Let V be a convex vector bundle over a smooth projective manifold X, and let Y be the subset of X which is the zero locus of a regular section of V. This mostly expository paper discusses a conjecture which relates the virtual fundamental classes of X and Y. Using an argument due to Gathmann, we prove a special case of the conjecture. The paper concludes with a discussion of how our conjecture relates to the mirror theorems in the literature.

Let X be a smooth complex projective variety. Using a construction devised by Gathmann, we present a recursive formula for some of the Gromov–Witten invariants of X. We prove that, when X is homogeneous, this formula gives the number of osculating rational curves at a general point of a general hypersurface of X. This generalizes the classical well known pairs of inflection (asymptotic) lines for surfaces in P^3 of Salmon, as well as Darboux’s 27 osculating conics.

We describe the proof that the period map from the Torelli space of Calabi-Yau manifolds to the classifying space of polarized Hodge structures is an embedding. The proof is based on the constructions of holomorphic affine structure on the Teichmller space and Hodge metric completion of the Torelli space. A canonical global holomorphic section of the holomorphic (n, 0) class on the Teichmller space is constructed.

In this paper, we study the zero loci of local systems of the form \delta\Pi , where \delta\Pi is the period sheaf of the universal family of CY hypersurfaces in a suitable ambient space \delta\Pi , and \delta\Pi is a given differential operator on the space of sections \delta\Pi . Using earlier results of three of the authors and their collaborators, we give several different descriptions of the zero locus of \delta\Pi . As applications, we prove that the locus is algebraic and in some cases, non-empty. We also give an explicit way to compute the polynomial defining equations of the locus in some cases. This description gives rise to a natural stratification to the zero locus.

In this note we derive some consequences from the Mario-Vafa formula and the cut-and-join equation, these include unified simple proofs of the \lambda_g conjecture and some other Hodge integral identities. We also describe a proof of the ELSV formula relating Hurwitz numbers and Hodge integrals by using the cut-and-join equation, following our proof of the Mario-Vafa formula.