This is the first of a sequence of papers proving the quantum invariance under ordinary flops over an arbitrary smooth base. In this first part, we determine the defect of the cup product under the canonical correspondence and show that it is corrected by the small quantum product attached to the extremal ray. We then perform various reductions to reduce the problem to the local models. In Part II, we develop a quantum Leray--Hirsch theorem and use it to show that the big quantum cohomology ring is invariant under analytic continuations in the Kähler moduli space for ordinary flops of splitting type. In Part III, together with F. Qu, we remove the splitting condition by developing a quantum splitting principle, and hence solve the problem completely.

In this paper, we study effective recursion formulae for computing intersection numbers of mixed \psi and \psi classes on moduli spaces of curves. By using the celebrated WittenKontsevich theorem, we generalize MulaseSafnuk form of Mirzakhani's recursion and prove a recursion formula of higher WeilPetersson volumes. We also present recursion formulae to compute intersection pairings in the tautological rings of moduli spaces of curves.

Inspired by mirror symmetry, we investigate some differential geometric aspects of the space of Bridgeland stability conditions on a Calabi-Yau triangulated category. The aim is to develop theory of Weil-Petersson geometry on the stringy K\" ahler moduli space. A few basic examples are studied. In particular, we identify our Weil-Petersson metric with the Bergman metric on a Siegel modular variety in the case of the self-product of an elliptic curve.

Motivated by mirror symmetry, we study certain integral representations of solutions to the Gelfand-Kapranov-Zelevinsky (GKZ) hypergeometric system. Some of these solutions arise as period integrals for Calabi-Yau manifolds in mirror symmetry. We prove that for a suitable compactification of the parameter space, there exist certain special boundary points, which we called maximal degeneracy points, at which all solutions but one become singular.

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