In this paper we provide a detailed proof of the second variation formula, essentially due to Richard Hamilton, Tom Ilmanen and the first author, for Perelman’s ν-entropy. In particular, we correct an error in the stability operator stated in Theorem 6.3 of [2]. Moreover, we obtain a necessary condition for linearly stable shrinkers in terms of the least eigenvalue and its multiplicity of certain Lichnerowicz type operator associated to the second variation.

We show that closed hypersurfaces in Euclidean space with nonnegative scalar curvature are weakly mean convex. In contrast, the statement is no longer true if the scalar curvature is replaced by the kth mean curvature, for k greater than 2, as we construct the counterexamples for all k greater than 2. Our proof relies on a new geometric argument which relates the scalar curvature and mean curvature of a hypersurface to the mean curvature of the level sets of a height function. By extending the argument, we show that complete noncompact asymptotically flat hypersurfaces with nonnegative scalar curvature are weakly mean convex and prove the positive mass theorem for such hypersurfaces in all dimensions.

We obtain an estimate for the volumes of neighborhoods of sets of large curvature in three-dimensional K¨ahler-Einstein manifolds. The key technical step is to prove that a version of monotonicity for L2 energy holds as long as the underlying region does not “carry homology” (in the sense that the normalized energy in a ball controls the normalized energy in an interior ball).

We develop the foundation of the complex symplectic geometry of Lagrangian subvarieties in a hyperk¨ahler manifold. We establish a characterization, a Chern number inequality, topological and geometrical properties of Lagrangian submanifolds. We discuss a category of Lagrangian subvarieties and its relationship with the theory of Lagrangian intersection. We also introduce and study extensively a normalized Legendre transformation of Lagrangian subvarieties under a birational transformation of projective hyperk¨ahler manifolds. We give a Pl¨ucker type formula for Lagrangian intersections under this transformation.

In this work, we give a perturbation theorem for strong polynomial solutions to the zero surface tension Hele-Shaw equation driven by injection or suction, the so called Polubarinova–Galin equation. This theorem enables us to explore properties of solutions with initial functions close to polynomials. Applications of this theorem are given in the suction and injection cases. In the former case, we show that if the initial domain is close to a disk, most of the fluid will be sucked before the strong solution blows up. In the latter case, we obtain precise large-time rescaling behaviors for large data to Hele-Shaw flows in terms of invariant Richardson complex moments. This rescaling behavior result generalizes a recent result regarding large-time rescaling behavior for small data in terms of moments. As a byproduct of a theorem in this paper, a short proof of existence and uniqueness of strong solutions to the Polubarinova–Galin equation is given.