Vinberg pairs and Higgs bundles (Q6607621)

The article studies a class of Higgs pairs determined by a Vinberg representation, and how the usual theory of Higgs bundles generalizes to this setting.\N\NVinberg representations or Vinberg \(\theta\)-pairs are defined as follows. Let \(G\) be a complex reductive Lie group with Lie algebra \(\mathfrak{g}\) and consider \(\theta\) an automorphism of \(G\) with finite order \(m>0\). Denote also by \(\theta\) the induced automorphism on \(\mathfrak{g}\). Since it also has order \(m\), it induces a grading by eigenspaces\N\[\N\mathfrak{g}=\bigoplus_{i\in\mathbb{Z}/m\mathbb{Z}} \mathfrak{g}_i \text{ where } \mathfrak{g}_i =\{x\in \mathfrak{g} \vert \theta(x)=\zeta^{i}x\} \qquad\text{ and } \quad [\mathfrak{g}_i ,\mathfrak{g}_j]\subset\mathfrak{g}_{i+j},\N\]\Nwith \(\zeta\in \mathbb{C}\) a primitive \(m\)-th root of unity. The fixed point subgroup \(G^{\theta}\) acts via the adjoint representation on each piece of the grading \(\mathfrak{g}_i\). This happens because conjugation by a fixed element \(g\in G^{\theta}\) commutes with \(\theta\). A pair \((G^{\theta}, \mathfrak{g}_i)\) is then called a Vinberg \(\theta\)-pair. The author also considers extended Vinberg \(\theta\)-pairs, where \(G^{\theta}\) is replaced by its normalizer or its connected component of the identity.\N\NThese special groups and representations allow one to define the corresponding Higgs pairs over a Riemann surface \(X\). Recall that if \(V\) is a holomorphic representation of \(G\), a \((G,V)\)-Higgs pair is a tuple \((E,\phi)\) where \(E\) is a holomorphic principal \(G\)-bundle and \(\phi\) is a holomorphic section of the associated bundle \(E(V)\otimes K\), where \(K\) is the canonical bundle of \(X\). When \(V=\mathfrak{g}\) is the adjoint representation, \((G,\mathfrak{g})\)-Higgs pairs are just the usual \(G\)-Higgs bundles. The main objects under consideration in the article are then \((G^{\theta}, \mathfrak{g}_i)\)-Higgs Pairs for \((G^{\theta}, \mathfrak{g}_i)\) an extended Vinberg \(\theta\)-pair.\N\NThe results include a definition of the moduli space \(\mathcal{M}(G^{\theta}, \mathfrak{g}_i)\) of stable Higgs pairs coming from Vinberg \(\theta\)-pairs, a study of their relation with cyclic Higgs bundles and the non-abelian Hodge correspondence, together with the definition of the Toledo invariant and of the Hitchin fibration in that case.\N\NFurther discussion of cyclic \(G\)-Higgs bundles from this perspective is developed by the author and a collaborator in \textit{O. García-Prada} and \textit{M. González} [``Cyclic Higgs bundles and the Toledo invariant'', Preprint, \url{arXiv:2403.00415}].\N\NFor the entire collection see [Zbl 1545.14003].