Related papers: Representations of the fundamental group of a clos…

We consider the moduli spaces of representations of the fundamental group of a surface of genus g greater than 2 in the Lie groups SU(2,2) and Sp(4,R). It is well known that there is a characteristic number of such a representation, whose…

We count the connected components in the moduli space of PU(p,q)-representations of the fundamental group for a closed oriented surface. The components are labelled by pairs of integers which arise as topological invariants of the flat…

Using the Morse-theoretic techniques introduced by Hitchin, we prove that the moduli space of $\Sp(2p,2q)$-Higgs bundles over a compact Riemann surface of genus $g\geq 2$ is connected. In particular, this implies that the moduli space of…

Given a closed, oriented surface X of genus g>1, and a semisimple Lie group G, let R_G be the moduli space of reductive representations of the fundamental group of X in G. We determine the number of connected components of R_PGL(n,R), for…

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…

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…

Using the $L^2$-norm of the Higgs field as a Morse function, we count the number of connected components of the moduli space of parabolic $U(p,q)$-Higgs bundles over a Riemann surface with a finite number of marked points, under certain…

In this paper we study the moduli space of representations of a surface group (i.e., the fundamental group of a closed oriented surface) in the real symplectic group Sp(2n,R). The moduli space is partitioned by an integer invariant, called…

Let $S$ be a closed surface of genus at least $2$. For each maximal representation $\rho: \pi_1(S)\rightarrow\mathsf{Sp}(4,\mathbb{R})$ in one of the $2g-3$ exceptional connected components, we prove there is a unique conformal structure on…

Let G be a connected, compact, semisimple Lie group. It is known that for a compact closed orientable surface $\Sigma$ of genus $l >1$, the order of the group $H^2(\Sigma,\pi_1(G))$ is equal to the number of connected components of the…

Let M be a compact closed non-orientable surface. We show that the space of representations of the fundamental group of M into PSL(2,R) has exactly two connected components. These two components are the preimages of a certain…

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…

In math.SG/0303255, we discussed the connected components of the space of surface group representations for any compact connected semisimple Lie group and any closed compact (orientable or nonorientable) surface. In this sequel, we…

We study the character variety of representations of the fundamental group of a closed surface of genus $g\geq2$ into the Lie group SO(n,n+1) using Higgs bundles. For each integer $0<d\leq n(2g-2),$ we show there is a smooth connected…

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…

Given an oriented surface of positive genus with finitely many punctures, we classify the finite orbits of the mapping class group action on the moduli space of semisimple complex special linear two dimensional representations of the…

We give a new lower bound on the number of connected components of the space of representations of a surface group into the group of orientation preserving homeomorphisms of the circle. Precisely, for the fundamental group of a genus g…

This expository paper details the theory of rank one Higgs bundles over a closed Riemann surface X and their relationship to representations of the fundamental group of X. We construct an equivalence between the deformation theories of flat…

We calculate certain homotopy groups of the moduli spaces for representations of a compact oriented surface in the Lie groups GL(n,C) and U(p,q). Our approach relies on the interpretation of these representations in terms of Higgs 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…