Non-abelian Hodge correspondence over singular K\"ahler spaces

In this paper, we establish the non-abelian Hodge correspondence over compact K\"ahler spaces with Kawamata log terminal (klt) singularities as well as over their regular loci, thereby extending the result of Greb-Kebekus-Peternell-Taji for projective klt varieties to the context of compact K\"ahler klt spaces. The proof relies on two key ingredients: first, we establish an equivalence over the regular loci-via harmonic bundles-between polystable Higgs bundles with vanishing orbifold Chern numbers and semi-simple flat bundles; second, we prove a descent theorem for semistable Higgs bundles with vanishing Chern classes along resolutions of singularities. As an application of our framework, we obtain a quasi-uniformization theorem for projective klt varieties with big canonical divisor that satisfy the orbifold Miyaoka-Yau equality.