Automorphism groups of hyperelliptic curves of $2$-rank zero

Abstract

In this paper, we determine the reduced automorphism groups of hyperelliptic curves of a small genus in characteristic $2$, when they are of $2$-rank $0$. Such a curve is an Artin-Schreier curve defined in the form $y^2-y=f(x)$ for a polynomial $f(x)$. After we clarify semidirect-product structures of the automorphism groups for an arbitrary genus, we derive the detailed group structures for the reduced automorphism groups of the curves of a small genus, through computations using the computational algebra system Magma. With these experiments, we formulate two conjectures, which are analogues for our curves of the Oort conjecture on automorphism groups of generic principally polarized supersingular abelian varieties.

15 pages, accepted at WAIFI 2026