Using non-Abelian Hodge theory for parabolic Higgs bundles,

we construct infinitely many non-congruent  hyperbolic affine spheres modeled on a thrice-punctured sphere with monodromy in ${\bf SL}_3(\Z)$. These give rise to non-isometric semi-flat Calabi--Yau metrics on special Lagrangian torus bundles over an open ball in $\R^{3}$  with a Y-vertex deleted, thereby answering a question raised by Loftin, Yau, and Zaslow.

Related project(s):
55New hyperkähler spaces from the the self-duality equations

The Lawson surfaces $\xi_{1,g}$ of genus $g$ are constructed by rotating and reflecting the Plateau solution $f_t$ with respect to a particular geodesic $4$-gon $\Gamma_t$ along its boundary, where $t= \tfrac{1}{2g+2}$ is an angle of  $\Gamma_t$.  In this paper we combine the existence and regularity of the Plateau solution $f_t$ in $t \in (0, \tfrac{1}{4})$ with topological information about the moduli space of Fuchsian systems on the 4-puncture sphere to obtain existence of a Fuchsian DPW potential $\eta_t$ for every $f_t$ with $t\in(0, \tfrac{1}{4}]$. Moreover, the coefficients of $\eta_t$ are shown to depend real analytically on $t$. This implies that the Taylor approximation of the DPW potential $\eta_t$ and of the area obtained at $t=0$ found in \cite{HHT2} determines these quantities for  all $\xi_{1,g}$. In particular, this leads to an algorithm to conformally parametrize all Lawson surfaces $\xi_{1,g}$.

Related project(s):
55New hyperkähler spaces from the the self-duality equations56Large genus limit of energy minimizing compact minimal surfaces in the 3-sphere

We prove the existence of a pair $(\Sigma ,\, \Gamma)$, where $\Sigma$ is a compact Riemann surface with $\text{genus}(\Sigma)\, \geq\, 2$, and $\Gamma\, \subset\, {\rm SL}(2, \C)$ is a cocompact lattice, such that there is a generically injective holomorphic map $\Sigma \, \longrightarrow\, {\rm SL}(2, \C)/\Gamma$. This gives an affirmative answer to a question raised by Huckleberry and Winkelmann \cite{HW} and by Ghys \cite{Gh}.

Related project(s):
55New hyperkähler spaces from the the self-duality equations56Large genus limit of energy minimizing compact minimal surfaces in the 3-sphere

For every $g \gg 1$, we show the existence of a complete and smooth family  of closed constant mean curvature surfaces $f_\varphi^g,$ $ \varphi \in [0, \tfrac{\pi}{2}],$ in the round $3$-sphere deforming the Lawson surface $\xi_{1, g}$ to a doubly covered geodesic 2-sphere with monotonically increasing Willmore energy. To do so we use an implicit function theorem argument in the parameter $s= \tfrac{1}{2(g+1)}$. This allows us to give an iterative algorithm to compute the power series expansion of the DPW potential and area of $f_\varphi^g$  at $s= 0$ explicitly.  In particular,  we obtain for large genus Lawson surfaces $\xi_{1,g}$, due to the real analytic dependence of its area  and DPW potential on $s,$  a scheme to explicitly compute the coefficients of the power series in $s$ in terms of multilogarithms. Remarkably, the third order coefficient of the area expansion coincides numerically with $\tfrac{9}{4}\zeta(3),$ where $\zeta$ is the Riemann $\zeta$ function (while the first and second order term were shown to be $\log(2)$  and $0$ respectively in \cite{HHT}).

Related project(s):
55New hyperkähler spaces from the the self-duality equations56Large genus limit of energy minimizing compact minimal surfaces in the 3-sphere

For every integer $g \,\geq\, 2$ we show the existence of a compact Riemann surface $\Sigma$ of genus $g$ such that the rank two trivial holomorphic vector bundle ${\mathcal O}^{\oplus 2}_{\Sigma}$ admits holomorphic connections with $\text{SL}(2,{\mathbb R})$ monodromy and maximal Euler class. Such a monodromy representation is known to coincide with the Fuchsian uniformizing representation for some Riemann surface of genus $g$. This also answers a question of \cite{CDHL}. The construction carries over to all very stable and compatible real holomorphic structures over the topologically trivial rank two bundle on $\Sigma$, and gives the existence of holomorphic connections with Fuchsian monodromy in these cases as well.

Related project(s):
55New hyperkähler spaces from the the self-duality equations56Large genus limit of energy minimizing compact minimal surfaces in the 3-sphere

We study the holomorphic symplectic geometry of (the smooth locus of) the space of holomorphic sections of a twistor space with rotating circle action. The twistor space has a meromorphic connection constructed by Hitchin. We give an interpretation of Hitchin's meromorphic connection in the context of the Atiyah--Ward transform of the corresponding hyperholomorphic line bundle. It is shown that the residue of the meromorphic connection serves as a moment map for the induced circle action, and its critical points are studied. Particular emphasis is given to the example of Deligne--Hitchin moduli spaces.

Related project(s):
55New hyperkähler spaces from the the self-duality equations