Complex Divisors on Algebraic Curves and Some Applications to String Theory

These are notes of a talk to the International Conference on Algebra in honor of A. I. Maltsev, Novosibirsk, USSR, 1989 (to appear in Contemporary Mathematics). The concept of a divisor with complex coefficients on an algebraic curve is introduced. We consider families of complex divisors, or, equivalently, families of invertible sheaves and define Arakelov-type metrics on some invertible sheaves produced from them on the base. We apply this technique to obtain a formula for the measure on the moduli space that gives tachyon correlators in string theory.