Springer fibers and the Delta Conjecture at $t=0$

We introduce a family of varieties $Y_{n,\lambda,s}$, which we call the \emph{$\Delta$-Springer varieties}, that generalize the type A Springer fibers. We give an explicit presentation of the cohomology ring $H^*(Y_{n,\lambda,s})$ and show that there is a symmetric group action on this ring generalizing the Springer action on the cohomology of a Springer fiber. In particular, the top cohomology groups are induction products of Specht modules with trivial modules. The $\lambda=(1^k)$ case of this construction gives a compact geometric realization for the expression in the Delta Conjecture at $t=0$. Finally, we generalize results of De Concini and Procesi on the scheme of diagonal nilpotent matrices by constructing an ind-variety $Y_{n,\lambda}$ whose cohomology ring is isomorphic to the coordinate ring of the scheme-theoretic intersection of an Eisenbud--Saltman rank variety and diagonal matrices.