Entire solutions of semilinear elliptic equations in and a conjecture of De Giorgi

In 1978 De Giorgi formulated the following conjecture. Let be a solution of in all of such that and 0$"> in . Is it true that all level sets of are hyperplanes, at least if ? Equivalently, does depend only on one variable? When , this conjecture was proved in 1997 by N. Ghoussoub and C. Gui. In the present paper we prove it for . The question, however, remains open for . The results for and 3 apply also to the equation for a large class of nonlinearities .

     

Homoclinic points of algebraic -actions

Let be an action of by continuous automorphisms of a compact abelian group . A point in is called homoclinic for if as . We study the set of homoclinic points for , which is a subgroup of . If is expansive, then is at most countable. Our main results are that if is expansive, then (1) is nontrivial if and only if has positive entropy and (2) is nontrivial and dense in if and only if has completely positive entropy. In many important cases is generated by a fundamental homoclinic point which can be computed explicitly using Fourier analysis. Homoclinic points for expansive actions must decay to zero exponentially fast, and we use this to establish strong specification properties for such actions. This provides an extensive class of examples of -actions to which Ruelle's thermodynamic formalism applies. The paper concludes with a series of examples which highlight the crucial role of expansiveness in our main results.

     

The threshold for random -SAT is

Let be a random -CNF formula formed by selecting uniformly and independently out of all possible -clauses on variables. It is well known that if , then is unsatisfiable with probability that tends to 1 as . We prove that if , where , then is satisfiable with probability that tends to 1 as .

Our technique, in fact, yields an explicit lower bound for the random -SAT threshold for every . For our bounds improve all previously known such bounds.

     

The enumerative geometry of surfaces and modular forms

Let be a surface, and let be a holomorphic curve in representing a primitive homology class. We count the number of curves of geometric genus with nodes passing through generic points in in the linear system for any and satisfying .

When , this coincides with the enumerative problem studied by Yau and Zaslow who obtained a conjectural generating function for the numbers. Recently, Göttsche has generalized their conjecture to arbitrary in terms of quasi-modular forms. We prove these formulas using Gromov-Witten invariants for families, a degeneration argument, and an obstruction bundle computation. Our methods also apply to blown up at 9 points where we show that the ordinary Gromov-Witten invariants of genus constrained to points are also given in terms of quasi-modular forms.     

Independence of of monodromy groups

Let be a smooth curve over a finite field of characteristic , let be a number field, and let be an -compatible system of lisse sheaves on the curve . For each place of not lying over , the -component of the system is a lisse -sheaf on , whose associated arithmetic monodromy group is an algebraic group over the local field . We use Serre's theory of Frobenius tori and Lafforgue's proof of Deligne's conjecture to show that when the -compatible system is semisimple and pure of some integer weight, the isomorphism type of the identity component of these monodromy groups is ``independent of '. More precisely, after replacing by a finite extension, there exists a connected split reductive algebraic group over the number field such that for every place of not lying over , the identity component of the arithmetic monodromy group of is isomorphic to the group with coefficients extended to the local field .

     

Regularity of the free boundary for the porous medium equation

We study the regularity of the free boundary for solutions of the porous medium equation , , on , with initial data nonnegative and compactly supported. We show that, under certain assumptions on the initial data , the pressure will be smooth up to the interface , when , for some . As a consequence, the free-boundary is smooth.

     

Représentations -adiques et normes universelles I. Le cas cristallin

Let be a crystalline -adic representation of the absolute Galois group of an finite unramified extension of , and let be a lattice of stable by . We prove the following result: Let be the maximal sub-representation of with Hodge-Tate weights strictly positive and . Then, the projective limit of is equal up to torsion to the projective limit of . So its rank over the Iwasawa algebra is .

     

Mating Siegel quadratic polynomials

Let be a quadratic rational map of the sphere which has two fixed Siegel disks with bounded type rotation numbers and . Using a new degree Blaschke product model for the dynamics of and an adaptation of complex a priori bounds for renormalization of critical circle maps, we prove that can be realized as the mating of two Siegel quadratic polynomials with the corresponding rotation numbers and .

     

Conformal restriction: The chordal case

We characterize and describe all random subsets of a given simply connected planar domain (the upper half-plane , say) which satisfy the ``conformal restriction' property, i.e., connects two fixed boundary points ( and , say) and the law of conditioned to remain in a simply connected open subset of is identical to that of , where is a conformal map from onto with and . The construction of this family relies on the stochastic Loewner evolution processes with parameter and on their distortion under conformal maps. We show in particular that SLE is the only random simple curve satisfying conformal restriction and we relate it to the outer boundaries of planar Brownian motion and SLE.     

Homological methods for hypergeometric families

We analyze the behavior of the holonomic rank in families of holonomic systems over complex algebraic varieties by providing homological criteria for rank-jumps in this general setting. Then we investigate rank-jump behavior for hypergeometric systems  arising from a integer matrix  and a parameter . To do so we introduce an Euler-Koszul functor for hypergeometric families over  , whose homology generalizes the notion of a hypergeometric system, and we prove a homology isomorphism with our general homological construction above. We show that a parameter is rank-jumping for if and only if lies in the Zariski closure of the set of -graded degrees  where the local cohomology of the semigroup ring supported at its maximal graded ideal  is nonzero. Consequently, has no rank-jumps over  if and only if is Cohen-Macaulay of dimension .

     

Linear algebraic groups and countable Borel equivalence relations

If is an equivalence relation on a standard Borel space , then we say that is Borel reducible to if there is a Borel function such that . An equivalence relation on a standard Borel space is Borel if its graph is a Borel subset of . It is countable if each of its equivalence classes is countable. We investigate the complexity of Borel reducibility of countable Borel equivalence relations on standard Borel spaces. We show that it is at least as complex as the relation of inclusion on the collection of Borel subsets of the real line. We also show that Borel reducibility is -complete. The proofs make use of the ergodic theory of linear algebraic groups, and more particularly the superrigidity theory of R. Zimmer.

     

Generalized group characters and complex oriented cohomology theories

Let be the classifying space of a finite group . Given a multiplicative cohomology theory , the assignment

is a functor from groups to rings, endowed with induction (transfer) maps. In this paper we investigate these functors for complex oriented cohomology theories , using the theory of complex representations of finite groups as a model for what one would like to know.

An analogue of Artin's Theorem is proved for all complex oriented : the abelian subgroups of serve as a detecting family for , modulo torsion dividing the order of .

When is a complete local ring, with residue field of characteristic and associated formal group of height , we construct a character ring of class functions that computes . The domain of the characters is , the set of -tuples of elements in each of which has order a power of . A formula for induction is also found. The ideas we use are related to the Lubin-Tate theory of formal groups. The construction applies to many cohomology theories of current interest: completed versions of elliptic cohomology, -theory, etc.

The th Morava K-theory Euler characteristic for is computed to be the number of -orbits in . For various groups , including all symmetric groups, we prove that is concentrated in even degrees.

Our results about extend to theorems about , where is a finite -CW complex.

     

Criteria for -ampleness

In the noncommutative geometry of Artin, Van den Bergh, and others, the twisted homogeneous coordinate ring is one of the basic constructions. Such a ring is defined by a -ample divisor, where is an automorphism of a projective scheme . Many open questions regarding -ample divisors have remained.

We derive a relatively simple necessary and sufficient condition for a divisor on to be -ample. As a consequence, we show right and left -ampleness are equivalent and any associated noncommutative homogeneous coordinate ring must be noetherian and have finite, integral GK-dimension. We also characterize which automorphisms yield a -ample divisor.

     

Semi-invariants of quivers and saturation for Littlewood-Richardson coefficients

Let be a quiver without oriented cycles. For a dimension vector let be the set of representations of with dimension vector . The group acts on . In this paper we show that the ring of semi-invariants is spanned by special semi-invariants associated to representations of . From this we show that the set of weights appearing in is saturated. In the case of triple flag quiver this reduces to the results of Knutson and Tao on the saturation of the set of triples of partitions for which the Littlewood-Richardson coefficient is nonzero.

     

Double affine Hecke algebras and 2-dimensional local fields

We give an interpretation of the double affine Hecke algebra of Cherednik as a (suitably regularized) algebra of double cosets of a group by a subgroup , extending the well-known interpretations of the finite and affine Hecke algebras. In this interpretation, consists of -points of a simple algebraic group, where is a 2-dimensional local field such as or , and is a certain analog of the Iwahori subgroup.

     

The size of the singular set in mean curvature flow of mean-convex sets

We prove that when a compact mean-convex subset of (or of an -dimensional riemannian manifold) moves by mean-curvature, the spacetime singular set has parabolic hausdorff dimension at most . Examples show that this is optimal. We also show that, as , the surface converges to a compact stable minimal hypersurface whose singular set has dimension at most . If , the convergence is everywhere smooth and hence after some time , the moving surface has no singularities

     

The spectra of nonnegative integer matrices via formal power series

We characterize the possible nonzero spectra of primitive integer matrices (the integer case of Boyle and Handelman's Spectral Conjecture). Characterizations of nonzero spectra of nonnegative matrices over and follow from this result. For the proof of the main theorem we use polynomial matrices to reduce the problem of realizing a candidate spectrum to factoring the polynomial as a product where the 's are polynomials in satisfying some technical conditions and is a formal power series in . To obtain the factorization, we present a hierarchy of estimates on coefficients of power series of the form to ensure nonpositivity in nonzero degree terms.

     

On the Brylinski-Kostant filtration

Let be a semisimple Lie algebra and a finite dimensional simple module. The Brylinski-Kostant (simply, BK) filtration on weight spaces of is defined by applying powers of a principle nilpotent element. It leads to a -character of . Through a result of B. Kostant the BK filtration of the zero weight space is determined by the so-called generalized exponents of . Later R. K. Brylinski calculated the BK filtration on dominant weights of assuming a vanishing result for cohomology later established by B. Broer. The result could be expressed in terms of polynomials introduced by G. Lusztig.

In the present work, Verma module maps are used to determine the BK filtration for all weights. To do this several filtrations are introduced and compared, a key point being the graded injectivity of the ring of differential operators on the open Bruhat cell viewed as a module under diagonal action. This replaces cohomological vanishing and thereby Brylinski's result is given a new proof. The calculation for non-dominant weights uses the fact that the corresponding graded ring is a domain as well as a positivity result of G. Lusztig which ensures that there are no accidental cancellations. This method allows one to compare the BK filtrations in adjacent chambers.

     

Fractional isoperimetric inequalities and subgroup distortion

It is shown that there exist infinitely many non-integers such that the Dehn function of some finitely presented group is . Explicit examples of such groups are constructed. For each rational number pairs of finitely presented groups are constructed so that the distortion of in is .

     

Vaught's conjecture on analytic sets

Let be a Polish group. We characterize when there is a Polish space with a continuous -action and an analytic set (that is, the Borel image of some Borel set in some Polish space) having uncountably many orbits but no perfect set of orbit inequivalent points.

Such a Polish -space and analytic exist exactly when there is a continuous, surjective homomorphism from a closed subgroup of onto the infinite symmetric group, , consisting of all permutations of equipped with the topology of pointwise convergence.