Periods of second kind differentials of $(n,s)$-curves

Abstract

For elliptic curves, expressions for the periods of elliptic integrals of the second kind in terms of theta-constants, have been known since the middle of the 19th century. In this paper we consider the problem of generalizing these results to curves of higher genera, in particular to a special class of algebraic curves, the so-called $(n,s)$-curves. It is shown that the representations required can be obtained by the comparison of two equivalent expressions for the projective connection, one due to Fay-Wirtinger and the other from Klein-Weierstrass. As a principle example, we consider the case of the genus two hyperelliptic curve, and a number of new Thomae and Rosenhain-type formulae are obtained. We anticipate that our analysis for the genus two curve can be extended to higher genera hyperelliptic curves, as well as to other classes of $(n,s)$ non-hyperelliptic curves.