In this paper we study self-similar solutions in warped products satisfying $F-\mathcal{F}=\bar{g}(\lambda(r)\partial_{r},\nu)$, where $\mathcal{F}$ is a nonnegative constant and $F$ is in a class of general curvature functions including powers of mean curvature and Gauss curvature. We show that slices are the only closed strictly convex self-similar solutions in the hemisphere for such $F$. We also obtain a similar uniqueness result in hyperbolic space $\mathbb{H}^{3}$ for Gauss curvature $F$ and $\mathcal{F}\geq 1$.

We give a new proof of a classical uniqueness theorem of Alexandrov [4] using the weak uniqueness continuation theorem of BersNirenberg [8]. We prove a version of this theorem with the minimal regularity assumption: the spherical Hessians of the corresponding convex bodies as Radon measures are nonsingular.

We prove that the number of critical points of a Li–Tam Green’s function on a complete open Riemannian surface of finite type admits a topological upper bound, given by the first Betti number of the surface. In higher dimensions, we show that there are no topological upper bounds on the number of critical points by constructing, for each nonnegative integer N, a Riemannian manifold diffeomorphic to Rn (n > 3) whose minimal Green’s function has at least N non-degenerate critical points. Variations on the method of proof of the latter result yield contractible n-manifolds whose minimal Green’s functions have level sets diffeomorphic to any fixed codimension 1 compact submanifold of R^n.

Necessary and sufficient conditions for the discreteness of the Laplacian on a noncompact Riemannian manifold M are established in terms of the isocapacitary function of M. The relevant capacity takes a different form according to whether M has finite or infinite volume. Conditions involving the more standard isoperimetric function of M can also be derived, but they are only sufficient in general, as we demonstrate by concrete examples.

A well-known result on pseudodifferential operators states that the noncommutative residue (Wodzicki residue) of a zero-order pseudodifferential projection on a closed manifold vanishes. This statement is non-local and implies the regularity of the eta invariant at zero of Dirac type operators. We prove that in the odd dimensional case an analogous statement holds for the algebra of projective pseudodifferential operators, i.e., the noncommutative residue of a projective pseudodifferential projection vanishes. Our strategy of proof also simplifies the argument in the classical setting. We show that the noncommutative residue factors to a map from the twisted K-theory of the co-sphere bundle and then use arguments from twisted K-theory to reduce this question to a known model case. It can then be verified by local computations that this map vanishes in odd dimensions.