The Hodge bundle, the universal 0-section, and the log Chow ring of the moduli space of curves

Abstract: We bound from below the complexity of the top Chern class of the Hodge bundle in the Chow ring of the moduli space of curves: no formulas in terms of classes of degrees 1 and 2 can exist. As a consequence of the Torelli map, the 0-section over the second Voronoi compactification of the moduli of principally polarized abelian varieties also can not be expressed in terms of classes of degree 1 and 2. Along the way, we establish new cases of Pixton's conjecture for tautological relations. In the log Chow ring of the moduli space of curves, however, we prove that the top Chern class of the Hodge bundle lies in the subalgebra generated by logarithmic boundary divisors. The proof is effective and uses Pixton's double ramification cycle formula together with a foundational study of the tautological ring defined by a normal crossings divisor. The results open the door to the search for simpler formulas for the top Chern class of the Hodge bundle on the moduli of curves after log blow-ups.