Critical loci for Higgs bundles (Q1731127)

This paper studies the critical loci of the moduli space of rank $2$ Higgs bundles, denoted by $\mathcal{M}$, on a complex smooth algebraic curve of genus $g\ge 2$. The $d$-th critical locus of $\mathcal{M}$, $\mathcal{C}_d$ is the locus where the rank of the map defininig Hitchin integrable system drops of $d$; it is a symplectic submanifold of $\mathcal{M}$. \par The author proves that $\mathcal{C}_d$ corresponds to the Higgs bundles whose field vanishes on a divisor $D$ of degree $d$ and that $d$ can vary only between $1$ and $2g-2$. The critical locus is embedded in the singular part of Hitchin fibration and these singular fibres are described. \par It is also shown that the locus of nondegenerate points of $\mathcal{C}_d$ (corresponding to Higgs bundles whose field has simple zeros and semisimple derivative at those zeros) has an induced integrable system related to $K(-D)$-twisted Higgs bundles, where $K$ is the canonical divisor of the curve. \par The article deals also with some topological and differential-geometric issues of the critical loci. In particular, it is shown that $\mathcal{C}_1$ is an analytic cycle Poincaré dual to the second Chern class of $\mathcal{M}$. It is also proved that the induced metric on $\mathcal{C}_1$ is not hyperkähler while that induced on $\mathcal{C}_{2g-2}$ is flat hyperkähler. Moreover, the critical loci are explicitly described for $g=2$. \par The methods used are also applied to the investigation of topological properties of the nilpotent cone of $\mathcal{M}$, in particular, to the computation of the multiplicities of its irreducible components.