Magic Motives

Speaking of orbifold Euler characteristics, let's put the magic formula

$f(n) = \prod_{m=0}^{n - 1} \frac{m!}{(m + n)!}$

in terms of Euler characteristics. First, let $m = 2g - 2$ be the Euler characteristic of a closed surface of genus $g$. This already suggests allowing non-orientable surfaces to account for odd values of $m$. Then consider moduli spaces $M_{m,n}$ for $(n + 1)$ punctured surfaces. The orbifold Euler characteristic of such a space will be denoted by $E_{m,n}$. Using Mulase's expression for $E_{m,n}$ and assuming it may be extended to the non-orientable case, one finds a natural definition for the moment coefficients of the form

$f(n) = \frac{1}{(n + 1)!} \prod_{m=0}^{n - 1} b_{m + 2} E_{m,n}^{-1}$

which is a product over surfaces of genus $g$ limited by $n$, and where $b_{i}$ is a Bernoulli number (for even $m$ these are defined in terms of zeta values for odd negative reals). One should take more care with the non-orientable factors, but this simple exercise shows that the zeta moments are naturally dependent on categorical invariants associated to complex moduli.