Principal Schottky bundles over Riemann surfaces (Q2312745)

The Riemann surfaces of genus \(g \geq 2\) are usually uniformized by means of Fuchsian groups. Another way is the so-called Schottky uniformization. By using this one, a surface \(X\) can be written as \(\Omega / \Sigma\) where \(\Sigma\) is a free group of Möbius transformations of rank \(g\) called a Schottky group, and \(\Omega\) is the region of discontinuity for the \(\Sigma\)-action. Then, let \(X\) be a fixed Riemann surface, \(\pi_1(X)\) its fundamental group, \(G\) a reductive algebraic group over \(\mathbb{C}\), and \(K\) a maximal compact subgroup of \(G\). A representation \(\rho : \pi_1(X) \rightarrow K\) defines a holomorphic \(G\)-bundle over \(X = \mathbb{H}/\pi_1(X)\) equipped with a natural flat connection \(E_\rho = (\mathbb{H} \times G)/_\rho\ \pi_1(X)\). The third listed author proved in [Manuscr. Math. 105, 69--83 (2001; Zbl 1024.30021)] that all flat line bundles and all flat vector bundles over an elliptic curve are Schottky bundles, which can be defined for certain representations \(\rho\) of a free group of rank \(g\) into the group \(\mathrm{GL}_n\mathbb{C}\). The goal of the present paper is to generalize those results in two ways: replacing \(\mathrm{GL}_n\mathbb{C}\) by an arbitrary connected complex reductive group \(G\), and considering a more general definition of Schottky representations. Given the usual generators \(\alpha_i, \beta_i\) of \(\pi_1(X)\), a representation \(\rho : \pi_1(X) \rightarrow G\) is said Schottky if \(\rho (\alpha_i) \in Z(G)\), and strict Schottky if \(\rho (\alpha_i) = 1_G\). After the necessary preliminaries, in Section 4 a \(G\)-bundle \(E\) over \(X\) is defined to be Schottky (resp. strict Schottky) \(G\)-bundle if \(E\) is isomorphic to \(E_\rho\) for some Schottky (resp. strict Schottky) representation \(\rho\). In these terms, the first main result is Theorem 5.3, according to which every Schottky \(G\)-bundle is topologically trivial. The next important result is Theorem 8.6, where it is proved that the Schottky moduli map inside the moduli space of semistable \(G\)-bundles is a local submersion at a good and unitary Schottky representation. Finally, in Section 9, where two special classes of \(G\)-bundles are studied, Theorem 9.7 states that if \(X\) is an elliptic curve and \(E\) a \(G\)-bundle over \(X\), \(E\) is Schottky if and only if it admits a flat connection.