MOS

Abstract

Starting with Weil's seminal work on vector bundles, the relation between representations of the fundamental group and vector bundles have been studied from various points of view. The work of Narasimhan and Seshadri made clear the relation of unitary representations to polystable bundles. One of Nigel Hitchin's results pertains to representations into the split real forms of semi-simple groups. I will be giving an overview of these ending up with my effort, in collaboration with Oscar Garcia-Prada, to understand these as relating to fixed point varieties under some natural involutions on the moduli of Higgs pairs.