Automorphisms of moduli spaces of vector bundles over a curve (Q5920312)

In this paper, the authors describe the automorphisms of a moduli space of stable vector bundles on a curve. Specifically, suppose that \(X\) is a smooth projective curve of genus \(g \geq 2\) and \(M\) is the module space of stable vector bundles of rank \(r\) and determinant \(\Lambda\). Then we can consider the following types of automorphisms of \(M\): {\parindent=6mm \begin{itemize}\item[1.] the automorphism defined by sending a vector bundle \(E\) to \(\alpha^{*}(E)\) for \(\alpha : X \to X\) a fixed automorphism. \item[2.] the automorphism \(E \to E \otimes L\) for \(L\) a fixed degree \(0\) line bundle. \item[3.] the automorphism \(E \mapsto E^{\vee} \otimes L\) for \(L\) a fixed line bundle satisfying \(L^{\otimes r} = \Lambda^{\otimes 2}\). \end{itemize}} (Automorphisms of the third type exist only when \(r\) divides \(2 d\).) The main result of the paper is Theorem 1.1 which states that these automorphisms generate the automorphism group. In proving this theorem, the authors prove a second result of independent interest. This result is Theorem 1.2 which is a Torelli theorem-type result stating that two curves with isomorphic moduli spaces of vector bundles must themselves be isomorphic. The authors observe in Remark 5.5 that both results remain valid for the larger moduli space of semistable vector bundles. Both Theorem 1.1 and 1.2 were known before, but the current proofs simplify certain aspects of previous proofs. Both theorems are proven by using the Hitchen fibration. To prove Theorem 1.2, the authors observe that an isomorphism \(M \cong M'\) of moduli spaces induces an isomorphism of cotangent bundles \(T^{*}(M) \cong T^{*}(M')\). Using the geometry of the Hitchen fibration (which fibers the cotangent space over an affine space), the authors argue that the isomorphism of cotangent bundles must induces an isomorphism of certain discriminant loci. The authors then complete the proof by invoking the fact that the discriminant loci are dual (in the sense of projective geometry) to the given curves. The proof of Theorem 1.1 is more complicated. Given an automorphism \(a\) of \(M\), they argue using the geometry of the Hitchen fibration that \(a\) must induce an isomorphism \(\text{End}_{0}(E) \to \text{End}_{0}(E')\) that respects Lie algebra structures. Here \(E\) is a general stable vector, \(E'\) is its image under the automorphism, and \(\text{End}_{0}(E)\) denotes the trace zero endomorphisms. They then give an argument in Lie theory (Lemma 5.4) to show that \(a\) must have the desired form. Theorems 1.1 and 1.2 were first proven by \textit{A. Kouvidakis} and \textit{T. Pantev} [Math. Ann. 302, No. 2, 225--268 (1995; Zbl 0841.14029)] and reproven by \textit{J.-M. Hwang} and \textit{S. Ramanan} [Ann. Sci. Éc. Norm. Supér. (4) 37, No. 5, 801--817 (2004; Zbl 1073.14046)]. All three proofs use the Hitchen fibration, but the current proof and the proof by Hwang and Ramanan differ from the proof in [Kouvidakis and Pantev, loc. cit.] in that the later papers make key use of the Hitchen discriminant (related to the discriminant used in the proof of the Torelli theorem). The current proof further simplifies the ideas of Hwang and Ramanan in that it avoid using the theory of Hecke curves (certain rational curves on the moduli space of stable vector bundles). In the companion paper [\textit{I. Biswas} et al., Int. J. Math. 23, No. 5, 1250052, 27 p. (2012; Zbl 1246.14048)], the authors also apply their ideas to analyze the automorphisms of the moduli space of symplectic bundles.