Moduli of stable maps in genus one and logarithmic geometry I

This is the first in a pair of papers developing a framework for the application of logarithmic structures in the study of singular curves of genus $1$. We construct a smooth and proper moduli space dominating the main component of Kontsevich’s space of stable genus $1$ maps to projective space. A variation on this theme furnishes a modular interpretation for Vakil and Zinger’s famous desingularization of the Kontsevich space of maps in genus $1$. Our methods also lead to smooth and proper moduli spaces of pointed genus $1$ quasimaps to projective space. Finally, we present an application to the log minimal model program for ${\mathcal{M}}_{1,n}$. We construct explicit factorizations of the rational maps among Smyth’s modular compactifications of pointed elliptic curves.