We carry out “exotic gluings” a la Carlotto-Schoen for asymptotically hyperbolic general relativistic initial data sets. In particular we obtain a direct construction of non-trivial initial data sets which are exactly hyperbolic in large regions extending to conformal infinity.

For the physical vacuum free boundary problem with the sound speed being C 1/2 - H¨older continuous near vacuum boundaries of the compressible Euler equations with damping, the global existence of solutions and convergence to Barenblatt self-similar solutions of the porous media equation was recently proved in [34] for 1-d motions by Luo and the author. This paper generalizes the results for 1-d motions to 3-d spherically symmetric motions. Compared with the 1-d theory, besides the high degeneracy of the equations near the physical vacuum boundary, the analytical difficulties lie in the complexity of equations and the coordinates singularity in the center of symmetry which is resolved by constructing suitable weights. The results obtained in this work contribute to the theory of global solutions to free boundary problems of compressible inviscid fluids in the presence of vacuum states, for which the currently available results are mainly for the local-in-time well-posedness theory, also to the theory of global smooth solutions of dissipative hyperbolic systems which fail to be strictly hyperbolic.

Recently, a number of new Ward identities for large gauge transformations and large diffeomorphisms have been discovered. Some of the identities are reinterpretations of previously known statements, while some appear to be genuinely new. We use Noether’s second theorem with the path integral as a powerful way of generating these kinds of Ward identities. We reintroduce Noether’s second theorem and discuss how to work with the physical remnant of gauge symmetry in gauge fixed systems. We illustrate our mechanism in Maxwell theory, Yang–Mills theory, p-form field theory, and Einstein–Hilbert gravity. We comment on multiple connections between Noether’s second theorem and known results in the recent literature. Our approach suggests a novel point of view with important physical consequences.

A Calabi–Yau threefold is called of type K if it admits an ´etale Galois covering by the product of a K3 surface and an elliptic curve. In our previous paper [16], based on Oguiso–Sakurai’s fundamental work [24], we have provided the full classification of Calabi–Yau threefolds of type K and have studied some basic properties thereof. In the present paper, we continue the study, investigating them from the viewpoint of mirror symmetry. It is shown that mirror symmetry relies on duality of certain sublattices in the second cohomology of the K3 surface appearing in the minimal splitting covering. The duality may be thought of as a version of the lattice duality of the anti-symplectic involution on K3 surfaces discovered by Nikulin [23]. Based on the duality, we obtain several results parallel to what is known for Borcea–Voisin threefolds. Along the way, we also investigate the Brauer groups of Calabi–Yau threefolds of type K.

A modified theory of general relativity is proposed, where the gravitational constant is replaced by a dynamical variable in space-time. The dynamics of the gravitational coupling is described by a family of parametrized null geodesics, implying that the gravitational coupling at a space-time point is determined by solving transport equations along all null geodesics through this point. General relativity with dynamical gravitational coupling (DGC) is introduced. We motivate DGC from general considerations and explain how it arises in the context of causal fermion systems. The underlying physical idea is that the gravitational coupling is determined by microscopic structures on the Planck scale which propagate with the speed of light. In order to clarify the mathematical structure, we analyze the conformal behaviorn and prove local existence and uniqueness of the time evolution. The differences to Einstein’s theory are worked out in the examples of the Friedmann-RobertsonWalker model and the spherically symmetric collapse of a shell of matter. Potential implications for the problem of dark matter and for inflation are discussed. It is shown that the effects in the solar system are too small for being observable in present-day experiments.