The connectedness of some varieties and the Deligne \(-\) Simpson problem (Q1774539)

Let \(C_{j}\) (\(j=1,\dots,p+1\)) be conjugacy classes of \(GL(n,\mathbb{C})\) and define \(\mathcal{W}\) to consist of all matrix tuples \((M_{1},\dots,M_{p+1})\in C_{1}\times\dots\times C_{p+1}\) for which \(M_{1},\dots,M_{p+1}\) generate an irreducible subgroup and \(M_{1}\dots M_{p+1}=I\). A problem of P. Deligne asks for necessary and sufficient conditions on the conjugacy classes for \(\mathcal{W}\) to be nonempty. The first\ significant progress on this problem was obtained by \textit{C. T. Simpson} [Products of matrices, Differential Geometry, Global Analysis and Topology, Can. Math. Soc. Conf. Proc. 12, A.M.S., Providence 157--185 (1992)]. There is an analogous problem for conjugacy classes of the Lie algebra \(\mathfrak{gl}(n,\mathbb{C)}\) (where the normalizing condition is that the sum of the tuple is \(0\)). The author refers to both of these problems as the Deligne-Simpson problem (DSP), and he has shown how Simpson's results carry over to the Lie algebra case [see \textit{V. P. Kostov}, Proc. Steklov Math. Inst. 238, 148--185 (2002; Zbl 1036.34106)]. In the present paper the author proves that if (i) the set \(\mathcal{W}\) is nonempty, and (ii) at least one of the conjugacy classes \(C_{j}\) consists of matrices with distinct eigenvalues, then the algebraic and topological closures of \(\mathcal{W}\) coincide and this closure is a connected variety. The singular points of this variety are precisely the tuples of matrices which generate a subgroup with a nontrivial centralizer. The analogous theorem holds in the Lie algebra case. Now suppose that in defining \(\mathcal{W}\) the condition of irreducibility is weakened to ``the subgroup generated by \(M_{1},\dots,M_{p+1}\) has a trivial centralizer''. The author shows that in this case, if hypothesis (ii) holds, then two rank conditions of Simpson provide necessary and sufficient conditions for (i) to hold. This provides a solution to the ``weak DSP'' under hypothesis (ii).