On Higgs Bundles on Nodal Curves

Abstract

This is a review article on some applications of generalised parabolic structures to the study of torsion-free sheaves and L-twisted Hitchin pairs on nodal curves. In particular, we survey the relation between representations of the fundamental group of a nodal curve and the moduli spaces of generalised parabolic bundles and generalised parabolic L-twisted Hitchin pairs on its normalisation, as well as on an analogue of the Hitchin map for generalised parabolic L-twisted Hitchin pairs.