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 in support of SYZ. Moreover, they throw a bridge from mirror symmetry to the duality theory of Lie groups and, more broadly, to the geometric Langlands program.
The first part of this paper is a survey of mathematical results on mirror symmetry phenomena between Hitchin systems for Langlands dual groups. The second part introduces and discusses multiplicity algebras of the Hitchin system on Lagrangians, and considers corresponding conjectural structures on their mirror.
We show that the Hitchin integrable system for a simple complex Lie group $G$ is dual to the Hitchin system for the Langlands dual group $\lan{G}$. In particular, the general fiber of the connected component $\Higgs_0$ of the Hitchin system for $G$ is an abelian variety which is dual to the corresponding fiber of the connected component of the Hitchin system for $\lan{G}$. The non-neutral connected components $\Higgs_α$ form torsors over $\Higgs_0$. We show that their duals are gerbes over $\Higgs_0$ which are induced by the gerbe of $G$-Higgs bundles $\gHiggs$. More generally, we establish a …
We study hyperkahler metrics and hyperholomorphic connections of Hitchin's moduli spaces after Gaiotto, Moore and Neitzke. Their construction via the twistor technique produces intricate wall crossing behaviors. For certain four dimensional Hitchin's moduli spaces local models and degeneration to local models near singular fibers of the Hitchin's fibration are understood.
We prove three new results about the global Springer action defined in \cite{GSI}. The first one determines the support of the perverse cohomology sheaves of the parabolic Hitchin complex, which serves as a technical tool for the next results. The second one (the Endoscopic Decomposition Theorem) links certain direct summands of the parabolic Hitchin complex of $G$ to the endoscopic groups of $G$. This result generalizes Ngô's geometric stabilization of the trace formula in \cite{NgoFL}. The third result links the stable parts of the parabolic Hitchin complexes for Langlands dual groups, and e…
We show that (quantum) D-modules of Givental type on affine flag varieties are transformed to D-modules of Beilinson-Drinfeld type on $n$-reduced Sato Grassmannians via affine Miura transformation.
By normalizing the space of commuting pairs of elements in a reductive Lie group G, and the corresponding space for the Langlands dual group, we construct pairs of hyperkahler orbifolds which satisfy the conditions to be mirror partners in the sense of Strominger-Yau-Zaslow. The same holds true for commuting quadruples in a compact Lie group. The Hodge numbers of the mirror partners, or more precisely their orbifold E-polynomials, are shown to agree, as predicted by mirror symmetry. These polynomials are explicitly calculated when G is a quotient of SL(n).
We study two instanton correction problems of Hitchin's moduli spaces along with their wall crossing formulas. The hyperkahler metric of a Hitchin's moduli space can be put into an instanton-corrected form according to physicists Gaiotto, Moore and Neitzke. The problem boils down to the construction of a set of special coordinates which can be constructed as Fock-Goncharov coordinates associated with foliations of quadratic differentials on a Riemann surface. A wall crossing formula of Kontsevich and Soibelman arises both as a crucial consistency condition and an effective computational tool. …
The geometric Langlands correspondence has been interpreted as the mirror symmetry of the Hitchin fibrations for two dual reductive groups. This mirror symmetry, in turn, reduces to T-duality on the generic Hitchin fibers, which are smooth tori. In this paper we study what happens when the Hitchin fibers on the B-model side develop orbifold singularities. These singularities correspond to local systems with finite groups of automorphisms. In the classical Langlands Program local systems of this type are called endoscopic. They play an important role in the theory of automorphic representations…
In this paper, we first prove the parabolic Beauvile-Narasimhan-Ramanan correspondence over an arbitrary field which generalizes the corresponding results over algebraically closed fields in [SWW22]. We use the correspondence and the p-adic integration methods developed by Groechenig- Wyss-Ziegler [GWZ20b] to prove the topological mirror symmetry for parabolic Hitchin systems on curves with arbitrary parabolic structures.
We first demonstrate how duality for the fibres of the so-called Hitchin fibration works for the Langlands dual groups Sp(2m) and SO(2m+1). We then show that duality for G2 is implemented by an involution on the base space which takes one fibre to its dual. A formula for the natural cubic form is given and shown to be invariant under the involution.
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…
Here we survey several results and conjectures on the cohomology of the total space of the Hitchin system: the moduli space of semi-stable rank n and degree d Higgs bundles on a complex algebraic curve C. The picture emerging is a dynamic mixture of ideas originating in theoretical physics such as gauge theory and mirror symmetry, Weil conjectures in arithmetic algebraic geometry, representation theory of finite groups of Lie type and Langlands duality in number theory.
We use Coulomb branch indices of Argyres-Douglas theories on $S^1 \times L(k,1)$ to quantize moduli spaces ${\cal M}_H$ of wild/irregular Hitchin systems. In particular, we obtain formulae for the "wild Hitchin characters" -- the graded dimensions of the Hilbert spaces from quantization -- for four infinite families of ${\cal M}_H$, giving access to many interesting geometric and topological data of these moduli spaces. We observe that the wild Hitchin characters can always be written as a sum over fixed points in ${\cal M}_H$ under the $U(1)$ Hitchin action, and a limit of them can be identif…
We find an agreement of equivariant indices of semi-classical homomorphisms between pairwise mirror branes in the GL(2) Higgs moduli space on a Riemann surface. On one side we have the components of the Lagrangian brane of U(1,1) Higgs bundles whose mirror was proposed by Nigel Hitchin to be certain even exterior powers of the hyperholomorphic Dirac bundle on the SL(2) Higgs moduli space. The agreement arises from a mysterious functional equation. This gives strong computational evidence for Hitchin's proposal.
Topological-Holomorphic ${\mathcal N} =4$ Gauge Theory: From Langlands Duality of Holomorphic Invariants to Mirror Symmetry of Quasi-topological Strings
We introduce the notion of Wall-Crossing Structure and discuss it in several examples including complex integrable systems, Donaldson-Thomas invariants and Mirror Symmetry. For a big class of non-compact Calabi-Yau 3-folds we construct complex integrable systems of Hitchin type with the base given by the moduli space of deformations of those 3-folds. Then Donaldson-Thomas invariants of the Fukaya category of such a Calabi-Yau 3-fold can be (conjecturally) described in two more ways: in terms of the attractor flow on the base of the corresponding complex integrable system and in terms of the sk…
The Langlands correspondence for complex curves is traditionally formulated in terms of sheaves rather than functions. Recently, Langlands asked whether it is possible to construct a function-theoretic version. In this paper we use the algebra of commuting global differential operators (quantum Hitchin Hamiltonians and their complex conjugates) on the moduli space of G-bundles of a complex algebraic curve to formulate a function-theoretic correspondence. We conjecture the existence of a canonical self-adjoint extension of the symmetric part of this algebra acting on an appropriate Hilbert spac…
We study the locus of the moduli space of Higgs bundles on a curve given by those Higgs bundles obtained by pushforward under an unramified cover. We equip these loci with a hyperholomorphic bundle so that they can be viewed as BBB-branes, and we introduce corresponding BAA-branes which can be described via Hecke modifications. We then show how these branes are naturally dual via explicit Fourier--Mukai transform, where we recall that the structure group $\mathrm{GL}(n,\mathbb{C})$ is Langlands self dual. It is noteworthy that these branes lie over the singular locus of the Hitchin fibration. …
We study mirror symmetry on the singular locus of the Hitchin system at two levels. Firstly, by covering it by (supports of) $(BBB)$-branes, corresponding to Higgs bundles reducing their structure group to the Levi subgroup of some parabolic subgroup $\mathrm{P}$, whose conjectural dual $(BAA)$-branes we describe. Heuristically speaking, the latter are given by Higgs bundles reducing their structure group to the unipotent radical of $\mathrm{P}$. Secondly, when $\mathrm{P}$ is a Borel subgroup, we are able to construct a family of hyperholomorphic bundles on the $(BBB)$-brane, and study the va…
Let X be a smooth projective curve over an algebraically closed field k of characteristic p>0. In this paper we explore the relation between algebraic D-modules on the moduli space $Bun_n$ of vector bundles of rank n on X and coherent sheaves on the moduli space $Loc_n$ of vector bundles endowed with a connection (in the way predicted by Beilinson and Drinfeld for k of characteristic 0). The main technical tools used in the paper are the geometry of the Hitchin system and the Azumaya property of the algebra of differential operators in characteristic p.
When combined with mirror symmetry, the A-model approach to quantization leads to a fairly simple and tractable problem. The most interesting part of the problem then becomes finding the mirror of the coisotropic brane. We illustrate how it can be addressed in a number of interesting examples related to representation theory and gauge theory, in which mirror geometry is naturally associated with the Langlands dual group. Hyperholomorphic sheaves and (B,B,B) branes play an important role in the B-model approach to quantization.
An effective family of spectral curves appearing in Hitchin fibrations is determined. Using this family the moduli spaces of stable Higgs bundles on an algebraic curve are embedded into the Sato Grassmannian. We show that the Hitchin integrable system, the natural algebraically completely integrable Hamiltonian system defined on the Higgs moduli space, coincides with the KP equations. It is shown that the Serre duality on these moduli spaces corresponds to the formal adjoint of pseudo-differential operators acting on the Grassmannian. From this fact we then identify the Hitchin integrable syst…
Exploiting the description of rings of differential operators as Azumaya algebras on cotangent bundles, we show that the moduli stack of flat connections on a curve (allowed to acquire orbifold points) defined over an algebraically closed field of positive characteristic is étale locally equivalent to a moduli stack of Higgs bundles over the Hitchin base. We then study the interplay with stability and generalize a result of Laszlo-Pauly, concerning properness of the Hitchin map. Using Arinkin's autoduality of compactified Jacobians we extend the main result of Bezrukavnikov-Braverman, the Lang…
The moduli spaces of flat $\mathrm{SL}_2$- and $\mathrm{PGL}_2$-connections are known to be singular SYZ-mirror partners. We establish the equality of Hodge numbers of their intersection (stringy) cohomology. In rank two, this answers a question raised by Tamás Hausel in Remark 3.30 of "Global topology of the Hitchin system".
This is a survey of results and conjectures on mirror symmetry phenomena in the non-Abelian Hodge theory of a curve. We start with the conjecture of Hausel-Thaddeus which claims that certain Hodge numbers of moduli spaces of flat SL(n,C) and PGL(n,C)-connections on a smooth projective algebraic curve agree. We then change our point of view in the non-Abelian Hodge theory of the curve, and concentrate on the SL(n,C) and PGL(n,C) character varieties of the curve. Here we discuss a recent conjecture of Hausel-Rodriguez-Villegas which claims, analogously to the above conjecture, that certain Hodge…
In this note we present pairs of hyperkaehler orbifolds which satisfy two different versions of mirror symmetry. On the one hand, we show that their Hodge numbers (or more precisely, stringy E-polynomials) are equal. On the other hand, we show that they satisfy the prescription of Strominger, Yau, and Zaslow (which in the present case goes back to Bershadsky, Johansen, Sadov and Vafa): that a Calabi-Yau and its mirror should fiber over the same real manifold, with special Lagrangian fibers which are tori dual to each other. Our examples arise as moduli spaces of local systems on a curve with s…
In Part I, we extend our analysis in [arXiv:0807.1107], and show that a mathematically conjectured geometric Langlands duality for complex surfaces in [1], and its generalizations -- which relate some cohomology of the moduli space of certain ("ramified") G-instantons to the integrable representations of the Langlands dual of certain affine (sub) G-algebras, where G is any compact Lie group -- can be derived, purely physically, from the principle that the spacetime BPS spectra of string-dual M-theory compactifications ought to be equivalent. In Part II, to the setup in Part I, we introduce Ome…
We define and study the existence of very stable Higgs bundles on Riemann surfaces, how it implies a precise formula for the multiplicity of the very stable components of the global nilpotent cone and its relationship to mirror symmetry. The main ingredients are the Bialynicki-Birula theory of ${\mathbb C}^*$-actions on semiprojective varieties, ${\mathbb C}^*$ characters of indices of ${\mathbb C}^*$-equivariant coherent sheaves, Hecke transformation for Higgs bundles, relative Fourier-Mukai transform along the Hitchin fibration, hyperholomorphic structures on universal bundles and cominuscul…
This work is the geometric part of our proof of the weighted fundamental lemma, which is an extension of Ngô Bao Châu's proof of the Langlands-Shelstad fundamental lemma. Ngô's approach is based on a study of the elliptic part of the Hichin fibration. The total space of this fibration is the algebraic stack of Hitchin bundles and its base space is the affine space of "characteristic polynomials". Over the elliptic set, the Hitchin fibration is proper and the number of points of its fibers over a finite field can be expressed in terms of orbital integrals. In this paper, we study the Hitchin fi…
Motivated by geometric Langlands, we initiate a program to study the mirror symmetry between nilpotent orbit closures of a semisimple Lie algebra and those of its Langlands dual. The most interesting case is $B_n$ via $C_n$. Classically, there is a famous Springer duality between special orbits. Therefore, it is natural to speculate that the mirror symmetry we seek may coincide with Springer duality in the context of special orbits. Unfortunately, such a naive statement fails. To remedy the situation, we propose a conjecture which asserts the mirror symmetry for certain parabolic/induced cover…
We further explore the implications of our framework in [arXiv:1301.1977, arXiv:1309.4775], and physically derive, from the principle that the spacetime BPS spectra of string-dual M-theory compactifications ought to be equivalent, (i) a 5d AGT correspondence for any compact Lie group, (ii) a 5d and 6d AGT correspondence on ALE space of type ADE, and (iii) identities between the ordinary, q-deformed and elliptic affine W-algebras associated with the 4d, 5d and 6d AGT correspondence, respectively, which also define a quantum geometric Langlands duality and its higher analogs formulated by Feigin…
We study generalized complex structures on K3 surfaces, in the sense of Hitchin. For each real parameter t between one and infinity we exhibit two families of generalized K3 surfaces, (M,cal{I}_{zeta}) and (M,cal{J}_{zeta}), parametrized by zeta in CP^1, which are Mukai dual for zeta=0 and infinity, amd mirror partners for zeta not equal to 0 and infinity. Moreover, the Fourier-Mukai equivalence D^b(M,cal{I}_0) -> D^b(M,cal{J}_0) induces an isomorphism phi_T between the spaces of first order deformations of (M,cal{I}_0) and (M,cal{J}_0) as generalized complex manifolds, and the deformations (M…
We prove the Topological Mirror Symmetry Conjecture by Hausel-Thaddeus for smooth moduli spaces of Higgs bundles of type $\operatorname{SL}_n$ and $\operatorname{PGL}_n$. More precisely, we establish an equality of stringy Hodge numbers for certain pairs of algebraic orbifolds generically fibred into dual abelian varieties. Our proof utilises p-adic integration relative to the fibres, and interprets canonical gerbes present on these moduli spaces as characters on the Hitchin fibres using Tate duality. Furthermore we prove for $d$ coprime to $n$, that the number of rank $n$ Higgs bundles of deg…
We introduce the notion of generalized hyperpolygon, which arises as a representation, in the sense of Nakajima, of a comet-shaped quiver. We identify these representations with rigid geometric figures, namely pairs of polygons: one in the Lie algebra of a compact group and the other in its complexification. To such data, we associate an explicit meromorphic Higgs bundle on a genus-$g$ Riemann surface, where $g$ is the number of loops in the comet, thereby embedding the Nakajima quiver variety into a Hitchin system on a punctured genus-$g$ Riemann surface (generally with positive codimension).…
Let $p$ be a prime number. We prove that the $P=W$ conjecture for $\mathrm{SL}_p$ is equivalent to the $P=W$ conjecture for $\mathrm{GL}_p$. As a consequence, we verify the $P=W$ conjecture for genus 2 and $\mathrm{SL}_p$. For the proof, we compute the perverse filtration and the weight filtration for the variant cohomology associated with the $\mathrm{SL}_p$-Hitchin moduli space and the $\mathrm{SL}_p$-twisted character variety, relying on Gröchenig-Wyss-Ziegler's recent proof of the topological mirror conjecture by Hausel-Thaddeus. Finally we discuss obstructions of studying the cohomology o…
This thesis is dedicated to the study of certain loci of the Higgs bundle moduli space on a compact Riemann surface. Motivated by mirror symmetry, we give a detailed description of the fibres of the $G$-Hitchin fibration containing $G_0$-Higgs bundles for the real forms $G_0 = SU^*(2m)$, $SO^*(4m)$ and $Sp(m,m)$ of $G = SL(2m,\mathbb{C})$, $SO(4m,\mathbb{C})$ and $Sp(4m,\mathbb{C})$, respectively. The spectral curves associated to these fibres are examples of ribbons and our description is done in two different ways, one in term of objects on the reduced scheme associated to the spectral curve…
We compute the fundamental group of an open Richardson variety in the manifold of complete flags that corresponds to a partial flag manifold. Rietsch showed that these log Calabi-Yau varieties underlie a Landau-Ginzburg mirror for the Langlands dual partial flag manifold, and our computation verifies a prediction of Hori for this mirror. It is log Calabi-Yau as it isomorphic to the complement of the Knutson-Lam-Speyer anti-canonical divisor for the partial flag manifold. We also determine explicit defining equations for this divisor.
A decorated surface S is a surface with a finite set of special points on the boundary, considered modulo isotopy. Let G be a split reductive group. A pair (G, S) gives rise to a moduli space A(G, S), closely related to the space of G-local systems on S. It has a positive structure. So the set of its integral tropical points is defined. We introduce a rational positive function W on A(G, S), the potential. The condition that its tropicalisation is non-negative determines its subset. For SL(2), we recover the set of integral laminations on S. We prove that when S is a disc with n special points…
We consider the Grassmannian X of (n-k)-dimensional subspaces of an n-dimensional complex vector space. We describe a `mirror dual' Landau-Ginzburg model for X consisting of the complement of a particular anti-canonical divisor in a Langlands dual Grassmannian together with a superpotential expressed succinctly in terms of Plücker coordinates. First of all, we show this Landau-Ginzburg model to be isomorphic to the one proposed by the second author. Secondly we show it to be a partial compactification of the Landau-Ginzburg model defined in the 1990s by Eguchi, Hori, and Xiong. Finally we cons…
This paper proves a version of mirror symmetry expressing the (small) Dubrovin connection for even-dimensional quadrics in terms of a mirror-dual Landau-Ginzburg model (Xcan,W). Here Xcan is the complement of an anticanonical divisor in a Langlands dual quadric. The superpotential W is a regular function on Xcan and is written in terms of coordinates which are naturally identified with a cohomology basis of the original quadric. This superpotential is shown to extend the earlier Landau-Ginzburg model of Givental, and to be isomorphic to the Lie-theoretic mirror introduced by Rietsch. We also i…
