The Deligne-Simpson problem for connections on \(\mathbb{G}_m\) with a maximally ramified singularity (Q2675114)

In this paper, the authors are interested in a variant of the Deligne-Simpson problem for Fuchsian connections. A Fuchsian connection with singular points \(a_1, \dots, a_m\) all distinct of \(\infty\) is defined by \[ d+\left(\sum_{i=1}^m\frac{A_i}{z-a_i}\right)dz, \] where the \(A_i\in GL_n(\mathbb C)\) are invertible matrices with complex coefficients satisfying \(\sum A_i=0\). The collection of matrices \(A_1,\dots,A_m\) is said to be irreducible if they have no common invariant subspaces besides \(\{0\}\) and \(\mathbb C^n\). The classical Deligne-Simpson problem (in its additive form), for which a complete solution was given by \textit{W. Crawley-Boevey} [Duke Math. J. 118, No. 2, 339--352 (2003; Zbl 1046.15013)], is the following: ``given adjoints orbits \(\mathcal O_1,\dots,\mathcal O_m\), determine whether there exists an irreducible \(m\)-tuple \((A_1,\dots,A_m)\) with \(A_i\in\mathcal O_i\) satisfying \(\sum A_i=0\)'' [\textit{V. P. Kostov}, J. Dyn. Control Syst. 9, No. 3, 393--436 (2003; Zbl 1031.15020)]. A more general version of this problem, solved by \textit{K. Hiroe} [Duke Math. J. 166, No. 5, 855--935 (2017; Zbl 1368.16018)], allows additional unramified irregular singularities by considering connections of the form \[ d+\left(\sum_{i=1}^m\sum_{\nu=0}^{r_i}\frac{A_{\nu}^{(i)}}{(z-a_i)^{\nu}}\right)\frac{dz}{z}. \] In this paper, the authors study a ramified version of the Deligne-Simpson problem by using the theory of fundamental and regular strata due to Bremer and Sage. More precisely, they consider a special class of irregular connections called toral connections: the allowed singular points are singularities whose leading term with respect to a lattice chain filtration is regular semisimple. Such connections, which arise for instance from Airy, Bessel, and Kloosterman differential equations, play an important role in recent work in the geometric Langlands program.