Given a connected reductive algebraic group G over an algebraically closed field, we investigate the Picard group of the moduli stack of principal G-bundles over an arbitrary family of smooth curves.

We prove that the moduli spaces of parabolic symplectic/orthogonal bundles on a smooth curve are globally F-regular type. As a consequence, all higher cohomologies of the theta line bundle vanish. During the proof, we develop a method to estimate codimension.

Given a smooth genus three curve C, the moduli space of rank two stable vector bundles on C with trivial determinant embeds in ${\mathbb {P}}^8$ as a hypersurface whose singular locus is the Kummer threefold of C; this hypersurface is the Coble quartic. Gruson, Sam and Weyman realized that this quartic could be constructed from a general skew-symmetric four-form in eight variables. Using the lines contained in the quartic, we prove that a similar construction allows to recover $\operatorname {\mathrm {SU}}_C(2,L)$, the moduli space of rank two stable vector bundles on C with fixed determinant of odd degree L, as a subvariety of $G(2,8)$. In fact, each point $p\in C$ defines a natural embedding of $\operatorname {\mathrm {SU}}_C(2,{\mathcal {O}}(p))$ in $G(2,8)$. We show that, for the generic such embedding, there exists a unique quadratic section of the Grassmannian which is singular exactly along the image of $\operatorname {\mathrm {SU}}_C(2,{\mathcal {O}}(p))$ and thus deserves to be coined the Coble quadric of the pointed curve $(C,p)$.

Let $f\,:\,X\,\longrightarrow \,Y$ be a generically smooth morphism between irreducible smooth projective curves over an algebraically closed field of arbitrary characteristic. We prove that the vector bundle $((f_*{\mathcal O}_X)/{\mathcal O}_Y)^*$ is virtually globally generated. Moreover, $((f_*{\mathcal O}_X)/{\mathcal O}_Y)^*$ is ample if and only if f is genuinely ramified.

Let $\alpha \colon X \to Y$ be a finite cover of smooth curves. Beauville conjectured that the pushforward of a general vector bundle under $\alpha $ is semistable if the genus of Y is at least $1$ and stable if the genus of Y is at least $2$. We prove this conjecture if the map $\alpha $ is general in any component of the Hurwitz space of covers of an arbitrary smooth curve Y.

In this paper, we determine the number of general points through which a Brill–Noether curve of fixed degree and genus in any projective space can be passed.

We show that the derived category of a curve is embedded into the derived category of the moduli space of vector bundles on the curve of coprime rank and degree. We also generalize the semiorthogonal decomposition constructed by Narasimhan and Belmans-Mukhopadhyay. Finally, we produce a one-dimensional family of ACM bundles over the moduli space.

We study the spaces of twisted conformal blocks attached to a $\Gamma$-curve $\Sigma$ with marked $\Gamma$-orbits and an action of $\Gamma$ on a simple Lie algebra $\mathfrak {g}$, where $\Gamma$ is a finite group. We prove that if $\Gamma$ stabilizes a Borel subalgebra of $\mathfrak {g}$, then the propagation theorem and factorization theorem hold. We endow a flat projective connection on the sheaf of twisted conformal blocks attached to a smooth family of pointed $\Gamma$-curves; in particular, it is locally free. We also prove that the sheaf of twisted conformal blocks on the stable compactification of Hurwitz stack is locally free. Let $\mathscr {G}$ be the parahoric Bruhat–Tits group scheme on the quotient curve $\Sigma /\Gamma$ obtained via the $\Gamma$-invariance of Weil restriction associated to $\Sigma$ and the simply connected simple algebraic group $G$ with Lie algebra $\mathfrak {g}$. We prove that the space of twisted conformal blocks can be identified with the space of generalized theta functions on the moduli stack of quasi-parabolic $\mathscr {G}$-torsors on $\Sigma /\Gamma$ when the level $c$ is divisible by $|\Gamma |$ (establishing a conjecture due to Pappas and Rapoport).

In this paper we study the $\mathbb {C}^*$-fixed points in moduli spaces of Higgs bundles over a compact Riemann surface for a complex semisimple Lie group and its real forms. These fixed points are called Hodge bundles and correspond to complex variations of Hodge structure. We introduce a topological invariant for Hodge bundles that generalizes the Toledo invariant appearing for Hermitian Lie groups. An important result of this paper is a bound on this invariant which generalizes the Milnor–Wood inequality for a Hodge bundle in the Hermitian case, and is analogous to the Arakelov inequalities of classical variations of Hodge structure. When the generalized Toledo invariant is maximal, we establish rigidity results for the associated variations of Hodge structure which generalize known rigidity results for maximal Higgs bundles and their associated maximal representations in the Hermitian case.

We give cases in which nearby cycles commute with pushforward from sheaves on the moduli stack of shtukas to a product of curves over a finite field. The proof systematically uses the property that taking nearby cycles of Satake sheaves on the Beilinson–Drinfeld Grassmannian with parahoric reduction is a central functor together with a ‘Zorro's lemma’ argument similar to that of Xue [Smoothness of cohomology sheaves of stacks of shtukas, Preprint (2020), arXiv:2012.12833]. As an application, for automorphic forms at the parahoric level, we characterize the image of tame inertia under the Langlands correspondence in terms of two-sided cells.

Motivated by the problem of finding algebraic constructions of finite coverings in commutative algebra, the Steinitz realization problem in number theory and the study of Hurwitz spaces in algebraic geometry, we investigate the vector bundles underlying the structure sheaf of a finite flat branched covering. We prove that, up to a twist, every vector bundle on a smooth projective curve arises from the direct image of the structure sheaf of a smooth, connected branched cover.

We construct natural operators connecting the cohomology of the moduli spaces of stable Higgs bundles with different ranks and genera which, after numerical specialisation, recover the topological mirror symmetry conjecture of Hausel and Thaddeus concerning $\mathrm {SL}_n$- and $\mathrm {PGL}_n$-Higgs bundles. This provides a complete description of the cohomology of the moduli space of stable $\mathrm {SL}_n$-Higgs bundles in terms of the tautological classes, and gives a new proof of the Hausel–Thaddeus conjecture, which was also proven recently by Gröchenig, Wyss and Ziegler via p-adic integration.

Our method is to relate the decomposition theorem for the Hitchin fibration, using vanishing cycle functors, to the decomposition theorem for the twisted Hitchin fibration, whose supports are simpler.

Let π : X → C be a fibration with integral fibers over a curve C and consider a polarization H on the surface X. Let E be a stable vector bundle of rank 2 on C. We prove that the pullback π*(E) is a H-stable bundle over X. This result allows us to relate the corresponding moduli spaces of stable bundles $${{\mathcal M}_C}(2,d)$$ and $${{\mathcal M}_{X,H}}(2,df,0)$$ through an injective morphism. We study the induced morphism at the level of Brill–Noether loci to construct examples of Brill–Noether loci on fibered surfaces. Results concerning the emptiness of Brill–Noether loci follow as a consequence of a generalization of Clifford’s Theorem for rank two bundles on surfaces.

We initiate and develop a framework to handle the specialisation morphism as a filtered morphism for the perverse, and for the perverse Leray filtration, on the cohomology with constructible coefficients of varieties and morphisms parameterised by a curve. As an application, we use this framework to carry out a detailed study of filtered specialisation for the Hitchin morphisms associated with the compactification of Dolbeault moduli spaces in [de 2018].

We show that the space $G^r_{\underline d}(X)$ of linear series of certain multi-degree $\underline d=(d_1,d_2)$ (including the balanced ones) and rank r on a general genus-g binary curve X has dimension $\rho _{g,r,d}=g-(r+1)(g-d+r)$ if nonempty, where $d=d_1+d_2$ . This generalizes Caporaso’s result from the case $r\leq 2$ to arbitrary rank, and shows that the space of Osserman-limit linear series on a general binary curve has the expected dimension, which was known for $r\leq 2$ . In addition, we show that the space $G^r_{\underline d}(X)$ is still of expected dimension after imposing certain ramification conditions with respect to a sequence of increasing effective divisors supported on two general points $P_i\in Z_i$ , where $i=1,2$ and $Z_1,Z_2$ are the two components of X. Our result also has potential application to the lifting problem of divisors on graphs to divisors on algebraic curves.

Let $G$ be a connected split reductive group over a finite field $\mathbb{F}_{q}$ and $X$ a smooth projective geometrically connected curve over $\mathbb{F}_{q}$. The $\ell$-adic cohomology of stacks of $G$-shtukas is a generalization of the space of automorphic forms with compact support over the function field of $X$. In this paper, we construct a constant term morphism on the cohomology of stacks of shtukas which is a generalization of the constant term morphism for automorphic forms. We also define the cuspidal cohomology which generalizes the space of cuspidal automorphic forms. Then we show that the cuspidal cohomology has finite dimension and that it is equal to the (rationally) Hecke-finite cohomology defined by V. Lafforgue.

For complex connected, reductive, affine, algebraic groups G, we give a Lie-theoretic characterization of the semistability of principal G-co-Higgs bundles on the complex projective line ℙ1 in terms of the simple roots of a Borel subgroup of G. We describe a stratification of the moduli space in terms of the Harder–Narasimhan type of the underlying bundle.

For $G$ a split semi-simple group scheme and $P$ a principal $G$-bundle on a relative curve $X\rightarrow S$, we study a natural obstruction for the triviality of $P$ on the complement of a relatively ample Cartier divisor $D\subset X$. We show, by constructing explicit examples, that the obstruction is nontrivial if $G$ is not simply connected, but it can be made to vanish by a faithfully flat base change, if $S$ is the spectrum of a dvr (and some other hypotheses). The vanishing of this obstruction is shown to be a sufficient condition for étale local triviality if $S$ is a smooth curve, and the singular locus of $X-D$ is finite over $S$.

Let X be a non-singular irreducible complex projective curve of genus g ≥ 2. The concept of stability of coherent systems over X depends on a positive real parameter α, given then a (finite) family of moduli spaces of coherent systems. We use (t, ℓ)-stability to prove the existence of coherent systems over X that are α-stable for all allowed α > 0.

We investigate the connection between Osserman limit series (on curves of pseudocompact type) and Amini–Baker limit linear series (on metrized complexes with corresponding underlying curve) via a notion of pre-limit linear series on curves of the same type. Then, applying the smoothing theorems of Osserman limit linear series, we deduce that, fixing certain metrized complexes, or for certain types of Amini–Baker limit linear series, the smoothability is equivalent to a certain “weak glueing condition”. Also for arbitrary metrized complexes of pseudocompact type the weak glueing condition (when it applies) is necessary for smoothability. As an application we confirm the lifting property of specific divisors on the metric graph associated with a certain regular smoothing family, and give a new proof of a result of Cartright, Jensen, and Payne for vertex-avoiding divisors, and generalize it for divisors of rank one in the sense that, for the metric graph, there could be at most three edges (instead of two) between any pair of adjacent vertices.