Involutions and higher order automorphisms of Higgs bundle moduli spaces

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Publication:5237456




Abstract: We consider the moduli space mathcalM(G) of G-Higgs bundles over a compact Riemann surface X, where G is a complex semisimple Lie group. This is a hyperk"ahler manifold homeomorphic to the moduli space mathcalR(G) of representations of the fundamental group of X in G. In this paper we study finite order automorphisms of mathcalM(G) obtained by combining the action of an element of order n in H1(X,Z)timesmboxOut(G), where Z is the centre of G and mboxOut(G) is the group of outer automorphisms of G, with the multiplication of the Higgs field by an nth-root of unity, and describe the subvarieties of fixed points. We give special attention to the case of involutions, defined by the action of an element of order 2 in H1(X,Z)timesmboxOut(G) combined with the multiplication of the Higgs field by pm1. In this situation, the subvarieties of fixed points are hyperk"ahler submanifolds of mathcalM(G) in the (+1)-case, corresponding to the moduli space of representations of the fundamental group in certain reductive complex subgroups of G defined by holomorphic involutions of G; while in the (-1)-case they are Lagrangian subvarieties corresponding to the moduli space of representations of the fundamental group of X in real forms of G and certain extensions of these. We illustrate the general theory with the description of involutions for G=mboxSL(n,mathbbC) and involutions and order three automorphism defined by triality for G=mboxSpin(8,mathbbC).




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