Weierstrass points on rational nodal curves

Abstract

C. Widland [14] has defined Weierstrass points on integral, projective Gorenstein curves. We show here that the Weierstrass points on a generic integral rational nodal curve have the minimal possible weights or, equivalently, that such a curve has the maximum possible number of distinct nonsingular Weierstrass points. Rational curves with g nodes arise in degeneration arguments involving smooth curves of genus g and they have also recently arisen in connection with g-soliton solutions to certain nonlinear partial differential equations [11], [13].