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Abstract

We establish a general analytic and geometric framework for resolving Spin(7)--orbifolds. These spaces arise naturally as boundary points in the moduli space of exceptional holonomy metrics, and smooth Gromov--Hausdorff resolutions can be viewed as paths from the boundary to the interior of the moduli space. Our construction combines algebraic and symplectic techniques with analytic gluing methods: singular strata are replaced by families of adiabatic torsion--free, asymptotically conical fibred spaces, whose existence is controlled by the analysis of Dirac--type operators on orbifold resolutions. We formulate obstruction conditions in terms of string cohomology, prove existence results for torsion--free Spin(7)--structures extending Joyce's theorem arXiv:math/9910002 to the setting of orbifold resolutions, and construct new families of compact Spin(7)--manifolds. By dimensional reduction, our results also recover, generalise and extend the results of Joyce and Karigiannis arXiv:1707.09325 on $G_2$--orbifold resolutions. This unifies and extends all known resolution methods for exceptional holonomy orbifolds.