We show that closed, locally symmetric spaces of non-compact type have positive simplicial volume. This gives a positive answer to a question that was first raised by (Gromov in Inst Hautes Études Sci Publ Math 56:5,1982).

In this paper, we investigate the topology of a class of non-Kähler compact complex manifolds generalizing that of Hopf and Calabi-Eckmann manifolds. These manifolds are diffeomorphic to special systems of real quadrics$C$^{$n$}which are invariant with respect to the natural action of the real torus ($S$^{1})^{$n$}onto$C$^{$n$}. The quotient space is a simple convex polytope. The problem reduces thus to the study of the topology of certain real algebraic sets and can be handled using combinatorial results on convex polytopes. We prove that the homology groups of these compact complex manifolds can have arbitrary amount of torsion so that their topology is extremely rich. We also resolve an associated wall-crossing problem by introducing holomorphic equivariant elementary surgeries related to some transformations of the simple convex polytope. Finally, as a nice consequence, we obtain that affine non-Kähler compact complex manifolds can have arbitrary amount of torsion in their homology groups, contrasting with the Kähler situation.

We answer Hubbard's question on determining the Thurston equivalence class of “twisted rabbits”, i.e. composita of the “rabbit” polynomial with$n$th powers of the Dehn twists about its ears. The answer is expressed in terms of the 4-adic expansion of$n$. We also answer the equivalent question for the other two families of degree-2 topological polynomials with three post-critical points. In the process, we rephrase the questions in group-theoretical language, in terms of wreath recursions.

We prove$d$-linear analogues of the classical restriction and Kakeya conjectures in$R$^{$d$}. Our approach involves obtaining monotonicity formulae pertaining to a certain evolution of families of gaussians, closely related to heat flow. We conclude by giving some applications to the corresponding variable-coefficient problems and the so-called “joints” problem, as well as presenting some$n$-linear analogues for$n$<$d$.

We give a diffeomorphism classification of pinched negatively curved manifolds with amenable fundamental groups, namely, they are precisely the Möbius band, and the products of$R$with the total spaces of flat vector bundles over closed infranilmanifolds.