In this paper, we solve a Monge-Ampre-type equation by the continuity method. This equation is motivated by the superstring theory.

We study the local curvature estimates of long-time solutions to the normalized Kähler-Ricci flow on compact Kähler manifolds with semi-ample canonical line bundle. Using these estimates, we prove that on such a manifold, the set of singular fibers of the semi-ample fibration on which the Riemann curvature blows up at time-infinity is independent of the choice of the initial Kähler metric. Moreover, when a regular fiber of the semi-ample fibration is not a finite quotient of a torus, we determine the exact curvature blow-up rate of the Kähler-Ricci flow near the regular fiber.

We study the Seiberg-Witten invariant λSW(X) of smooth spin 4-manifolds X with integral homology of S1×S3 defined by Mrowka, Ruberman, and Saveliev as a signed count of irreducible monopoles amended by an index-theoretic correction term. We prove a splitting formula for this invariant in terms of the Frøyshov invariant h(X) and a certain Lefschetz number in the reduced monopole Floer homology of Kronheimer and Mrowka. We apply this formula to obstruct existence of metrics of positive scalar curvature on certain 4-manifolds, and to exhibit new classes of integral homology 3-spheres of Rohlin invariant one which have infinite order in the homology cobordism group.

In this paper we study the prescribed centroaffine curvature problem in the Euclidean space R n+ 1. This problem is equivalent to solving a Monge鈥揂mp猫re equation on the unit sphere. It corresponds to the critical case of the Blaschke鈥揝antal贸 inequality. By approximation from the subcritical case, and using an obstruction condition and a blow-up analysis, we obtain sufficient conditions for the a priori estimates, and the existence of solutions up to a Lagrange multiplier.

For any smooth Riemannian metric on an (n+1)-dimensional compact manifold with boundary (M,∂M) where 3≤(n+1)≤7, we establish general upper bounds for the Morse index of free boundary minimal hypersurfaces produced by min-max theory in the Almgren-Pitts setting. We apply our Morse index estimates to prove that for almost every (in the C-infinity Baire sense) Riemannan metric, the union of all compact, properly embedded free boundary minimal hypersurfaces is dense in M. If ∂M is further assumed to have a strictly mean convex point, we show the existence of infinitely many compact, properly embedded free boundary minimal hypersurfaces whose boundaries are non-empty. Our results prove a conjecture of Yau for generic metrics in the free boundary setting.