A desingularization of the moduli space of rank 2 Higgs bundles over a curve

Abstract

Let $X$ be a smooth complex projective curve of genus $g\geq 3$. Let $\mathbf{M}_2$ be the moduli space of semistable rank $2$ Higgs bundles with trivial determinant over $X$. We construct a desingularization $\mathbf{S}$ of $\mathbf{M}_2$ as a closed subvariety of a moduli space. We prove that $\mathbf{S}$ is a nonsingular variety containing the stable locus of $\mathbf{M}_2$ as an open dense subvariety. On the other hand, there is another desingularization $\mathbf{K}$ of $\mathbf{M}_2$ obtained from Kirwan's algorithm. We show that $\mathbf{S}$ can be obtained after two blow-downs of $\mathbf{K}$.