Flat connections on moduli spaces I: Local (1,0)-extension of the DHS connection

Abstract

The flat DHS connection $\mathcal J_{\mathrm{DHS}}$ constructed in arXiv:2602.01461 is smooth on the configuration space of $n$ points on a fixed compact Riemann surface $\Sigma$ of arbitrary genus $h$, takes values in an infinite-dimensional Lie algebra $\hat{\mathfrak t}_{h,n}$ and is invariant under the modular group $\mathrm{Sp}(2h,\mathbb Z)$. This paper is the first in a series for a program whose goal is to extend the connection $\mathcal J_{\mathrm{DHS}}$ to a global flat connection on the Teichm\"uller space $\mathcal T_{h,n}$ valued in the Lie algebra of derivations of $\hat{\mathfrak t}_{h,n}$. Upon the choice of local coordinates adapted to the map $\mathcal T_{h,n}\to \mathcal T_h$, such a connection splits into three pieces: $\mathcal J_{\mathrm{DHS}}$, a piece $\mathcal L$ corresponding to holomorphic directions of $\mathcal T_h$ and a third piece corresponding to anti-holomorphic directions in $\mathcal T_h$. In this paper, we isolate the system of equations satisfied by $\mathcal L$ and obtain its solution locally and explicitly. The construction of a global extension of $\mathcal J_{\mathrm{DHS}}$ to $\mathcal T_{h,n}$ and the extension of the meromorphic connection of arXiv:1112.0864 to $\mathcal T_{h,n}$, are relegated to future publications in this series.