arXiv research

Surveying Hitchin representations of Fuchsian groups.

Explicit computation of symplectic form for $\mathrm{PGL}_n(\mathbb{R})$-Hitchin component.

Study pressure metrics for cusped Hitchin representations.

Goldman symplectic form and complex structure compatible on $\mathrm{SL}(3,\mathbb R)$ Hitchin component.

In this article we give a geometric interpretation of the Hitchin component for PSL(4,R) in the representation variety of a closed oriented surface of higher genus. We show that representations in the Hitchin component are precisely the holonomy representations of properly convex foliated projective structures on the u…

New metrics derived from Hölder distortion on Hitchin components.

In this paper, we study Fuchsian loci of ${\rm PSL}_n(\mathbb{R})$-Hitchin components. In particular, using the Bonahon-Dreyer parametrization of ${\rm PSL}_n(\mathbb{R})$-Hitchin components, we give an explicit parametrization of Fuchsian loci of a pair of pants.

We show that a Hitchin representation is determined by the spectral radii of the images of simple, non-separating closed curves. As a consequence, we classify isometries of the intersection function on Hitchin components of dimension 3 and on the self-dual Hitchin components in all dimensions. As an important tool in t…

Paper describes a pseudo-Kähler structure on a specific Hitchin component.

Goldman parametrizes the $\mathrm{PSL}_3(\mathbb{R})$-Hitchin component of a closed oriented hyperbolic surface of genus $g$ by $16g-16$ parameters. Among them, $10g-10$ coordinates are canonical. We prove that the $\mathrm{PSL}_3(\mathbb{R})$-Hitchin component equipped with the Atiyah-Bott-Goldman symplectic form admi…

New phenomenon found in Gothen components' boundary.

Compactifies a component by studying metric degeneration.

This article is the second of a pair of articles about the Goldman symplectic form on the PGL(V)-Hitchin component of a closed, connected, oriented, hyperbolic surface S. We show that any ideal triangulation on S and any compatible bridge system determine a symplectic trivialization of the tangent bundle to the PGL(V)-…

In this article we define new flows on the Hitchin components for PGL(V). Special examples of these flows are associated to simple closed curves on the surface and give generalized twist flows. Other examples, so called eruption flows, are associated to pair of pants in S and capture new phenomena which are not present…

We extend the notion of Hitchin component from surface groups to orbifold groups and prove that this gives new examples of higher Teichmüller spaces. We show that the Hitchin component of an orbifold group is homeomorphic to an open ball and we compute its dimension explicitly. We then give applications to the study of…

New insights into currents of Hitchin representations with combinatorial restrictions.

We construct a geometric, real analytic parametrization of the Hitchin component Hit_n(S) of the PSL_n(R)-character variety R_{PSL_n(R)}(S) of a closed surface S. The approach is explicit and constructive. In essence, our parametrization is an extension of Thurston's shear coordinates for the Teichmueller space of a cl…

This note is based on a talk given at the 2019 ISAAC Congress in Aveiro, Portugal. We give an expository account of joint work with Daniele Alessandrini and Gye-Seon Lee on Hitchin components for orbifold groups (arXiv:1811.05366), recasting part of it in the language of analytic orbi-curves. This reduces the computati…

Identifies Anosov representations of hyperbolic triangle groups in SL(3,R).

The Hitchin component is a connected component of the character variety of reductive group homomorphisms from the fundamental group of a closed surface S of genus greater than 1 to the Lie group PSL_m(R). The Teichmuller space of S naturally embeds into the Hitchin component. The limit points in the Thurston compactifi…

Geometric structures defined for $G_2'$-Hitchin component on surfaces.

Using the work of Bonahon-Dreyer and Fock-Goncharov, one can construct a real-analytic parameterization for the PSL(n,R) Hitchin component of a surface S, that is explicitly analogous to the Fenchel-Nielsen coordinates on the Teichmuller space of S. Given a Hitchin representation, we give a lower bound on the "length" …

In this paper we show some properties of triangle invariants and shearing invariants of PSL(n,R)-Fuchsian representations. Moreover, using the Bonahon-Dreyer parameterization, we show that the Fuchsian locus of Hitchin components corresponds to a slice.

Develops complex harmonic maps for Teichmüller theory, proving new theorems.

In this paper we develop a Kobayashi-Hitchin type correspondence between solutions of the extended Bogomolny equations on $Σ\times \RP$ with Nahm pole singularity at $Σ\times \{0\}$ and the Hitchin component of the stable $SL(2,\mathbb{R})$ Higgs bundle; this verifies a conjecture of Gaiotto and Witten. We also develop…

The study describes the geometry of surfaces and their representations in SL(3,R).

We prove that given a Hitchin representation in a real split rank 2 group $\mathsf G_0$, there exists a unique equivariant minimal surface in the corresponding symmetric space. As a corollary, we obtain a parametrization of the Hitchin components by a Hermitian bundle over Teichmüller space. The proof goes through intr…

Canonical maps connect complex structures to Hitchin components.

We study simple root flows and Liouville currents for Hitchin representations. We show that the Liouville current is associated to the measure of maximal entropy for a simple root flow, derive a Liouville volume rigidity result, and construct a Liouville pressure metric on the Hitchin component.

For a closed surface S, the Hitchin component Hit_n(S) is a preferred component of the character variety consisting of group homomorphisms from the fundamental group pi_1(S) to the Lie group PSL_n(R). We construct a parametrization of the Hitchin component that is well-adapted to a maximal geodesic lamination on the su…

Using Hitchin's parameterization of the Hitchin-Teichmüller component of the $SL(n,\mathbb{R})$ representation variety, we study the asymptotics of certain families of representations. In fact, for certain Higgs bundles in the $SL(n,\mathbb{R})$-Hitchin component, we study the asymptotics of the Hermitian metric solvin…

Constructs a new geometric structure on surfaces to generalize Teichmüller theory.

N. Hitchin recently introduced the notion of folded hyperKähler metrics, in relation with SL(\infty,R) Higgs bundles. We provide a construction of such metrics, and prove the local existence of the Hitchin component for SL(\infty,R).

The abstract discusses rational approximations for Hitchin representations on surfaces.

Study local models for special Kähler metrics near discriminant locus components.

Characterizes flag geometries for Hitchin representations in SL3(R).

We study a natural functional on the space of holomorphic sections of the Deligne-Hitchin moduli space of a compact Riemann surface, generalizing the energy of equivariant harmonic maps corresponding to twistor lines. We give a link to a natural meromorphic connection on the hyperholomorphic line bundle recently constr…

Introduces Fock bundles for studying surface group character varieties.

Defines and parametrizes $\mathfrak{sl}(2)$-type singular fibres in symplectic and odd orthogonal Hitchin systems.

F. Labourie [arXiv:1212.5015] characterized the Hitchin components for $\operatorname{PSL}(n, \mathbb{R})$ for any $n>1$ by using the swapping algebra, where the swapping algebra should be understood as a ring equipped with a Poisson bracket. We introduce the rank $n$ swapping algebra, which is the quotient of the swap…

Describes spectral data for singular fibres of a specific Hitchin system.

In this paper, we derive a maximum principle for a type of elliptic systems and apply it to analyze the Hitchin equation for cyclic Higgs bundles. We show several domination results on the pullback metric of the (possibly branched) minimal immersion $f$ associated to cyclic Higgs bundles. Also, we obtain a lower and up…

Study shows infinite volumes of moduli spaces for certain groups.

The Hitchin component Hit_n(S) of a closed surface S is a preferred component of the character variety X_PSL_n(R)(S) consisting of homomorphisms from the fundamental group pi_1(S) to the Lie group PSL_n(R)(S), whose elements enjoy remarkable geometric and dynamical properties. We consider a certain type of deformations…

Given any representation V of a complex linear reductive Lie group G_0, we show that a larger semi-simple Lie group G with g=g_0 + V + V* + ..., exists precisely when V has a finite number of G_0-orbits. In particular, V admits an open G_0-orbit. Furthermore, this corresponds to an augmentation of the Dynkin diagram of…

In 1990, Hitchin's proved a component of the space of representations of a surface group in SL(n,R) is homeomorphic to a ball. For n=2,3 this component has been identified with the holonomies of geometric structures (hyperbolic for n=2, or real projective for n=3). In the preprint "Anosov flows, Surface groups and Curv…

The dynamics of representations into PSL_d(R) are studied for surfaces of genus at least 3.

In 1992, Hitchin used his theory of Higgs bundles to construct an important family of representations of the fundamental group of a closed, oriented surface of genus at least two into the split real form of a complex adjoint simple Lie group. These Hitchin representations comprise a component of the space of conjugacy …