Hitchin systems on singular curves II. Gluing subschemes

Abstract

In this paper we continue our studies of Hitchin systems on singular curves (started in hep-th/0303069). We consider a rather general class of curves which can be obtained from the projective line by gluing two subschemes together (i.e. their affine part is: Spec $\{f \in \CC[z]: f(A(\ep))=f((B(\ep)); \ep^N=0 \}$, where $A(\ep), B(\ep)$ are arbitrary polynomials) . The most simple examples are the generalized cusp curves which are projectivizations of Spec $\{f \in \CC[z]: f'(0)=f''(0)=...f^{N-1}(0)=0 \}$). We describe the geometry of such curves; in particular we calculate their genus (for some curves the calculation appears to be related with the iteration of polynomials $A(\ep), B(\ep)$ defining the subschemes). We obtain the explicit description of moduli space of vector bundles, the dualizing sheaf, Higgs field and other ingredients of the Hitchin integrable systems; these results may deserve the independent interest. We prove the integrability of Hitchin systems on such curves. To do this we develop $r$-matrix formalism for the functions on the truncated loop group $GL_n(\CC[z]), z^N=0$. We also show how to obtain the Hitchin integrable systems on such curves as hamiltonian reduction from the more simple system on some finite-dimensional space.