For $G = \mathrm {GL}_2, \mathrm {SL}_2, \mathrm {PGL}_2$ we compute the intersection E-polynomials and the intersection Poincaré polynomials of the G-character variety of a compact Riemann surface C and of the moduli space of G-Higgs bundles on C of degree zero. We derive several results concerning the P=W conjectures for these singular moduli spaces.

Let C be a smooth projective curve of genus $2$ . Following a method by O’Grady, we construct a semismall desingularisation $\tilde {\mathcal {M}}_{Dol}^G$ of the moduli space $\mathcal {M}_{Dol}^G$ of semistable G-Higgs bundles of degree 0 for $G=\mathrm {GL}(2,\mathbb {C}), \mathrm {SL}(2,\mathbb {C})$ . By the decomposition theorem of Beilinson, Bernstein and Deligne, one can write the cohomology of $\tilde {\mathcal {M}}_{Dol}^G$ as a direct sum of the intersection cohomology of $\mathcal {M}_{Dol}^G$ plus other summands supported on the singular locus. We use this splitting to compute the intersection cohomology of $\mathcal {M}_{Dol}^G$ and prove that the mixed Hodge structure on it is pure, in analogy with what happens to ordinary cohomology in the smooth case of coprime rank and degree.

In this work, we study the intersection cohomology of Siegel modular varieties. The goal is to express the trace of a Hecke operator composed with a power of the Frobenius endomorphism (at a good place) on this cohomology in terms of the geometric side of Arthur’s invariant trace formula for well-chosen test functions. Our main tools are the results of Kottwitz about the contribution of the cohomology with compact support and about the stabilization of the trace formula, Arthur’s L2 trace formula and the fixed point formula of Morel [Complexes pondérés sur les compactifications de Baily–Borel. Le cas des variétés de Siegel, J. Amer. Math. Soc. 21 (2008), 23–61]. We ‘stabilize’ this last formula, i.e. express it as a sum of stable distributions on the general symplectic groups and its endoscopic groups, and obtain the formula conjectured by Kottwitz in [Shimura varieties and λ-adic representations, in Automorphic forms, Shimura varieties and L-functions, Part I, Perspectives in Mathematics, vol. 10 (Academic Press, San Diego, CA, 1990), 161–209]. Applications of the results of this article have already been given by Kottwitz, assuming Arthur’s conjectures. Here, we give weaker unconditional applications in the cases of the groups GSp4 and GSp6.

We consider a fan as a ringed space (with finitely many points). We develop the corresponding sheaf theory and functors, such as direct image Rπ* (π is a subdivision of a fan), Verdier duality, etc. The distinguished sheaf ${\cal L}_\Phi$, called the minimal sheaf plays the role of an equivariant intersection cohomology complex on the corresponding toric variety (which exists if Φ is rational). Using ${\cal L}_\Phi$ we define the intersection cohomology space IH(Φ). It is conjectured that a strictly convex piecewise linear function on Φ acts as a Lefschetz operator on IH(Φ). We show that this conjecture implies Stanley's conjecture on the unimodality of the generalized h-vector of a convex polytope.

The local intersection cohomology of a point in the Baily–Borel compactification (of a Hermitian locally symmetric space) is shown to be canonically isomorphic to the weighted cohomology of a certain linear locally symmetric space (an arithmetic quotient of the associated self-adjoint homogeneous cone). Explicit computations are given for the symplectic group in four variables.

Using multiple point spaces some new examples of perverse sheaves on images of maps are described. Furthermore, suppose $f:X → Y$ is a finite and proper map of complex analytic manifolds of dimension n and $n+1$ such that every multiple point space is nonsingular and has the dimension expected of a generic map. Then we can describe the composition series for the constant sheaf on the image in the category of perverse sheaves.

Each finite dimensional irreducible rational representation V of the symplectic group Sp$_2g$(Q) determines a generically defined local system V over the moduli space M$_g$ of genus g smooth projective curves. We study H$^2$ (M$_g$; V) and the mixed Hodge structure on it. Specifically, we prove that if g [ges ] 6, then the natural map IH$^2$(M˜$_g$; V) → H$^2$(M$_g$; V) is an isomorphism where M˜$_g$ is the Satake compactification of M$_g$. Using the work of Saito we conclude that the mixed Hodge structure on H$^2$(M$_g$; V) is pure of weight 2+r if V underlies a variation of Hodge structure of weight r. We also obtain estimates on the weight of the mixed Hodge structure on H$^2$(M$_g$; V) for 3 [les ] g < 6. Results of this article can be applied in the study of relations in the Torelli group T$_g$.