Hyperelliptic curves of genus 3 with prescribed automorphism group

Abstract: We study genus 3 hyperelliptic curves which have an extra involution. The locus $\L_3$ of these curves is a 3-dimensional subvariety in the genus 3 hyperelliptic moduli $\H_3$. We find a birational parametrization of this locus by affine 3-space. For every moduli point $\p \in \H_3$ such that $|\Aut (\p)|>2$, the field of moduli is a field of definition. We provide a rational model of the curve over its field of moduli for all moduli points $\p \in \H_3$ such that $|\Aut(\p)|>4$. This is the first time that such a rational model of these curves appears in the literature.