In studying the "11/8-Conjecture" on the Geography Problem in 4-dimensional topology, Furuta proposed a question on the existence of Pin(2)-equivariant stable maps between certain representation spheres. In this paper, we present a complete solution to this problem by analyzing the Pin(2)-equivariant Mahowald invariants. As a geometric application of our result, we prove a "10/8+4"-Theorem. We prove our theorem by analyzing maps between certain finite spectra arising from BPin(2) and various Thom spectra associated with it. To analyze these maps, we use the technique of cell diagrams, known results on the stable homotopy groups of spheres, and the j-based Atiyah-Hirzebruch spectral sequence.

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The skeleton of a 2D shape is an important geometric structure in pattern analysis and computer vision. In this paper we study the skeleton of a 2D shape in a two-manifold M, based on a geodesic metric. We present a formal definition of the skeleton S(\Omega) for a shape V in M and show several properties that make S(\Omega) distinct from its Euclidean counterpart in R^2. We further prove that for a shape sequence {\Omega_i} that converge to a shape V in M, the mapping \Omega\rightarrow S(\Omega_i) is lower semi-continuous. A direct application of this result is that we can use a set P of sample points to approximate the boundary of a 2D shape V in M, and the Voronoi diagram of P inside \Omega\subset M gives a good approximation to the skeleton S(\Omega). Examples of skeleton computation in topography and brain morphometry are illustrated.

Given a finite set of r points in a closed surface of genus r , we consider the torsion elements in the mapping class group of the surface leaving the finite set invariant. We show that the torsion elements generate the mapping class group if and only if r for some integer r .

In [SW2], we defined a generalized mean curvature vector field on any almost Lagrangian submanifold with respect to a torsion connection on an almost K\"ahler manifold. The short time existence of the corresponding parabolic flow was established. In addition, it was shown that the flow preserves the Lagrangian condition as long as the connection satisfies an Einstein condition. In this article, we show that the canonical connection on the cotangent bundle of any Riemannian manifold is an Einstein connection (in fact, Ricci flat). The generalized mean curvature vector on any Lagrangian submanifold is related to the Lagrangian angle defined by the phase of a parallel (n, 0) form, just like the Calabi-Yau case. We also show that the corresponding Lagrangian mean curvature flow in cotangent bundles preserves the exactness and the zero Maslov class conditions. At the end, we prove a long time existence and convergence result to demonstrate the stability of the zero section of the cotangent bundle of spheres.