Let M be a complete Riemannian manifold with Riemannian volume volg and f be a smooth function on M. A sharp upper bound estimate on the first eigenvalue of symmetric diffusion operator 􏰂 f = 􏰂 − ∇ f · ∇ was given by Wu (J Math Anal Appl 361:10–18, 2010) and Wang (Ann Glob Anal Geom 37:393–402, 2010) under a condition that finite dimensional Bakry–Émery Ricci curvature is bounded below, independently. They propounded an open problem is whether there is some rigidity on the estimate. In this note, we will solve this problem to obtain a splitting type theorem, which generalizes Li–Wang’s result in (J Differ Geom 58:501–534, 2001, J Differ Geom 62:143–162, 2002). For the case that infinite dimensional Bakry–Emery Ricci curvature of M is bounded below, we donotexpectanyupperboundestimateonthefirsteigenvalueof􏰂f withoutanyadditional assumption (see the example in Sect. 2). In this case, we will give a sharp upper bound estimate on the first eigenvalue of􏰂f under the additional assuption that |∇f| is bounded.We also obtain the rigidity result on this estimate, as another Li–Wang type splitting theorem.

F. Labourie [arXiv:1212.5015] characterized the Hitchin components for PSL(n,R) for any n>1 by using the swapping algebra, where the swapping algebra should be understood as a ring equipped with a Poisson bracket. We introduce the rank n swapping algebra, which is the quotient of the swapping algebra by the (n+1)×(n+1) determinant relations. The main results are the well-definedness of the rank n swapping algebra and the "cross-ratio" in its fraction algebra. As a consequence, we use the sub fraction algebra of the rank n swapping algebra generated by these "cross-ratios" to characterize the PSL(n,R) Hitchin component for a fixed n>1. We also show the relation between the rank 2 swapping algebra and the cluster X space.

Given a compact Riemannian manifold $M$, we consider a warped product manifold $\bar M = I \times_h M$, where $I$ is an open interval in $\Bbb R$. For a positive function $\psi$ defined on $\bar M$, we generalize the arguments in \cite{GRW2015} and \cite{RW16}, to obtain the curvature estimates for Hessian equations $\sigma_k(\kappa)=\psi(V,\nu(V))$. We also obtain some existence results for the starshaped compact hypersurface $\Sigma$ satisfying the above equation with various assumptions.

We define a hierarchy of Hamiltonian PDEs associated to an arbitrary tau-function in the semi-simple orbit of the Givental group action on genus expansions of Frobenius manifolds. We prove that the equations, the Hamiltonians, and the bracket are weightedhomogeneous polynomials in the derivatives of the dependent variables with respect to the space variable. In the particular case of a conformal (homogeneous) Frobenius structure, our hierarchy coincides with the Dubrovin–Zhang hierarchy that is canonically associated to the underlying Frobenius structure. Therefore, our approach allows to prove the polynomiality of the equations, Hamiltonians, and one of the Poisson brackets of these hierarchies, as conjectured by Dubrovin and Zhang.

In this article, we continue the work in Guan-Li and study a normalized hypersurface flow in the more general ambient setting of warped product spaces. This flow preserves the volume of the bounded domain enclosed by a graphical hypersurface, and monotonically decreases the hypersurface area. As an application, the isoperimetric problem in warped product spaces is solved for such domains.