Semistable Higgs bundles, periodic Higgs bundles and representations of algebraic fundamental groups

Abstract

Let $k$ be the algebraic closure of a finite field of odd characteristic $p$ and $X$ a smooth projective scheme over the Witt ring $W(k)$ which is geometrically connected in characteristic zero. We introduce the notion of Higgs–de Rham flow and prove that the category of periodic Higgs–de Rham flows over $X/W(k)$ is equivalent to the category of Fontaine modules, hence further equivalent to the category of crystalline representations of the étale fundamental group ${\pi }_1(X_K)$ of the generic fiber of $X$, after Fontaine–Laffaille and Faltings. Moreover, we prove that every semistable Higgs bundle over the special fiber $X_k$ of $X$ of rank $\le p$ initiates a semistable Higgs–de Rham flow and thus those of rank $\le p-1$ with trivial Chern classes induce $k$-representations of ${\pi }_1(X_K)$. A fundamental construction in this paper is the inverse Cartier transform over a truncated Witt ring. In characteristic $p$, it was constructed by Ogus–Vologodsky in the nonabelian Hodge theory in positive characteristic; in the affine local case, our construction is related to the local Ogus–Vologodsky correspondence of Shiho.