Cyclic-Schottky strata of Schottky space

Schottky space $S_g$, where $g⩾2$ is an integer, is a connected complex orbifold of dimension $3(g-1)$; it provides a parametrization of the ${\mathrm{PSL}}_2\left(C\right)$-conjugacy classes of Schottky groups $\Gamma$ of rank $g$. The branch locus $B_g\subset S_g$, consisting of those conjugacy classes of Schottky groups being a finite index proper normal subgroup of some Kleinian group, is known to be connected. If $\left[\Gamma \right]\in B_g$, then there is a Kleinian group $K$ containing $\Gamma$ as a normal subgroup of index some prime integer $p⩾2$. The structural description, in terms of Klein–Maskit Combination Theorems, of such a group $K$ is completely determined by a triple $(t,r,s)$, where $t,r,s⩾0$ are integers such that $g=p(t+r+s-1)+1-r$. For each such tuple $(g,p;t,r,s)$, there is a corresponding cyclic-Schottky stratum $F(g,p;t,r,s)\subset B_g$. It is known that $F(g,2;t,r,s)$ is connected. In this paper, for $p⩾3$, we study the connectivity of these $F(g,p;t,r,s)$.