Moduli of curves with non-abelian level structure

Abstract

Following Deligne and Mumford we construct a coarse moduli space of smooth curves with non-abelian level structure, involving higher order commutators. We prove that its Deligne-Mumford compactification is smooth over an open part of Spec(${\msy Z}$).

arXiv comment25 pages, latex, only hand-drawn figures.