Higgs bundles and representations of surface groups- Oscar Garcia-Prada

Conference Title: GEAR Retreat 2012 Theme: Higgs Bundles (2 of 5) Title: Higgs bundles and representations of surface groups Speaker: Oscar Garcia-Prada, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Madrid; Date and Time: Tuesday August 7, 11:00 Description: We will explain how Higgs bundles over a Riemann surface can be used to study representations of the fundamental group of the surface in a real semisimple Lie group. Special attention will be given to the case in which the group is split or Hermitian. The case of a surface with punctures will also be discussed. Sponsor: GEAR Network Local host: UIUC Department of Mathematics Funding provided by: National Science Foundation Research Networks in Mathematical Sciences programAbstract: Oscar Garcia-Prada, in this GEAR Retreat 2012 session on Higgs Bundles, will explain how Higgs bundles over a Riemann surface can be used to study representations of the fundamental group of the surface in a real semisimple Lie group.