Cohomology of local systems on loci of d-elliptic abelian surfaces

We consider the loci of d-elliptic curves in $M_2$, and corresponding loci of d-elliptic surfaces in $A_2$. We show how a description of these loci as quotients of a product of modular curves can be used to calculate cohomology of natural local systems on them, both as mixed Hodge structures and $\ell$-adic Galois representations. We study in particular the case d=2, and compute the Euler characteristic of the moduli space of n-pointed bi-elliptic genus 2 curves in the Grothendieck group of Hodge structures.Comment: 15 pages, complete re-write of earlier versio

A remark on Getzler's semi-classical approximation

Ezra Getzler notes in the proof of the main theorem of "The semi-classical approximation for modular operads" that "A proof of the theorem could no doubt be given using [a combinatorial interpretation in terms of a sum over necklaces]; however, we prefer to derive it directly from Theorem 2.2". In this note we give such a direct combinatorial proof using wreath product symmetric functions.Comment: 7 page