Related papers: Odd magical triples and maximal Higgs bundles
We introduce a new class of $\mathfrak{sl}_2$-triples in a complex simple Lie algebra $\mathfrak{g}$, which we call magical. Such an $\mathfrak{sl}_2$-triple canonically defines a real form and various decompositions of $\mathfrak{g}$.…
We give an overview of the work of Corlette, Donaldson, Hitchin and Simpson leading to the non-abelian Hodge theory correspondence between representations of the fundamental group of a surface and the moduli space of Higgs bundles. We then…
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…
We establish a gluing construction for Higgs bundles over a connected sum of Riemann surfaces in terms of solutions to the $\text{Sp(4}\text{,}\mathbb{R}\text{)}$-Hitchin equations using the linearization of a relevant elliptic operator.…
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…
For semisimple Lie groups, moduli spaces of Higgs bundles on a Riemann surface correspond to representation varieties for the surface fundamental group. In many cases, natural topological invariants label connected components of the moduli…
For a fixed compact Riemann surface X, of genus at least 2, we count the number of connected components of the moduli space of maximal Higgs bundles over X for the hermitian groups $PSp(2n,R)$, $PSO^*(2n)$, $PSO_0(2,n)$ and $E_6^{-14}$.…
An orthogonal bundle over a curve has an isotropic Segre invariant determined by the maximal degree of a Lagrangian subbundle. This invariant, and the induced stratifications on moduli spaces of orthogonal bundles, were studied for bundles…
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 investigate nonintegrable Riemannian geometries modelled after certain symmetric spaces related to the Freudenthal-Tits Magic Square. The collection of four such structures found by Nurowski is extended by further eight. A focus is given…
We explore the cohomological structure for the (possibly singular) moduli of $\mathrm{SL}_n$-Higgs bundles for arbitrary degree on a genus g curve with respect to an effective divisor of degree >2g-2. We prove a support theorem for the…
We present a survey on the moduli spaces of rank 2 quadric bundles over a compact Riemann surface X. These are objects which generalise orthogonal bundles and which naturally occur through the study of the connected components of the moduli…
These notes are an extended version of a talk given by the author in the seminar "Theorie Spectrale et Geometrie" at the Institut Fourier in No- vember 2016. We present here some aspects of a work in collaboration with B. Collier and N.…
Some connected components of a moduli space are mundane in the sense that they are distinguished only by obvious topological invariants or have no special characteristics. Others are more alluring and unusual either because they are not…
Using non-Abelian Hodge theory for parabolic Higgs bundles, we construct infinitely many non-congruent hyperbolic affine spheres modeled on a thrice-punctured sphere with monodromy in $\mathrm{SL}_3(\mathbb{Z})$. These give rise to…
This paper is a survey on the role of Higgs bundle theory in the study of higher Teichm\"uller spaces. Recall that the Teichm\"uller space of a compact surface can be identified with a certain connected component of the moduli space of…
This paper provides an introduction to non-abelian Hodge theory and moduli spaces of Higgs bundles on compact Riemann surfaces. We develop the moduli theory of vector bundles and Higgs bundles, establish the main correspondences of…
Let $G$ be a complex semisimple Lie group and $\mathfrak g$ its Lie algebra. In this paper, we study a special class of cyclic Higgs bundles constructed from a $\mathbb Z$-grading $\mathfrak g = \bigoplus_{j=1-m}^{m-1}\mathfrak g_j$ by…
We study parabolic G-Higgs bundles over a compact Riemann surface with fixed punctures, when G is a real reductive Lie group, and establish a correspondence between these objects and representations of the fundamental group of the punctured…
We describe here a degeneration of the symplectic desingularization of the moduli spaces of topologically trivial $GL(2,\mathbb{C})$ and $SL(2,\mathbb{C})$-Higgs bundles over a hyperelliptic curve, into O'Grady's ten and six dimensional…