Toric structures on the moduli space of flat connections on a Riemann surface. II: Inductive decomposition of the moduli space (Q1359518)

Let \(\Sigma^g\) be a closed 2-manifold of genus \(g\). Then, following \textit{M. F. Atiyah} and \textit{R. Bott} [Philos. Trans. R. Soc. Lond., A 308, 523-615 (1983; Zbl 0509.14014)], \(\overline {\mathcal S}^g\cong\text{Hom}(\pi_1(\Sigma^g),SU(2))/SU(2)\) may be identified with the moduli space of all flat \(SU(2)\)-connections modulo gauge equivalence, and an open dense set \(\mathcal S^g\) of \(\overline {\mathcal S}^g\) carries the structure of a smooth symplectic manifold of dimension \(6g-6\). The choice of a complex structure on \(\Sigma^g\) endows \(\overline {\mathcal S}^g\) with the structure of a Kähler variety which may be identified with a moduli space of holomorphic vector bundles on \(\Sigma^g\). Next consider \(\Sigma^g_r=\Sigma^g - (D_1\cup\dots\cup D_r)\), obtained from \(\Sigma^g\) by removing \(r\) disjoint open disks \(D_i\) with boundary circle \(S_i\), which, when connected to a base point, induce elements \([S_i]\in\pi_1(\Sigma^g_r)\), unique up to conjugation. Then for \(\mathbf t=(t_1,\dots t_r)\in [0,1]^r\) consider \[ \overline {\mathcal S}^g(\mathbf t) =\Biggl\{\rho\in \Hom(\pi_1(\Sigma^g_r),SU(2)): \rho([S_j])\text{ is conjugate to } \begin{pmatrix} e^{i\pi t_j} & 0 \\ 0 & e^{-i\pi t_j }\end{pmatrix} \Biggr\}/SU(2) \] which again has an open dense set \(\mathcal S^g(\mathbf t)\) with the structure of a smooth symplectic manifold of dimension \(6g-6+2r'\) where \(r'\) is the number of \(j\)'s with \(t_j>0\). This paper obtains topological results about the spaces \(\overline {\mathcal S}^g\) and \(\overline{\mathcal S}^g(\mathbf t)\), by the following method: For a simple closed curve \(C\) in \(\Sigma^g_r\) which decomposes it into 2 connected components \(\Sigma^{g_1}_{r_1}\) and \(\Sigma^{g_2}_{r_2}\), consider the function \(\mu_C:\overline{\mathcal S}^g(\mathbf t)\to [0,1]\) encoding the holonomy of flat connections around \(C\). It is shown (Theorem 6) that each level set \(\mu_C^{-1}(s)\) fibers over \(\overline{\mathcal S}^{g_1}(t_1,\dots,t_{r_1},s)\times \overline{\mathcal S}^{g_2}(t_1,\dots,t_{r_2},s)\) with generic fiber \(S^1\). Moreover, the results from \textit{L. C. Jeffrey} and \textit{J. Weitsman} [part I of this paper, Adv. Math. 106, No. 2, 151-168 (1994; Zbl 0836.58004)] exhibit the structure of a a noncompact toric variety on an open dense subset of \(\overline{\mathcal S}^g(\mathbf t)\) with moment map \(\mu=(\mu_{C_1},\dots,\mu_{C_{3g-3+r}})\) where the \(C_j\) are the boundary circles of a pants decomposition of \(\Sigma^g_r\). It is shown (Theorem 7) that then (for \(r=1,2\)) \[ \text{vol}_{\text{eucl}}\mu(\overline{\mathcal S}^g(t)) = \int_0^1\text{vol}_{\text{eucl}}\mu(\overline{\mathcal S}^{g-1}(s))\cdot \text{vol}_{\text{eucl}}\mu(\overline{\mathcal S}^{1}(s,t)) ds. \] It follows that \(\text{vol}_{\text{eucl}}\mu(\overline{\mathcal S}^g(t))\) is piecewise polynomial in \(t\) of degree \(\leq 2g-1\), less than expected. This implies a conjecture made in \textit{P. E. Newstead} [Trans. Am. Math. Soc. 169, 337-345 (1972; Zbl 0256.14008)]. This formula also allows to compute an explicit formula for \(\text{vol}_{\text{eucl}}\mu(\overline{\mathcal S}^g(t))\) in terms of Bernoulli polynomials, which was first found by \textit{S. Donaldson} [in: Topological methods in modern mathematics, (Stony Brook 1991), 137-170 (1993; Zbl 0870.57039)]. The results of this paper were announced in \textit{L. C. Jeffrey} and \textit{J. Weitsman} [in: Topology, geometry and field theory, Kyoto, 49-58 (1994; Zbl 0892.57007)].