Surface group representations in PU(p,q) and Higgs bundles

Abstract

Using the L^2 norm of the Higgs field as a Morse function, we study the moduli spaces of U(p,q)-Higgs bundles over a Riemann surface. We require that the genus of the surface be at least two, but place no constraints on (p,q). A key step is the identification of the function's local minima as moduli spaces of holomorphic triples. In a companion paper "Moduli spaces of holomorphic triples over compact Riemann surfaces" (math.AG/0211428) we prove that these moduli spaces of triples are non-empty and irreducible. Because of the relation between flat bundles and fundamental group representations, we can interpret our conclusions as results about the number of connected components in the moduli space of semisimple PU(p,q)-representations. The topological invariants of the flat bundles are used to label subspaces. These invariants are bounded by a Milnor-Wood type inequality. For each allowed value of the invariants satisfying a certain coprimality condition, we prove that the corresponding subspace is non-empty and connected. If the coprimality condition does not hold, our results apply to the closure of the moduli space of irreducible representations. This paper, and its companion mentioned above, form a substantially revised version of math.AG/0206012.