Related papers: Maximal Sp(4,R) surface group representations, min…

Given a reductive representation $\rho: \pi_1(S)\rightarrow G$, there exists a $\rho$-equivariant harmonic map $f$ from the universal cover of a fixed Riemann surface $\Sigma$ to the symmetric space $G/K$ associated to $G$. If the Hopf…

In this paper, following Sullivan, Kusner, and Schmitt, we study conformal immersions of Riemann surfaces into the three-dimensional Euclidean space. Regarding such immersions as special bundle maps from the tangent bundle of the surface to…

A conformal map from a Riemann surface to a Euclidean space of dimension greater than or equal to three is explained by using the Clifford algebra, in a similar fashion to quaternionic holomorphic geometry of surfaces in the Euclidean…

We study fibrations of the projective model for the symmetric space associated with $\text{SL}(2n,\mathbb{R})$ by codimension $2$ projective subspaces, or pencils of quadrics. In particular we show that if such a smooth fibration is…

Higgs bundles over a closed orientable surface can be defined for any real reductive Lie group G. In this paper we examine the case G=SO*(2n). We describe a rigidity phenomenon encountered in the case of maximal Toledo invariant. Using this…

We establish the lower bound of $4\pi(1+g)$ for the area of the Gauss map of any immersion of a closed oriented surface of genus $g$ into $\mathbb{S}^3$, taking values in the Grassmannian of $2$-planes in $\mathbb{R}^4$. This lower bound is…

Higgs bundles and non-abelian Hodge theory provide holomorphic methods with which to study the moduli spaces of surface group representations in a reductive Lie group G. In this paper we survey the case in which G is the isometry group of a…

We introduce para-complex and pseudo-Riemannian geometric methods for the study of representations of surface groups in $\mathrm{SL}(2m+1,\mathbb{R})$. For $m=1$ our techniques allow to recover several known results for Hitchin…

We study the infinitesimal rigidity of equivariant minimal maps from the universal cover of a smooth oriented surface (possibly non-compact) into a Riemannian symmetric space, focusing on representations arising from cyclic harmonic…

This is a survey article whose main goal is to explain how many components of the character variety of a closed surface are either deformation spaces of representations into the maximal compact subgroup or deformation spaces of certain…

For every integer $g \,\geq\, 2$ we show the existence of a compact Riemann surface $\Sigma$ of genus $g$ such that the rank two trivial holomorphic vector bundle ${\mathcal O}^{\oplus 2}_{\Sigma}$ admits holomorphic connections with…

For a semisimple real Lie group $G$, we study topological properties of moduli spaces of polystable parabolic $G$-Higgs bundles over a Riemann surface with a divisor of finitely many distinct points. For a split real form of a complex…

In this paper we study the relation between parabolic Higgs bundles and irreducible representations of the fundamental group of punctured Riemann surfaces established by Simpson. We generalize a result of Hitchin, identifying those…

Let $H^4$ denote the hyperbolic four-space. Given a bordered Riemann surface, $M$, we prove that every smooth conformal superminimal immersion $\overline M\to H^4$ can be approximated uniformly on compacts in $M$ by proper conformal…

We characterize those unipotent representations of the fundamental group $\pi_1(X,x)$ of a compact Kaehler manifold $X$, which correspond to a Higgs bundle whose underlying Higgs field is equal to zero. The characterization is parallel to…

For any almost-simple group $G$ over an algebraically closed field $k$ of characteristic zero, we describe the automorphism group of the moduli space of semistable $G$-bundles over a connected smooth projective curve $C$ of genus at least…

Let $G$ be a connected reductive affine algebraic group defined over the complex numbers, and $K\subset G$ be a maximal compact subgroup. Let $X , Y$ be irreducible smooth complex projective varieties and $f: X \rightarrow Y$ an algebraic…

We prove a surface embedding theorem for 4-manifolds with good fundamental group in the presence of dual spheres, with no restriction on the normal bundles. The new obstruction is a Kervaire-Milnor invariant for surfaces and we give a…

Let $(S,g_0)$ be a hyperbolic surface, $\rho$ be a Hitchin representation for $PSL(n,\mathbb R)$, and $f$ be the unique $\rho$-equivariant harmonic map from $(\widetilde S, \widetilde g_0)$ to the corresponding symmetric space. We show its…

In this paper we complete the topological description of the space of representations of the fundamental group of a punctured surface in SL(2,R) with prescribed behavior at the punctures and nonzero Euler number, following the strategy…