Related papers: Higgs bundles, harmonic maps, and pleated surfaces
We establish a duality between harmonic maps from Riemann surfaces to hyperbolic 3-space $\mathbb{H}^3$ and harmonic maps from Riemann surfaces to de Sitter three-space $\operatorname{dS}_3$, best viewed as a generalized Gauss map. On the…
This paper concerns the relationship between locally homogeneous geometric structures on topological surfaces and the moduli of polystable Higgs bundles on Riemann surfaces, due to Hitchin and Simpson. In particular we discuss the…
A gauge theoretic description of the Morgan-Shalen compactification of the $\SL$ character variety of the fundamental group of a hyperbolic surface is given in terms of a natural compactification of the moduli space of Higgs bundles via the…
We study the hypersymplectic geometry of the moduli space of solutions to Hitchin's harmonic map equations on a $G$-bundle. This is the split-signature analogue of Hitchin's Higgs bundle moduli space. Due to the lack of definiteness, this…
Following the work of Mazzeo-Swoboda-Weiss-Witt and Mochizuki, there is a map $\overline{\Xi}$ between the algebraic compactification of the Dolbeault moduli space of $\mathsf{SL}(2,\mathbb{C})$ Higgs bundles on a smooth projective curve…
There are three complete plane geometries of constant curvature: spherical, Euclidean and hyperbolic geometry. We explain how a closed oriented surface can carry a geometry which locally looks like one of these. Focussing on the hyperbolic…
In this paper we give a gauge theoretic construction of the joint moduli space of stable G-Higgs bundles on closed Riemann surfaces, where the Riemann surface structure is allowed to vary in the Teichm\"uller space of the underlying smooth…
In this paper, we study the algebraic symplectic geometry of the singular moduli spaces of Higgs bundles of degree $0$ and rank $n$ on a compact Riemann surface $X$ of genus $g$. In particular, we prove that such moduli spaces are…
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 symplectic groups and indefinite orthogonal groups over involutive, possibly noncommutative, algebras $(A, \sigma)$. In the case when the algebra $(A, \sigma)$ is Hermitian, or the complexification $(A_{\mathbb{C}},…
Using Hitchin's parameterization of the Hitchin-Teichm\"uller component of the $SL(n,\mathbb{R})$ representation variety, we study the asymptotics of certain families of representations. In fact, for certain Higgs bundles in the…
We find new estimates and a new asymptotic decoupling phenomenon for solutions to Hitchin's self-duality equations at high energy. These generalize previous results for generically regular semisimple Higgs bundles to arbitrary Higgs…
The non-abelian Hodge correspondence maps a polystable $\mathrm{SL}(2,\mathbb{R})$-Higgs bundle on a compact Riemann surface $X$ of genus $g\geq2$ to a connection which, in some cases, is the holonomy of a branched hyperbolic structure. On…
Given a closed surface S of genus at least 2, we compare the symplectic structure of Taubes' moduli space of minimal hyperbolic germs with the Goldman symplectic structure on the character variety X(S, PSL(2,C)) and the affine cotangent…
About a decade ago Thurston proved that a vast collection of 3-manifolds carry metrics of constant negative curvature. These manifolds are thus elements of {\em hyperbolic geometry}, as natural as Euclid's regular polyhedra. For a closed…
We explicitly construct a symplectomorphism that relates magnetic twists to the invariant hyperk\"ahler structure of the tangent bundle of a Hermitian symmetric space. This symplectomorphism reveals foliations by (pseudo-) holomorphic…
Using the L^2 norm of the Higgs field as a Morse function, we study the moduli spaces of U(p,q)-Higgs bundles over a Riemann surface. We require that the genus of the surface be at least two, but place no constraints on (p,q). A key step is…
A major challenge in the study of the structure of the three-dimensional homology cobordism group is to understand the interaction between hyperbolic geometry and homology cobordism. In this paper, for a hyperbolic homology sphere $Y$ we…
The self-duality equations on a Riemann surface arise as dimensional reduction of self-dual Yang-Mills equations. Hitchin had showed that the moduli space ${\mathcal M}$ of solutions of the self-duality equations on a compact Riemann…
Using the $L^2$ norm of the Higgs field as a Morse function, we study the moduli spaces of $U(p,q)$-Higgs bundles over a Riemann surface. We require that the genus of the surface be at least two, but place no constraints on $(p,q)$. A key…