Picard-Fuchs Equations, Hauptmoduls and Integrable Systems

The Schwarzian equations satisfied by certain Hauptmoduls (i.e., uniformizing functions for Riemann surfaces of genus zero) are derived from the Picard-Fuchs equations for families of elliptic curves and associated surfaces. The inhomogeneous Picard-Fuchs equations associated to elliptic integrals with varying endpoints are derived and used to determine solutions of equations that are algebraically related to a class of Painlev\'e VI equations.