Given a Riemannian manifold and a closed submanifold, we find a geodesic segment with free boundary on the given submanifold. This is a corollary of the min–max theory which we develop in this article for the free boundary variational problem. In particular, we develop a modified Birkhoff curve shortening process to achieve a strong “Colding–Minicozzi” type min–max approximation result.

A discrete conformality for hyperbolic polyhedral surfaces is introduced in this paper. This discrete conformality is shown to be computable. It is proved that each hyperbolic polyhedral metric on a closed surface is discrete conformal to a unique hyperbolic polyhedral metric with a given discrete curvature satisfying Gauss-Bonnet formula. Furthermore, the hyperbolic polyhedral metric with given curvature can be obtained using a discrete Yamabe flow with surgery. In particular, each hyperbolic polyhedral metric on a closed surface with negative Euler characteristic is discrete conformal to a unique hyperbolic metric.

In this article, we study the small sphere limit of the Wang-Yau quasi-local energy defined in [18,19]. Given a point p in a spacetime N , we consider a canonical family of surfaces approaching p along its future null cone and evaluate the limit of the Wang-Yau quasi-local energy. The evaluation relies on solving an "optimal embedding equation" whose solutions represent critical points of the quasi-local energy. For a spacetime with matter fields, the scenario is similar to that of the large sphere limit found in [7]. Namely, there is a natural solution which is a local minimum, and the limit of its quasi-local energy recovers the stress-energy tensor at p . For a vacuum spacetime, the quasi-local energy vanishes to higher order and the solution of the optimal embedding equation is more complicated. Nevertheless, we are able to show that there exists a solution which is a local minimum and that the limit of its quasi-local energy is related to the Bel-Robinson tensor. Together with earlier work [7], this completes the consistency verification of the Wang-Yau quasi-local energy with all classical limits.

The semi-classical data attached to stacks of algebroids in the sense of Kashiwara and Kontsevich are Maurer-Cartan elements on complex manifolds, which we call extended Poisson structures as they generalize holomorphic Poisson structures. A canonical Lie algebroid is associated to each Maurer-Cartan element. We study the geometry underlying these Maurer-Cartan elements in the light of Lie algebroid theory. In particular, we extend Lichnerowicz-Poisson cohomology and Koszul-Brylinski homology to the realm of extended Poisson manifolds; we establish a sufficient criterion for these to be finite dimensional; we describe how homology and cohomology are related through the Evens-Lu-Weinstein duality module; and we describe a duality on Koszul-Brylinski homology, which generalizes the Serre duality of Dolbeault cohomology.

We give a natural filtration F on QH(G/B), which respects the quantum product structure. Its associated graded algebra GrF(QH(G/B)) is isomorphic to the tensor product of QH(G/P) and a corresponding graded algebra of QH(P/B) after localization. When the quantum parameter goes to zero, this specializes to the filtration on H(G/B) from the Leray spectral sequence associated to the fibration P/B ! G/B −! G/P.