Hitchin's equations are a system of gauge theoretic equations on a Riemann surface that are of interest in many areas including representation theory, Teichmu ̈ller theory, and the geometric Langlands correspondence. In this talk, I'll describe what solutions of SL(n, C)-Hitchin's equations “near the ends” of the moduli space look like, and the resulting compactification of the Hitchin moduli space. Wild Hitchin moduli spaces are an important ingredient in this construction. This construction generalizes Mazzeo-Swoboda-Weiss-Witt's construction of SL(2, C)-solutions of Hitchin's equations where the Higgs field is “simple.”[-]

I will describe a program to describe Hitchin components as the moduli space of some new geometric structure on the surface. This geometric structure generalizes the complex structure. Its construction uses the punctual Hilbert scheme of the plane. It should give a unified description of Hitchin components without fixed complex structure on the surface. I also present a generalization to character varieties for non split real groups in the spirit of G-Higgs bundles.[-]