In this paper, we show that for any reductive group G the moduli space of
semistable G-Higgs bundles on a curve in characteristic p is a twisted form
of the moduli space of semistable flat G-connections. This is the semistable
version of a previous result of Chen-Zhu, and the G-bundle version of a
previous result of de Cataldo-Groechenig-Zhang. As a consequence, we show that
the Decomposition Theorem for the Hitchin morphism for G-Higgs bundles has
the same shape as that for the de Rham-Hitchin morphism for flat
G-connections.Comment: 34 pages. Fixed a minor inaccuracy in Thm 4.17.4 in the previous
version. Added Appendix A. Comments welcome