Solutions of Hitchin's self-duality equations corresponds to special real sections in the Deligne-Hitchin moduli space -- twistor lines. A question posed by Simpson in 1997 asks whether all real sections give rise to global solutions of the self-duality equations. An affirmative answer would allow for complex analytic procedure to obtain all solutions of the self-duality equations. The purpose of this paper is to construct counter examples given by certain (branched) Willmore surfaces in $3$-space (with monodromy) via the generalized Whitham flow. Though these higher solutions do not give rise to global solutions of the self-duality equations on the whole Riemann surface $M$, they are solutions on an open dense subset of it. This suggest a deeper connection between Willmore surfaces, i.e., rank $4$ harmonic maps theory, with the rank $2$ self-duality theory.
We study the moduli spaces of flat SL(r)- and PGL(r)-connections, or equivalently, Higgs bundles, on an algebraic curve. These spaces are noncompact Calabi-Yau orbifolds; we show that they can be regarded as mirror partners in two different senses. First, they satisfy the requirements laid down by Strominger-Yau-Zaslow (SYZ), in a suitably general sense involving a B-field or flat unitary gerbe. To show this, we use their hyperkahler structures and Hitchin's integrable systems. Second, their Hodge numbers, again in a suitably general sense, are equal. These spaces provide significant evidence …
The twistor space of the moduli space of solutions of Hitchin's self-duality equations can be identified with the Deligne-Hitchin moduli space of $λ$-connections. We use real projective structures on Riemann surfaces to prove the existence of new components of real holomorphic sections of the Deligne-Hitchin moduli space. Applying the twistorial construction we show the existence of new hyper-Kähler manifolds associated to any compact Riemann surface of genus $g\geq2$. These hyper-Kähler manifolds can be considered as moduli spaces of (certain) singular solutions of the self-duality equations.
We review recent work on the compactification of the moduli space of Hitchin's self-duality equation. We study the degeneration behavior near the ends of this moduli space in a set of generic directions by showing how limiting configurations can be desingularized. Following ideas of Hitchin, we can relate the top boundary stratum of this space of limiting configurations to a Prym variety. A key rôle is played by the family of rotationally symmetric solutions to the self-duality equation on $\mathbb C$, which we discuss in detail here.
In this note we study some analytic properties of the linearized self-duality equations on a family of smooth Riemann surfaces $Σ_R$ converging for $R\searrow0$ to a surface $Σ_0$ with a finite number of nodes. It is shown that the linearization along the fibres of the Hitchin fibration gives rise to a graph-continuous Fredholm family, the index of it being stable when passing to the limit. We also report on similarities and differences between properties of the Hitchin fibration in this degeneration and in the limit of large Higgs fields.
Here we survey questions and results on the Hodge theory of hyperkaehler quotients, motivated by certain S-duality considerations in string theory. The problems include L^2 harmonic forms, Betti numbers and mixed Hodge structures on the moduli spaces of Yang-Mills instantons on ALE gravitational instantons, magnetic monopoles on R^3 and Higgs bundles on a Riemann surface. Several of these spaces and their hyperkaehler metrics were constructed by Nigel Hitchin and his collaborators.
For Hitchin's generalised geometries we introduce and analyse the concept of a structured submanifold which encapsulates the classical notion of a calibrated submanifold. Under a suitable integrability condition on the ambient geometry, these generalised calibrated cycles minimise a functional occurring as D-brane energy in type II string theories, involving both so-called NS-NS- and R-R-fields. Further, we investigate the behaviour of calibrated cycles under T-duality and construct non-trivial examples.
We prove a gluing theorem for solutions of Hitchin's self-duality equations with logarithmic singularities on a rank-2 vector bundle over a noded Riemann surface representing a boundary point of Teichmüller moduli space.
The Langlands Program was launched in the late 60s with the goal of relating Galois representations and automorphic forms. In recent years a geometric version has been developed which leads to a mysterious duality between certain categories of sheaves on moduli spaces of (flat) bundles on algebraic curves. Three years ago, in a groundbreaking advance, Kapustin and Witten have linked the geometric Langlands correspondence to the S-duality of 4D supersymmetric gauge theories. This and subsequent works have already led to striking new insights into the geometric Langlands Program, which in partic…
In this paper we consider the topological side of a problem which is the analogue of Sen's S-duality testing conjecture for Hitchin's moduli space of rank 2 stable Higgs bundles of fixed determinant of odd degree over a Riemann surface. We prove that all intersection numbers in the compactly supported cohomology vanish, i.e. "there are no topological L^2 harmonic forms on Hitchin's space". This result generalizes the well known vanishing of the Euler characteristic of the moduli space of rank 2 stable bundles of fixed determinant of odd degree over the given Riemann surface. Our proof shows th…
We consider the reduction along two compact directions of a twisted N=4 gauge theory on a 4-dimensional orientable manifold which is not a global product of two surfaces but contains a non-orientable surface. The low energy theory is a sigma-model on a 2-dimensional worldsheet with a boundary which lives on branes constructed from the Hitchin moduli space of the non-orientable surface. We modify 't Hooft's notion of discrete electric and magnetic fluxes in gauge theory due to the breaking of discrete symmetry and we match these fluxes with the homotopy classes of maps in sigma-model. We verify…
The equations governing anti-self-dual and Einstein-Weyl conformal geometries can be regarded as `master dispersionless systems' in four and three dimensions respectively. Their integrability by twistor methods has been established by Penrose and Hitchin. In this note we present, in specially adapted coordinate systems, explicit forms of the corresponding equations and their Lax pairs. In particular, we demonstrate that any Lorentzian Einstein-Weyl structure is locally given by a solution to the Manakov-Santini system, and we find a system of two coupled third-order scalar PDEs for a general a…
We establish a Kobayashi-Hitchin correspondence between solutions of the extended Bogomolny equation with a Dirac type singularity and Hecke modifications of Higgs bundles. This correspondence was conjectured by Witten and plays an important role in the physical description of the the geometric Langlands program in terms of S-duality for N=4 super Yang-Mills theory in four dimensions.
In this paper we define a Donaldson type functional whose Euler-Lagrange equations are a system of differential equations which corresponds to Hitchin's self-duality equations for a suitable choice of Higgs bundle on closed Riemann surfaces. The main challenge of this functional is its lack of regularity and lack of compactness when defined in its natural domain of definition. Though a standard variational approach cannot directly be applied, we provide the appropriate analytical tools that make Donaldson functional treatable by a variational viewpoint. We prove that this functional admits a u…
We show that the self-duality defined in [Trautman, Int.J.Theor.Phys.,{\bf 16},561 (1977)] is equivalent to strong self-duality defined in [Bilge, Dereli and Kocak, Lett.Math.Phys., {\bf 36}, 301-309, (1996)] and we obtain an upper bound on $\int (p_2)^{n}$, where $p_2$ is the second Pontrjagin class of an $SO(N)$ bundle over a $8n$ dimensional manifold.
We study the spectral geometry of the conformal Jacobi operator on a 4-dimensional Riemannian manifold (M,g). We show that (M,g) is conformally Osserman if and only if (M,g) is self-dual or anti self-dual. Equivalently, this means that the curvature tensor of (M,g) is given by a quaternionic structure, at least pointwise.
