A proof of Dolbeault geometric Langlands for $\GL_2$ with reduced spectral curves

Abstract: In our previous paper with Tudor Pădurariu, we introduced the notion of limit categories for moduli stacks of Higgs bundles and formulated the Dolbeault geometric Langlands correspondence. These limit categories are expected to provide an effective ``classical limit'' of the categories of D-modules on the moduli stack of bundles, and our formulation links categorical Donaldson-Thomas theory with the geometric Langlands correspondence. In this paper, we prove the above Dolbeault geometric Langlands correspondence for $\GL_2$ over the locus in the Hitchin base where the spectral curves are reduced. This is the first non-trivial case in which the relevant moduli stacks are not quasi-compact, and the use of limit categories is essential to the formulation and proof of the correspondence. Our approach also outlines a strategy for proving the correspondence in greater generality and explains the current obstructions to such an extension.