We present a version of a proof by Andy Chermak of the existence and uniqueness of centric linking systems associated with arbitrary saturated fusion systems. This proof differs from the one in [Ch2] in that it is based on the computation of derived functors of certain inverse limits. This leads to a much shorter proof, but one which is aimed mostly at researchers familiar with homological algebra.

We define an analogue of the Casimir element for a graded affine Hecke algebra $$ \mathbb{H} $$ , and then introduce an approximate square-root called the Dirac element. Using it, we define the Dirac cohomology$H$^{$D$}($X$) of an $$ \mathbb{H} $$ -module$X$, and show that$H$^{$D$}($X$) carries a representation of a canonical double cover of the Weyl group $$ \widetilde{W} $$ . Our main result shows that the $$ \widetilde{W} $$ -structure on the Dirac cohomology of an irreducible $$ \mathbb{H} $$ -module$X$determines the central character of$X$in a precise way. This can be interpreted as$p$-adic analogue of a conjecture of Vogan for Harish-Chandra modules. We also apply our results to the study of unitary representations of $$ \mathbb{H} $$ .

We use techniques from both real and complex algebraic geometry to study$K$-theoretic and related invariants of the algebra$C$($X$) of continuous complex-valued functions on a compact Hausdorff topological space$X$. For example, we prove a parameterized version of a theorem by Joseph Gubeladze; we show that if$M$is a countable, abelian, cancellative, torsion-free, semi-normal monoid, and$X$is contractible, then every finitely generated projective module over$C$($X$)[$M$] is free. The particular case $$ M = \mathbb{N}_0^n $$ gives a parameterized version of the celebrated theorem proved independently by Daniel Quillen and Andrei Suslin that finitely generated projective modules over a polynomial ring over a field are free. The conjecture of Jonathan Rosenberg which predicts the homotopy invariance of the negative algebraic$K$-theory of$C$($X$) follows from the particular case $$ M = {\mathbb{Z}^n} $$ . We also give algebraic conditions for a functor from commutative algebras to abelian groups to be homotopy invariant on$C$^{*}-algebras, and for a homology theory of commutative algebras to vanish on$C$^{*}-algebras. These criteria have numerous applications. For example, the vanishing criterion applied to nil$K$-theory implies that commutative$C$^{*}-algebras are$K$-regular. As another application, we show that the familiar formulas of Hochschild–Kostant–Rosenberg and Loday–Quillen for the algebraic Hochschild and cyclic homology of the coordinate ring of a smooth algebraic variety remain valid for the algebraic Hochschild and cyclic homology of$C$($X$). Applications to the conjectures of Beĭlinson-Soulé and Farrell–Jones are also given.

The subalgebra of the tautological ring of the moduli of curves of compact type generated by the κ classes is studied in all genera. Relations, constructed via the virtual geometry of the moduli of stable quotients, are used to obtain minimal sets of generators. Bases and Betti numbers of the κ rings are computed. A universality property relating the higher genus κ rings to the genus 0 rings is proven using the virtual geometry of the moduli space of stable maps. The λ_{g}-formula for Hodge integrals arises as the simplest consequence.