Asymptotic Geometry of the Hitchin Metric

Abstract

We study the asymptotics of the natural $L^2$ metric on the Hitchin moduli space with group $G = \mathrm{SU}(2)$. Our main result, which addresses a detailed conjectural picture made by Gaiotto, Neitzke and Moore \cite{gmn13}, is that on the regular part of the Hitchin system, this metric is well-approximated by the semiflat metric from \cite{gmn13}. We prove that the asymptotic rate of convergence for gauged tangent vectors to the moduli space has a precise polynomial expansion, and hence that the the difference between the two sets of metric coefficients in a certain natural coordinate system also has polynomial decay. Very recent work by Dumas and Neitzke indicates that the convergence rate for the metric is exponential, at least in certain directions.