Let <i>H</i> denote a spherical subgroup within a semisimple algebraic group <i>G</i>. In this paper we study the closures of the finitely many <i>H</i>-orbits in the flag variety of <i>G</i>. Using the language of Frobenius splitting we provide a criterion for these closures to have nice geometric and cohomological properties. We then show how the criterion applies to the spherical subgroups of minimal rank studied by N. Ressayre. Finally, we also provide applications of the criterion to orbit closures which are not multiplicity-free in the sense defined by M. Brion.

We study the nonnegative part \overline {G_ {&gt; 0}} of the De Concini-Procesi compactification of a semisimple algebraic group \overline {G_ {&gt; 0}} , as defined by Lusztig. Using positivity properties of the canonical basis and parametrization of flag varieties, we will give an explicit description of \overline {G_ {&gt; 0}} . This answers the question of Lusztig in Total positivity and canonical bases, Algebraic groups and Lie groups (ed. GI Lehrer), Cambridge Univ. Press, 1997, pp. 281-295. We will also prove that \overline {G_ {&gt; 0}} has a cell decomposition which was conjectured by Lusztig.

We classify the Ext-quivers of hearts in the bounded derived category D(A_n) and the finite-dimensional derived category D(\Gamma_N A_n) of the Calabi-Yau-N Ginzburg algebra D(\Gamma_N A_n). This provides the classification for Buan-Thomas' colored quiver for higher clusters of A-type. We also give explicit combinatorial constructions from a binary tree with n+2 leaves to a torsion pair in mod k\overrightarrow{A_n} and a cluster tilting set in the corresponding cluster category, for the straight oriented A-type quiver \overrightarrow{A_n}. As an application, we show that the orientation of the n-dimensional ssociahedron induced by poset structure of binary trees coincides with the orientation induced by poset structure of torsion pairs in mod k\overrightarrow{A_n} (under the correspondence above).