Parabolic bundles on algebraic surfaces. I. The Donaldson--Uhlenbeck compactification (Q2427080)

Let \(D\) be a (fixed) divisor with normal crossing singularities on a smooth projective complex surface \(X\). Denote by \(M^s(n)\) the moduli space of \(\mu\)-stable (slope-stable) parabolic vector bundles of rank \(n\) and fixed determinant on \(X\) with parabolic structure over \(D\) having fixed parabolic datum. A very interesting study of a compactification of \(M^s(2)\) was carried out by \textit{P. B. Kronheimer} and \textit{T. S. Mrowka} from differential geometric point of view [Topology 32, No. 4, 773--826 (1993; Zbl 0799.57007); Topology 34, No. 1, 37--97 (1995; Zbl 0832.57011)]. The authors of the present paper give an algebraic geometric construction of a natural compactification \(M(n)\) of \(M^s(n)\) which is an anologue of the Donaldson-Uhlenbeck compactification for vector bundles. Set-theoretically, this compactification is contained in the disjoint union of sets of the form \(N_t\times S^t(X)\) where \(N_t\)'s denote sets of suitable isomorphism classes of polystable parabolic bundles and \(S^t(X)\) is the \(t\) th symmetric product of \(X\) for \(t\geq 0\). The authors also prove the existence of \(\mu\)-stable parabolic bundles of rank \(2\) on \(X\) with certain arbitrarily large invariants and parabolic weights satisfying some natural bounds.