Degeneration of differentials and moduli of nodal curves on $K3$ surfaces

Abstract: We consider, under suitable assumptions, the following situation: $\mathcal B$ is a component of the moduli space of polarized surfaces and $\mathcal V_{m,\delta}$ is the universal Severi variety over $\mathcal B$ parametrizing pairs $(S,C)$, with $(S,H)\in \mathcal B$ and $C\in |mH|$ irreducible with exactly $\delta$ nodes as singularities. The moduli map $\mathcal V\to \mathcal M_g$ of an irreducible component $\mathcal V$ of $\mathcal V_{m,\delta}$ is generically of maximal rank if and only if certain cohomology vanishings hold. Assuming there are suitable semistable degenerations of the surfaces in $\mathcal B$, we provide sufficient conditions for the existence of an irreducible component $\mathcal V$ where these vanishings are verified. As a test, we apply this to $K3$ surfaces and give a new proof of a result recently independently proved by Kemeny and by the present authors.