The gradient flow of Higgs pairs
We consider the gradient flow of the Yang–Mills–Higgs functional of Higgs pairs on a Hermitian vector bundle over a Kähler surface , and study the asymptotic behavior of the heat flow for Higgs pairs at infinity. The main result is that the gradient flow with initial condition converges, in an appropriate sense which takes into account bubbling phenomena, to a critical point of this functional. We also prove that the limiting Higgs pair can be extended smoothly to a vector bundle over...