The large scale geometry of the Higgs bundle moduli space

In this talk I will explain recent joint work with Rafe Mazzeo, Hartmut Weiss and Frederik Witt on the asymptotics of the natural $L^2$-metric $G_{L^2}$ on the moduli space $\mathcal{M}$ of rank-2 Higgs bundles over a Riemann surface $\Sigma$ as given by the set of solutions to the so-called self-duality equations $\begin{cases} &0 = \bar{\partial}_A \Phi \\ & 0 = F_A + [ \Phi \wedge \Phi^*] \end{cases}$ for a unitary connection $A$ and a Higgs field $\Phi$ on $\Sigma$. I will show that on the regular part of the Hitchin fibration ($A$, $\Phi$) $\rightarrow$ det $\Phi$ this metric is well-approximated by the semiflat metric $G_{sf}$ coming from the completely integrable system on $\mathcal{M}$. This also reveals the asymptotically conic structure of $G_{L^2}$, with (generic) fibres of the above fibration being asymptotically flat tori. This result confirms some aspects of a more general conjectural picture made by Gaiotto, Moore and Neitzke. Its proof is based on a detailed understanding of the ends structure of $\mathcal{M}$. The analytic methods used there in addition yield a complete asymptotic expansion of the difference $G_{L^2} − G_{sf}$ between the two metrics.