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The hypergeometric functions of the Faber-Zagier and Pixton relations
The relations in the tautological ring of the moduli space $M_g$ of nonsingular curves conjectured by Faber-Zagier in 2000 and extended to the moduli space $\overline{M}_{g,n}$ of stable curves by Pixton in 2012 are based upon two hypergeometric series $A$ and $B$. The question of the geometric origins of these series has been solved in at least two ways (via the Frobenius structures associated to 3-spin curves and to $P^1$). The series $A$ and $B$ also appear in the study of descendent integration on the moduli spaces of open and closed curves. We survey here the various occurrences of $A$ and $B$ starting from their appearance in the asymptotic expansion of the Airy function (calculated by Stokes in the $19^{th}$ century). Several open questions are proposed.