Moduli of nodal sextic curves via periods of K3 surfaces

Abstract

In this paper we study the moduli spaces of nodal sextic curves. We realize each irreducible component of the GIT space of sextic curves with given number of nodes as an open subspace of type IV arithmetic quotients. We then focus on the compactifications of the moduli spaces, one side is the geometric (GIT) compactifications, the other side is the Hodge theoretic compactifications such as Looijenga compactifications and Baily-Borel compactifications. The main result is the isomorphism between GIT and Looijenga compactifications. Some examples are closely related to del Pezzo surfaces. We also extend our results to moduli of nodal sextic curves with specified symmetry.