This paper studies affine Deligne-Lusztig varieties $X_{w}(b)$ in the affine flag variety of a quasi-split tamely ramified group. We describe the geometric structure of $X_{w}(b)$ for a minimal length element $w$ in the conjugacy class of an extended affine Weyl group, generalizing one of the main results in \cite{HL} to the affine case. We then provide a reduction method that relates the structure of $X_{w}(b)$ for arbitrary elements $w$ in the extended affine Weyl group to those associated with minimal length elements. Based on this reduction, we establish a connection between the dimension of affine Deligne-Lusztig varieties and the degree of the class polynomial of affine Hecke algebras. As a consequence, we prove a conjecture of G\"ortz, Haines, Kottwitz and Reuman in \cite{GHKR}.

We establish new bounds on character values and character ratios for finite groups G of Lie type, which are considerably stronger than previously known bounds, and which are best possible in many cases. These bounds have the form |χ(g)|⩽cχ(1)αg, and give rise to a variety of applications, for example to covering numbers and mixing times of random walks on such groups. In particular, we deduce that, if G is a classical group in dimension n, then, under some conditions on G and g∈G, the mixing time of the random walk on G with the conjugacy class of g as a generating set is (up to a small multiplicative constant) n/s, where s is the support of g.

We associate to any given finite set of valuations on the polynomial ring in two variables over an algebraically closed field a numerical invariant whose positivity characterizes the case when the intersection of their valuation rings has maximal transcendence degree over the base fields. As an application, we give a criterion for when an analytic branch at infinity in the affine plane that is defined over a number field in a suitable sense is the branch of an algebraic curve.

In 1971, McMullen and Walkup posed the following conjecture, which is called the generalized lower bound conjecture: If$P$is a simplicial$d$-polytope then its$h$-vector ($h$_{0},$h$_{1}, …,$h$_{$d$}) satisfies $$ {h_0}\leq {h_1}\leq \ldots \leq {h_{{\left\lfloor {{d \left/ {2} \right.}} \right\rfloor }}} $$ . Moreover, if$h$_{$r$−1}=$h$_{$r$}for some $$ r\leq \frac{1}{2}d $$ then$P$can be triangulated without introducing simplices of dimension ≤$d$−$r$.

This work concerns finite free complexes over commutative noetherian rings, in particular over group algebras of elementary abelian groups. The main contribution is the construction of complexes such that the total rank of their underlying free modules, or the total length of their homology, is less than predicted by various conjectures in the theory of transformation groups and in local algebra.