Motivated by results on the simplicial volume of locally symmetric spaces of finite volume, in this note, we observe that the simplicial volume of the moduli space Mg,n is equal to 0 if g  2; g = 1, n  3; or g = 0, n  6; and the orbifold simplicial volume of Mg,n is positive if g = 1, n = 0, 1; g = 0, n = 4. We also observe that the simplicial volume of the Deligne-Mumford compactification of Mg,n is equal to 0, and the simplicial volumes of the reductive Borel-Serre compactification of arithmetic locally symmetric spaces ..\X and the Baily-Borel compactification of Hermitian arithmetic locally symmetric spaces ..\X are also equal to 0 if the Q-rank of ..\X is at least 3 or if ..\X is irreducible and of Q-rank 2.

We study moduli spaces of O’Grady’s ten-dimensional irreducible symplectic manifolds. These moduli spaces are covers of modular varieties of dimension 21, namely quotients of hermitian symmetric domains by a suitable arithmetic group. The interesting and new aspect of this case is that the group in question is strictly bigger than the stable orthogonal group. This makes it different from both the K3 and the K3[n] case, which are of dimension 19 and 20 respectively.

We give a complete classification of irreducible symmetric spaces for which there exist proper SL(2,R)-actions as isometries, using the criterion for proper actions by T. Kobayashi [Math. Ann. ’89] and combinatorial techniques of nilpotent orbits. In particular, we classify irreducible symmetric spaces that admit surface groups as discontinuous groups, combining this with Benoist’s theorem [Ann. Math. ’96].

Let g(t) be a smooth complete solution to the Ricci flow on a noncompact manifold such that g(0) is Kahler. We prove that if |Rm(g(t))| is bounded by a/t for some a > 0, then g(t) is Kahler for t > 0. We prove that there is a constant a(n) > 0 depending only on n such that the following is true: Suppose g(t) is a smooth complete solution to the Kahler-Ricci flow on a non-compact n-dimensional complex manifold such that g(0) has nonnegative holomorphic bisectional curvature and |Rm(g(t))| ≤ a(n)/t, then g(t) has nonnegative holomorphic bisectional curvature for t > 0. These generalize the results by Wan-Xiong Shi. As applications, we prove that (i) any complete noncompact Kahler manifold with nonnegative complex sectional curvature and maximum volume growth is biholomorphic to C^n; and (ii) there is ε(n) > 0 depending only on n such that if (M^n,g_0) is a complete noncompact Kahler manifold of complex dimension n with nonnegative holomorphic bisectional curvature and maximum volume growth and if (1+ε(n))^{−1}h ≤ g_0 ≤ (1+ε(n))h for some Riemannian metric h with bounded curvature, then M is biholomorphic to C^n.

In this article we discuss the geometry of moduli spaces of (1) flat bundles over special Lagrangian submanifolds and (2) deformed Hermitian-Yang-Mills bundles over complex submanifolds in Calabi-Yau manifolds. These moduli spaces reflect the geometry of the Calabi-Yau itself like a mirror. Strominger, Yau and Zaslow conjecture that the mirror Calabi-Yau manifold is such a moduli space and they argue that the mirror symmetry duality is a Fourier-Mukai transformation. We review various aspects of the mirror symmetry conjecture and discuss a geometric approach in proving it. The existence of rigid Calabi-Yau manifolds poses a serious challenge to the conjecture. The proposed mirror partners for them are higher dimensional generalized Calabi-Yau manifolds. For example, the mirror partner for a certain K3 surface is a cubic fourfold and its Fano variety of lines is birational to the Hilbert scheme of two points on the K3. This hyperk¨ahler manifold can be interpreted as the SYZ mirror of the K3 by considering singular special Lagrangian tori. We also compare the geometries between a CY and its associated generalized CY. In particular we present a new construction of Lagrangian submanifolds.