Parallels between moduli of quiver representations and vector bundles over curves

Abstract

This is a review article exploring similarities between moduli of quiver representations and moduli of vector bundles over a smooth projective curve. After describing the basic properties of these moduli problems and constructions of their moduli spaces via geometric invariant theory and symplectic reduction, we introduce their hyperkähler analogues: moduli spaces of representations of a doubled quiver satisfying certain relations imposed by a moment map and moduli spaces of Higgs bundles. Finally, we survey a surprising link between the counts of absolutely indecomposable objects over finite fields and the Betti cohomology of these (complex) hyperkähler moduli spaces due to work of Crawley-Boevey and Van den Bergh and Hausel, Letellier and Rodriguez-Villegas in the quiver setting, and work of Schiffmann in the bundle setting.