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.

We study the interplay between the cohomology of the Koszul complex of the partial derivatives of a homogeneous polynomial f and the pole order filtration P on the cohomology of the open set U = ℙn \ D, with D the hypersurface defined by f = 0. The relation is expressed by some spectral sequences. These sequences may, on the one hand, in many cases be used to determine the filtration P for curves and surfaces and, on the other hand, to obtain information about the syzygies involving the partial derivatives of the polynomial f. The case of a nodal hypersurface D is treated in terms of the defects of linear systems of hypersurfaces of various degrees passing through the nodes of D. When D is a nodal surface in ℙ3, we show that F2H3(U) ≠ P2H3(U) as soon as the degree of D is at least 4.

We generalize some results in Hodge theory to generalized normal crossing varieties.

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$_g$.