QUATERNIONIC MONOPOLES

We present the simplest non-abelian Version of Seiberg-Witten theory: Quaternionic monopoles [4]. On Kahler surfaces the quaternionic monopo le equations decouple and lead to a projective vortex equation. This v ortex equation comes from a moment map and gives rise to a new stabili ty concept for holomorphic pairs. The moduli spaces of quaternionic mo nopoles on Kahler surfaces decompose into two closed subspaces, both n aturally isomorphic with moduli spaces of canonically stable pairs. Th ese components intersect along Donaldson's instanton space and can be compactified with spaces associated with (abelian) Seibeg-Witten monop oles [5].