We prove a closed formula counting semistable twisted (or meromorphic) Higgs bundles of fixed rank and degree over a smooth projective curve of genus $g$ defined over a finite field, when the twisting line bundle degree is at least $2g-2$ (this includes the case of usual Higgs bundles). This yields a closed expression for the Donaldson–Thomas invariants of the moduli spaces of twisted Higgs bundles. We similarly deal with twisted quiver sheaves of type $A$ (finite or affine), obtaining in particular a Harder–Narasimhan-type formula counting semistable $U(p,q)$-Higgs bundles over a smooth projective curve defined over a finite field.

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 $S$.

We study the variations of mixed Hodge structures (VMHS) associated with a pencil ${\mathcal{X}}$ of equisingular hypersurfaces of degree $d$ in $\mathbb{P}^{4}$ with only ordinary double points as singularities, as well as the variations of Hodge structures (VHS) associated with the desingularization of this family $\widetilde{{\mathcal{X}}}$. The notion of a set of singular points being in homologically good position is introduced, and, by requiring that the subset of nodes in (algebraic) general position is also in homologically good position, we can extend Griffiths’ description of the $F^{2}$-term of the Hodge filtration of the desingularization to this case, where we can also determine the possible limiting mixed Hodge structures (LMHS). The particular pencil ${\mathcal{X}}$ of quintic hypersurfaces with 100 singular double points with 86 of them in (algebraic) general position that served as the starting point for this paper is treated with particular attention.

Let ${\mathcal{F}}_{g}^{\mathbf{N}}$ be the moduli space of polarized Nikulin surfaces $(Y,H)$ of genus $g$ and let ${\mathcal{P}}_{g}^{\mathbf{N}}$ be the moduli of triples $(Y,H,C)$, with $C\in |H|$ a smooth curve. We study the natural map $\unicode[STIX]{x1D712}_{g}:{\mathcal{P}}_{g}^{\mathbf{N}}\rightarrow {\mathcal{R}}_{g}$, where ${\mathcal{R}}_{g}$ is the moduli space of Prym curves of genus $g$. We prove that it is generically injective on every irreducible component, with a few exceptions in low genus. This gives a complete picture of the map $\unicode[STIX]{x1D712}_{g}$ and confirms some striking analogies between it and the Mukai map $m_{g}:{\mathcal{P}}_{g}\rightarrow {\mathcal{M}}_{g}$ for moduli of triples $(Y,H,C)$, where $(Y,H)$ is any genus $g$ polarized $K3$ surface. The proof is by degeneration to boundary points of a partial compactification of ${\mathcal{F}}_{g}^{\mathbf{N}}$. These represent the union of two surfaces with four even nodes and effective anticanonical class, which we call half Nikulin surfaces. The use of this degeneration is new with respect to previous techniques.

We first characterize the automorphism groups of Hodge structures of cubic threefolds and cubic fourfolds. Then we determine for some complex projective manifolds of small dimension (cubic surfaces, cubic threefolds, and nonhyperelliptic curves of genus 3 or 4), the action of their automorphism groups on Hodge structures of associated cyclic covers, and thus confirm conjectures made by Kudla and Rapoport in (Pacific J. Math. 260(2) (2012), 565–581).

A question of Griffiths–Schmid asks when the monodromy group of an algebraic family of complex varieties is arithmetic. We resolve this in the affirmative for a class of algebraic surfaces known as Atiyah–Kodaira manifolds, which have base and fibers equal to complete algebraic curves. Our methods are topological in nature and involve an analysis of the ‘geometric’ monodromy, valued in the mapping class group of the fiber.

The germ of the universal isomonodromic deformation of a logarithmic connection on a stable $n$-pointed genus $g$ curve always exists in the analytic category. The first part of this article investigates under which conditions it is the analytic germification of an algebraic isomonodromic deformation. Up to some minor technical conditions, this turns out to be the case if and only if the monodromy of the connection has finite orbit under the action of the mapping class group. The second part of this work studies the dynamics of this action in the particular case of reducible rank 2 representations and genus $g>0$, allowing to classify all finite orbits. Both of these results extend recent ones concerning the genus 0 case.

We study basic geometric properties of Kottwitz–Viehmann varieties, which are certain generalizations of affine Springer fibers that encode orbital integrals of spherical Hecke functions. Based on the previous work of A. Bouthier and the author, we show that these varieties are equidimensional and give a precise formula for their dimension. Also we give a conjectural description of their number of irreducible components in terms of certain weight multiplicities of the Langlands dual group and we prove the conjecture in the case of unramified conjugacy class.

For families of smooth complex projective varieties, we show that normal functions arising from algebraically trivial cycle classes are algebraic and defined over the field of definition of the family. In particular, the zero loci of those functions are algebraic and defined over such a field of definition. This proves a conjecture of Charles.

By work of Looijenga and others, one understands the relationship between Geometric Invariant Theory (GIT) and Baily–Borel compactifications for the moduli spaces of degree-$2$ $K3$ surfaces, cubic fourfolds, and a few other related examples. The similar-looking cases of degree-$4$ $K3$ surfaces and double Eisenbud–Popescu–Walter (EPW) sextics turn out to be much more complicated for arithmetic reasons. In this paper, we refine work of Looijenga in order to handle these cases. Specifically, in analogy with the so-called Hassett–Keel program for the moduli space of curves, we study the variation of log canonical models for locally symmetric varieties of Type IV associated to $D$-lattices. In particular, for the $19$-dimensional case, we conjecturally obtain a continuous one-parameter interpolation between the GIT and Baily–Borel compactifications for the moduli of degree-$4$ $K3$ surfaces. The analogous $18$-dimensional case, which corresponds to hyperelliptic degree-$4$ $K3$ surfaces, can be verified by means of Variation of Geometric Invariant Theory (VGIT) quotients.

The notion of Hochschild cochains induces an assignment from $\mathsf{Aff}$, affine DG schemes, to monoidal DG categories. We show that this assignment extends, under appropriate finiteness conditions, to a functor $\mathbb{H}:\mathsf{Aff}\rightarrow \mathsf{Alg}^{\text{bimod}}(\mathsf{DGCat})$, where the latter denotes the category of monoidal DG categories and bimodules. Any functor $\mathbb{A}:\mathsf{Aff}\rightarrow \mathsf{Alg}^{\text{bimod}}(\mathsf{DGCat})$ gives rise, by taking modules, to a theory of sheaves of categories $\mathsf{ShvCat}^{\mathbb{A}}$. In this paper, we study $\mathsf{ShvCat}^{\mathbb{H}}$. Loosely speaking, this theory categorifies the theory of $\mathfrak{D}$-modules, in the same way as Gaitsgory’s original $\mathsf{ShvCat}$ categorifies the theory of quasi-coherent sheaves. We develop the functoriality of $\mathsf{ShvCat}^{\mathbb{H}}$, its descent properties and the notion of $\mathbb{H}$-affineness. We then prove the $\mathbb{H}$-affineness of algebraic stacks: for ${\mathcal{Y}}$ a stack satisfying some mild conditions, the $\infty$-category $\mathsf{ShvCat}^{\mathbb{H}}({\mathcal{Y}})$ is equivalent to the $\infty$-category of modules for $\mathbb{H}({\mathcal{Y}})$, the monoidal DG category of higher differential operators. The main consequence, for ${\mathcal{Y}}$ quasi-smooth, is the following: if ${\mathcal{C}}$ is a DG category acted on by $\mathbb{H}({\mathcal{Y}})$, then ${\mathcal{C}}$ admits a theory of singular support in $\operatorname{Sing}({\mathcal{Y}})$, where $\operatorname{Sing}({\mathcal{Y}})$ is the space of singularities of ${\mathcal{Y}}$. As an application to the geometric Langlands programme, we indicate how derived Satake yields an action of $\mathbb{H}(\operatorname{LS}_{{\check{G}}})$ on $\mathfrak{D}(\operatorname{Bun}_{G})$, thereby equipping objects of $\mathfrak{D}(\operatorname{Bun}_{G})$ with singular support in $\operatorname{Sing}(\operatorname{LS}_{{\check{G}}})$.

We study the Iitaka–Kodaira dimension of nef relative anti-canonical divisors. As a consequence, we prove that given a complex projective variety with klt singularities, if the anti-canonical divisor is nef, then the dimension of a general fibre of the maximal rationally connected fibration is at least the Iitaka–Kodaira dimension of the anti-canonical divisor.

In this article, I give a crystalline characterization of abelian varieties amongst the class of smooth projective varieties with trivial tangent bundles in characteristic $p>0$. Using my characterization, I show that a smooth, projective, ordinary variety with trivial tangent bundle is an abelian variety if and only if its second crystalline cohomology is torsion-free. I also show that a conjecture of KeZheng Li about smooth projective varieties with trivial tangent bundles in characteristic $p>0$ is true for smooth projective surfaces. I give a new proof of a result by Li and prove a refinement of it. Based on my characterization of abelian varieties, I propose modifications of Li’s conjecture, which I expect to be true.

We prove that a reduced and irreducible algebraic surface in $\mathbb{CP}^{3}$ containing infinitely many twistor lines cannot have odd degree. Then, exploiting the theory of quaternionic slice regularity and the normalisation map of a surface, we give constructive existence results for even degrees.

We extend the Kuga–Satake construction to the case of limit mixed Hodge structures of K3 type. We use this to study the geometry and Hodge theory of degenerations of Kuga–Satake abelian varieties associated with polarized variations of K3 type Hodge structures over the punctured disc.

Derived equivalences of twisted K3 surfaces induce twisted Hodge isometries between them; that is, isomorphisms of their cohomologies which respect certain natural lattice structures and Hodge structures. We prove a criterion for when a given Hodge isometry arises in this way. In particular, we describe the image of the representation which associates to any autoequivalence of a twisted K3 surface its realization in cohomology: this image is a subgroup of index $1$ or $2$ in the group of all Hodge isometries of the twisted K3 surface. We show that both indices can occur.

We give a proof of the formality conjecture of Kaledin and Lehn: on a complex projective K3 surface, the differential graded (DG) algebra $\operatorname{RHom}^{\bullet }(F,F)$ is formal for any sheaf $F$ polystable with respect to an ample line bundle. Our main tool is the uniqueness of the DG enhancement of the bounded derived category of coherent sheaves. We also extend the formality result to derived objects that are polystable with respect to a generic Bridgeland stability condition.

In his work on deformation quantization of algebraic varieties Kontsevich introduced the notion of algebroid as a certain generalization of a sheaf of algebras. We construct algebroids which are given locally by NC-smooth thickenings in the sense of Kapranov, over two classes of smooth varieties: the bases of miniversal families of vector bundles on projective curves, and the bases of miniversal families of quiver representations.

By use of a natural extension map and a power series method, we obtain a local stability theorem for $p$-Kähler structures with the $(p,p+1)$th mild $\unicode[STIX]{x2202}\overline{\unicode[STIX]{x2202}}$-lemma under small differentiable deformations.

We study the action of the inertia operator on the motivic Hall algebra and prove that it is diagonalizable. This leads to a filtration of the Hall algebra, whose associated graded algebra is commutative. In particular, the degree 1 subspace forms a Lie algebra, which we call the Lie algebra of virtually indecomposable elements, following Joyce. We prove that the integral of virtually indecomposable elements admits an Euler characteristic specialization. In order to take advantage of the fact that our inertia groups are unit groups in algebras, we introduce the notion of algebroid.