Equations of the moduli of Higgs pairs and infinite Grassmannian

Abstract

In this paper the moduli space of Higgs pairs over a fixed smooth projective curve with extra formal data is defined and it is endowed with a scheme structure. We introduce a relative version of the Krichever map using a fibration of Sato Grassmannians and show that this map is injective. This fact and the characterization of the points of the image of the Krichever map allow us to prove that this moduli space is a closed subscheme of the product of the moduli of vector bundles (with formal extra data) and a formal anologue of the Hitchin base. This characterization also provide us the method to compute explicitely KP-type equations which describe the moduli space of Higgs pairs. Finally, for the case where the spectral cover is totally ramified at a fixed point of the curve, these equations are given in terms of the characteristic coefficients of the Higgs field.