Hitchin pairs on reducible curves

Abstract

We define semistable generalized parabolic Hitchin pairs (GPH) on a disjoint union [Formula: see text] of integral smooth curves and construct their moduli spaces. We define a Hitchin map on the moduli space of GPH and show that it is a proper map. We construct moduli spaces of semistable Hitchin pairs on a reducible projective curve [Formula: see text]. When [Formula: see text] is the normalization of [Formula: see text], we give a birational morphism [Formula: see text] from the moduli space [Formula: see text] of good GPH on [Formula: see text] to the moduli space [Formula: see text] of Hitchin pairs on [Formula: see text] and show that the Hitchin map on [Formula: see text] induces a proper Hitchin map on [Formula: see text]. We determine the fibers of the Hitchin maps. We study the relationship between representations of the (topological) fundamental group of [Formula: see text] and Higgs bundles on [Formula: see text]. We show that if all the irreducible components of [Formula: see text] are smooth, then the Hitchin map is defined on the entire moduli space [Formula: see text].