Euler characteristics of the universal Picard stack

Abstract We study $\mathbb{S}_n$-equivariant weight-graded and topological Euler characteristics of the universal Picard stack $\text{Pic}_{g, n}^d \to \mathcal{M}_{g, n}$ of degree-$d$ line bundles over $\mathcal{M}_{g, n}$. We prove that in the weight-zero and topological cases, the generating function for Euler characteristics of $\text{Pic}_{g, n}^d$ is obtained from the corresponding one for $\mathcal{M}_{g, n}$ by an extremely simple combinatorial transformation. This lets us deduce closed formulas for the two generating functions, taking as input the Chan–Faber–Galatius–Payne formula in the weight-zero case and Gorsky’s formula in the topological case. As an immediate corollary, we obtain closed formulas for the weight-zero and topological Euler characteristics of $\text{Pic}^d_g$. Our weight-zero calculations follow from a general result passing from the weight-graded Euler characteristics of $\mathcal{M}_{g, n}$ to those of $\text{Pic}_{g,n}^d$.