In this paper, we establish an analytic foundation for a fully non-linear equation 2 1 = f on manifolds with metrics of positive scalar curvature and apply it to give a (rough) classification of such manifolds. A crucial point is a simple observation that this equation is a degenerate elliptic equation without any condition on the sign of f and it is elliptic not only for f > 0 but also for f < 0. By defining a Yamabe constant Y2,1 with respect to this equation, we show that a manifold with metrics of positive scalar curvature admits a conformal metric of positive scalar curvature and positive 2-scalar curvature if and only if Y2,1 > 0. We give a complete solution for the corresponding Yamabe problem. Namely, let g0 be a positive scalar curvature metric, then in its conformal class there is a conformal metric with 2(g) = 1(g), for some constant . Using these analytic results, we give a rough classification of the space of manifolds with metrics of positive scalar curvature.

We study the question of local and global uniqueness of completions, based on null geodesics, of Lorentzian manifolds. We show local uniqueness of such boundary extensions. We give a necessary and sufficient condition for existence of unique maximal completions. The condition is verified in several situations of interest. This leads to existence and uniqueness of maximal spacelike conformal boundaries, of maximal strongly causal boundaries, as well as uniqueness of conformal boundary extensions for asymptotically simple space-times. Examples of applications include the definition of mass, or the classification of inequivalent extensions across a Cauchy horizon of the Taub space-time.

We consider surfaces M2 immersed in En c × R, where En c is a simply connected n-dimensional complete Riemannian manifold with constant sectional curvature c 6= 0, and assume that the mean curvature vector of the immersion is parallel in the normal bundle. We consider further a Hopf-type complex quadratic form Q on M2, where the complex structure of M2 is compatible with the induced metric. It is not hard to check that Q is holomorphic (see [3], p.289). We will use this fact to give a reasonable description of immersed surfaces in En c ×R that have parallel mean curvature vector.

On a compact K¨ahler manifold we introduce a cohomological obstruction to the solvability of the constant scalar curvature (cscK) equation twisted by a semipositive form, appearing in works of Fine and Song-Tian. As a special case we find an obstruction for a manifold to be the base of a holomorphic submersion carrying a cscK metric in certain “adiabatic” classes. We apply this to find new examples of general type threefolds with classes which do not admit a cscK representative. When the twist vanishes our obstruction extends the slope stability of Ross-Thomas to effective divisors on a K¨ahler manifold. Thus we find examples of non-projective slope unstable manifolds.

We prove that the second positive Neumann eigenvalue of a bounded simply-connected planar domain of a given area does not exceed the first positive Neumann eigenvalue on a disk of half this area. The estimate is sharp and attained by a sequence of domains degenerating to a union of two identical disks. In particular, this result implies the P´olya conjecture for the second Neumann eigenvalue. The proof is based on a combination of analytic and topological arguments. As a by-product of our method we obtain an upper bound on the second eigenvalue for conformally round metrics on odd-dimensional spheres.