Poincaré polynomials of moduli spaces of Higgs bundles and character varieties (no punctures) (Q2187258)

The author shows that Schiffmann's formulas for counts of Higgs bundles over finite fields can be reduced to a simpler formula conjedtured by Mozgovoy. Consider the Frobenius action on the first cohomology of \(C\) with eigenvalues \(\alpha_1, \dots, \alpha_{2g}\) with \(\alpha_{i+g} = q\alpha_i^{-1}\) for \(i = 1, \dots, g\), which gives \[ \# C(\mathbb{F}_{q^k}) = 1 + q^k - \sum_{i=1}^{2g} \alpha_i^k. \] Schiffmann's result in [\textit{R. Fedorov} et al., Commun. Number Theory Phys. 12, No. 4, 687--766 (2019; Zbl 1409.14059)] says that the number of absolutely indecomposable bundles or rank \(r\) and degree \(d\) over a complete curve \(C\) of genus \(g\) over \(\mathbb{F}_q\) is given by a Laurent polynomial \[ A_{g,r,d} (q, \alpha_1, \dots, \alpha_{g} ) \in \mathbb{Z} [q, \alpha_1^{\pm 1}, \dots, \alpha_{g}^{\pm 1} ] \] which is independent of \(C\), symmetric in \(\alpha_i\), and invariant under \(\alpha_o \to q \alpha_i^{-1}\). The main result of this paper is: Theorem 1.1. Let \(g \ge 1\). Let \(\Omega_g\) denote the series \[ \Omega_g = \sum_{\mu \in \mathcal{P}} T^{|\mu|} \prod_{\square \in \mu} \frac{ \prod_{i=1}^g (z^{a(\square)+1} - \alpha_i q^{l (\square)} ) (z^{a(\square)} - \alpha_i^{-1} q^{l (\square)+1} ) }{ (z^{a(\square)+1} - q^{l (\square)} ) (z^{a(\square)} - q^{l (\square)+1} ) }, \] where \(a(\square)\), \(l(\square)\), and \(\mathcal{P}\) are certain combinatorial notations from Young diagrams. Also let \[ H_g = -(1-q) (1-z) \operatorname{Log} \Omega_g, H_g = \sum_{r=1}^{\infty} H_{g,r} T^r. \] Then for all \(r \ge 1\), \(H_{g,r}\) is a Laurent polynomial in \(q,z\) and \(\alpha, \dots, \alpha_g\), and for all \(d\), \(A_{g,r,d}\) is obtained by setting \(z=1\) in \(H_{g,r}\): \[ A_{g,r,d} (q, \alpha_1, \dots, \alpha_g) = H_{g,r} (q, 1, \alpha_1, \dots, \alpha_g). \] As a corollary, the GL-version of the conjecture of \textit{T. Hausel} (Conjecture 3.2 in [Prog. Math. 235, 193--217 (2005; Zbl 1099.14026)]) is obtained: Corollary 1.2. For \(r, d, d'\) satisfying \((r,d) = (r,d') =1\), the \(E\)-polynomials of \(\mathcal{M}(g,r,d)\) and \(\mathcal{M}(g,r,d')\) coincide. In the next paper [Ann. Math. (2) 192, No. 1, 165--228 (2020; Zbl 1467.14086)], the author extends the methods of [\textit{O. Schiffmann}, Ann. Math. (2) 183, No. 1, 297--362 (2016; Zbl 1342.14076)] to the parabolic case. This gives a proof of the conjecture of \textit{T. Hausel} et al. [Duke Math. J. 160, No. 2, 323--400 (2011; Zbl 1246.14063)] on the Poincaré polynomials of character varieties with punctures.