Telescopic Curves 11
where · · · part is a series in z1, . . . , zk containing only terms proportional to
k∏
i=1
zγii with
k∑
i=1
γi >
k∑
i=1
λi.
(ii) The following expansion in zk holds:
∂
Nλ,k
u1 σ
(
k∑
i=1
pi
)
=
c′λ,k
c′λ,k−1
∂
Nλ,k−1
u1 σ
(
k−1∑
i=1
pi
)
zλkk +O
(
zλk+1k
)
.
Theorem 3.
(i) If n < N ′λ,1 we have, for p1, p2 ∈ X,
∂nu1σ(p1 − p2) = 0.
(ii) The following expansion with respect to zi = z(pi), i = 1, 2 is valid:
∂
N ′λ,1
u1 σ(p1 − p2) = (−1)
g−1c˜λ(z1z2)
g−1(z1 − z2)(1 + · · · ),
where · · · part is a series in z1, z2 which contains only terms proportional to zi1z
j
2 with
i+ j > 0.
(iii) We have
∂
N ′λ,1
u1 σ(p1 − p2) = (−1)
g−1 c˜λ
c′λ,1
∂
Nλ,1
u1 σ(p1)z
g−1
2 +O
(
zg2
)
.
The next theorem gives the expression of the prime function as a derivative of the sigma
function.
Theorem 4. Let λ = (λ1, . . . , λg) be the partition corresponding to the gap sequence at ∞ of
an (a1, . . . , am) curve X. Then
E˜(p1, p2) = (−1)
g−1c˜−1λ ∂
N ′λ,1
u1 σ(p1 − p2).
Corollary 2. For p ∈ X we have
E˜(∞, p) = c′λ,1
−1∂
Nλ,1
u1 σ(p).
Finally the addition formulae of sigma functions for telescopic curves are given by
Theorem 5.
(i) For n ≥ g and pi ∈ X, 1 ≤ i ≤ n,
σ
(
n∑
i=1
pi
)
∏
i<j
∂
N ′λ,1
u1 σ(pj − pi)
n∏
i=1
(
∂
Nλ,1
u1 σ(pi)
)n
= b˜λ,n det (ϕi(pj))1≤i,j≤n ,
with
b˜λ,n = (−1)
1
2gn(n−1)c˜
1
2n(n−1)
λ (c
′
λ,1)
−n2 .
12 T. Ayano and A. Nakayashiki
(ii) For n < g
∂
Nλ,n
u1 σ
(
n∑
i=1
pi
)
∏
i<j
∂
N ′λ,1
u1 σ(pj − pi)
n∏
i=1
(
∂
Nλ,1
u1 σ(pi)
)n
= b′λ,n det (ϕi(pj))1≤i,j≤n ,
with
b′λ,n = (−1)
1
2gn(n−1)c˜
1
2n(n−1)
λ (c
′
λ,1)
−n2c′λ,n.
The addition formulae of this kind were firstly derived by Oˆnishi [23] for the hyperelliptic
sigma functions. We remark that the formulae in this theorem are written using algebraic data
only, the sigma function, its derivatives and the algebraic functions ϕi. This fact makes it
possible to study the restriction of the formulae on Wk to lower strata Wk′ for k′ < k as in (ii).
This is a main difference of our formulae and Fay’s general addition formulae [9].
6 Proofs
In [21] properties of the sigma function of an (n, s) curve have been proved by establishing
the corresponding properties of Schur and tau functions. In this paper we exclusively consider
t1-derivatives and u1-derivatives. We omit the results on “a-derivatives” in [21], since they are
not used in addition formulae for general telescopic curves.
As far as t1-derivatives are concerned, all the statements for Schur and tau functions in [21]
hold, as stated there, for Schur function sλ(t) associated with any partition λ and the tau
functions τ(t) which have the expansion of the form
τ(t) = sλ(t) +
∑
λ<µ
ξµsµ(t).
Then Theorems 2, 3, 4, Corollary 2 can be proved in a similar manner to the case of (n, s)
curves using Theorem 1.
By Theorem 4 the prime function of a telescopic curve can be written as a derivative of the
sigma function. Conversely the sigma function can be expressed by using the prime function
and algebraic functions ϕi as in the case of an (n, s) curve.
Theorem 6. For n ≥ g and pi ∈ X, 1 ≤ i ≤ n,
σ
(
n∑
i=1
pi
)
=
n∏
i=1
E˜(∞, pi)n
n∏
i<j
E˜(pi, pj)
det (ϕi(pj))1≤i,j≤n . (15)
Expanding (15) in z(pn) successively with the help of Theorem 2 we get
Corollary 3. For n < g we have
∂
Nλ,n
u1 σ
(
n∑
i=1
pi
)
= c′λ,n
n∏
i=1
E˜(∞, pi)n
n∏
i<j
E˜(pi, pj)
det (ϕi(pj))1≤i,j≤n .
Theorem 5 can be obtained from Theorem 6 and Corollary 3 by substituting the sigma
function expression of the prime function given by Theorem 4 and Corollary 2.
On Addition Formulae for Sigma Functions of Telescopic Curves 13
7 Example: (4, 6, 5)-curve
In this section we give an explicit example of the addition formulae in the case of a (4, 6, 5)-
curve X. By Example 2(ii) in Section 2, the genus of X is 4. The gap sequence at ∞ is
(w1, w2, w3, w4) = (1, 2, 3, 7). The partition corresponding to the gap sequence at ∞ is λ =
(λ1, λ2, λ3, λ4) = (4, 1, 1, 1). Therefore we have Nλ,0 = 7, Nλ,1 = 3, Nλ,2 = 2, Nλ,3 = 1,
N ′λ,1 = 0, c
′
λ,1 = c
′
λ,2 = c
′
λ,3 = c˜λ = 1. On the other hand we have ϕ1 = 1, ϕ2 = x1, ϕ3 = x3,
ϕ4 = x2. Therefore the addition formulae given in Theorem 5 for n = 2, 3, 4 are as follows:
(i) For n = 2,
(
∂2u1σ(p1 + p2)
)
σ(p2 − p1)
(∂3u1σ(p1))
2(∂3u1σ(p2))
2 = x1(p2)− x1(p1).
(ii) For n = 3,
∂u1σ(p1 + p2 + p3)
∏
1≤i<j≤3
σ(pj − pi)
3∏
j=1
(∂3u1σ(pj))
3
=
∣
∣
∣
∣
∣
∣
1 1 1
x1(p1) x1(p2) x1(p3)
x3(p1) x3(p2) x3(p3)
∣
∣
∣
∣
∣
∣
.
(iii) For n = 4,
σ(p1 + p2 + p3 + p4)
∏
1≤i<j≤4
σ(pj − pi)
4∏
j=1
(∂3u1σ(pj))
4
=
∣
∣
∣
∣
∣
∣
∣
∣
1 1 1 1
x1(p1) x1(p2) x1(p3) x1(p4)
x3(p1) x3(p2) x3(p3) x3(p4)
x2(p1) x2(p2) x2(p3) x2(p4)
∣
∣
∣
∣
∣
∣
∣
∣
.
A Series expansion of sigma function
Using Theorem 6 in a similar manner to the case of (n, s) curves (cf. [19]), we can show the
following theorem.
Theorem 7. The expansion of σ(u) at the origin takes the form
σ(u) = sλ(t)|twi=uwi +
∑
g∑
i=1
γiwi>
g∑
i=1
λi
e˜γ1...γgu
γ1
w1 · · ·u
γg
wg ,
where e˜γ1...γg belongs to Q
[{
κ(i)j1...jm
}]
and is homogeneous of degree
g∑
i=1
γiwi −
g∑
i=1
λi if e˜γ1...γg 6=0.
Remark 1. It is possible to prove the above theorem using the relation with the tau function
as in [20].
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the referees for the useful comments. This research was partially
supported by Grant-in-Aid for JSPS Fellows (22-2421) and for Scientific Research (C) 23540245
from Japan Society for the Promotion of Science.
14 T. Ayano and A. Nakayashiki
References
[1] Ayano T., Sigma functions for telescopic curves, Osaka J. Math., to appear, arXiv:1201.0644.
[2] Baker H.F., Abelian functions. Abel’s theorem and the allied theory of theta functions, Cambridge Mathe-
matical Library, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1995.
[3] Braden H.W., Enolski V.Z., Fedorov Yu.N., Dynamics on strata of trigonal Jacobians and some integrable
problems of rigid body motion, arXiv:1210.3596.
[4] Brauer A., On a problem of partitions, Amer. J. Math. 64 (1942), 299–312.
[5] Brauer A., Seelbinder B.M., On a problem of partitions. II, Amer. J. Math. 76 (1954), 343–346.
[6] Buchstaber V.M., Enolski V.Z., Leykin D.V., Multi-dimensional sigma functions, arXiv:1208.0990.
[7] Bukhshtaber V.M., Enolski V.Z., Leykin D.V., Rational analogues of abelian functions, Funct. Anal. Appl.
33 (1999), 83–94.
[8] Eilbeck J.C., Enolski V.Z., Gibbons J., Sigma, tau and Abelian functions of algebraic curves, J. Phys. A:
Math. Theor. 43 (2010), 455216, 20 pages, arXiv:1006.5219.
[9] Fay J.D., Theta functions on Riemann surfaces, Lecture Notes in Mathematics, Vol. 352, Springer-Verlag,
Berlin, 1973.
[10] Harnad J., Enolski V.Z., Schur function expansions of KP τ -functions associated to algebraic curves, Russ.
Math. Surv. 66 (2011), 767–807, arXiv:1012.3152.
[11] Kirfel C., Pellikaan R., The minimum distance of codes in an array coming from telescopic semigroups,
IEEE Trans. Inform. Theory 41 (1995), 1720–1732.
[12] Klein F., Ueber hyperelliptische Sigmafunctionen, Math. Ann. 27 (1886), 431–464.
[13] Klein F., Ueber hyperelliptische Sigmafunctionen (Zweite Abhandlung), Math. Ann. 32 (1888), 351–380.
[14] Komeda J., Matsutani S., Previato E., The sigma function for Weierstrass semigroups 〈3, 7, 8〉 and
〈6, 13, 14, 15, 16〉, arXiv:1303.0451.
[15] Korotkin D., Shramchenko V., On higher genus Weierstrass sigma-function, Phys. D 241 (2012), 2086–2094,
arXiv:1201.3961.
[16] Matsutani S., Sigma functions for a space curve (3,4,5) type with an appendix by J. Komeda,
arXiv:1112.4137.
[17] Micale V., Olteanu A., On the Betti numbers of some semigroup rings, Matematiche (Catania) 67 (2012),
145–159, arXiv:1111.1433.
[18] Miura S., Linear codes on affine algebraic curves, Trans. IEICE J81-A (1998), 1398–1421.
[19] Nakayashiki A., On algebraic expressions of sigma functions for (n, s) curves, Asian J. Math. 14 (2010),
175–211, arXiv:0803.2083.
[20] Nakayashiki A., Sigma function as a tau function, Int. Math. Res. Not. 2010 (2010), no. 3, 373–394,
arXiv:0904.0846.
[21] Nakayashiki A., Yori K., Derivatives of Schur, tau and sigma functions on Abel–Jacobi images, in Symme-
tries, Integrable Systems and Representations, Springer Proceedings in Mathematics & Statistics, Vol. 40,
Editors K. Iohara, S. Morier-Genoud, B. Remy, Springer-Verlag, London, 2013, 429–462, arXiv:1205.6897.
[22] Nishijima D., Order counting algorithm for Fermat curves and Klein curves using p-adic cohomology, Mas-
ter’s Thesis, Osaka University, 2008.
[23] Oˆnishi Y., Determinant expressions for hyperelliptic functions (with an Appendix by Shigeki Matsutani),
Proc. Edinb. Math. Soc. (2) 48 (2005), 705–742, math.NT/0105189.
[24] Sato M., Sato Y., Soliton equations as dynamical systems on infinite-dimensional Grassmann manifold,
in Nonlinear Partial Differential Equations in Applied Science (Tokyo, 1982), North-Holland Math. Stud.,
Vol. 81, Editors P.D. Lax, H. Fujita, G. Strang, North-Holland, Amsterdam, 1983, 259–271.