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We find a compactification of the $\mathrm{SL}(3,\mathbb{R})$-Hitchin component by studying the degeneration of the Blaschke metrics on the associated equivariant affine spheres. In the process, we establish the closure in the space of…
We construct a geometric, real analytic parametrization of the Hitchin component Hit_n(S) of the PSL_n(R)-character variety R_{PSL_n(R)}(S) of a closed surface S. The approach is explicit and constructive. In essence, our parametrization is…
This paper unites the gauge-theoretic and hyperbolic-geometric perspectives on the asymptotic geometry of the character variety of SL(2,C) representations of a surface group. Specifically, we find an asymptotic correspondence between the…
In this article we give a geometric interpretation of the Hitchin component for PSL(4,R) in the representation variety of a closed oriented surface of higher genus. We show that representations in the Hitchin component are precisely the…
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 a compactification of the $\mathrm{SO}_{0}(2,3)$-Hitchin component by studying the degeneration of the induced metric on the unique equivariant maximal surface in the 4-dimensional pseudo-hyperbolic space $\mathbb{H}^{2,2}$. In the…
We prove that if $\Sigma$ is a closed surface of genus at least 3 and $G$ is a split real semisimple Lie group of rank at least $3$ acting faithfully by isometries on a symmetric space $N$, then there exists a Hitchin representation…
We study the asymptotic geometry of a family of conformally planar minimal surfaces with polynomial growth in the $\mathrm{Sp}(4,\mathbb{R})$-symmetric space. We describe a homeomomorphism between the "Hitchin component" of wild…
Labourie and the author independently showed that a convex real projective structure on an oriented surface of genus at least 2 is equivalent to a conformal structure plus a holomorphic cubic differential U. We analyze the behavior of the…
For a closed surface S, the Hitchin component Hit_n(S) is a preferred component of the character variety consisting of group homomorphisms from the fundamental group pi_1(S) to the Lie group PSL_n(R). We construct a parametrization of the…
Given a Riemann surface $X = (\Sigma, J)$ we find an expression for the dominant term for the asymptotics of the holonomy of opers over that Riemann surface corresponding to rays in the Hitchin base of the form $(0,0,\cdots,t\omega_n)$.…
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…
In 1992, Hitchin used his theory of Higgs bundles to construct an important family of representations of the fundamental group of a closed, oriented surface of genus at least two into the split real form of a complex adjoint simple Lie…
Motivated by their appearance as Coulomb branch geometries of Class S theories, we study the image of the local Hitchin map in tame Hitchin systems of type-D with residue in a special nilpotent orbit $\mathcal{O}_H$. We describe two…
We develop an Hamiltonian representation of the sl(2,C) algebra on a phase space consisting of N copies of twistors, or bi-spinors. We identify a complete set of global invariants, and show that they generate a closed algebra including…
In this paper, we explore the structure of the Hitchin morphism for higher dimensional varieties. We show that the Hitchin morphism factors through a closed subscheme of the Hitchin base, which is in general a non-linear subspace of lower…
In 1990, Hitchin's proved a component of the space of representations of a surface group in SL(n,R) is homeomorphic to a ball. For n=2,3 this component has been identified with the holonomies of geometric structures (hyperbolic for n=2, or…
In this paper, we study the geometric and dynamical properties of maximal representations of surface groups into Hermitian Lie groups of rank 2. Combining tools from Higgs bundle theory, the theory of Anosov representations, and…
The phase space of a compact, irreducible, simply connected, Riemannian symmetric space admits a natural family of K\"ahler polarizations parametrized by the upper half plane $S$. Using this family, geometric quantization, including the…
For $S$ a closed surface of genus at least $2$, let $\mathrm{Hit}_3(S)$ be the Hitchin component of representations to $\mathrm{SL}(3,\mathbb{R}),$ equipped with the Labourie-Loftin complex structure. We construct a mapping class group…