This paper is devoted to the study of the Cauchy problem in$C$^{∞}and in the Gevrey classes for some second order degenerate hyperbolic equations with time dependent coefficients and lower order terms satisfying a suitable Levi condition.

Laplace operators on metric graphs are considered. It is proven that for compact graphs the spectrum of the Laplace operator determines the total length, the number of connected components, and the Euler characteristic. For a class of non-compact graphs the same characteristics are determined by the scattering data consisting of the scattering matrix and the discrete eigenvalues.

By applying the residue method for period integrals and Langlands-Shahidi’s theory for residues of Eisenstein series, we study the period integrals for six spherical varieties. For each spherical variety, we prove a relation between the period integrals and certain automorphic L-functions. In some cases, we also study the local multiplicity of the spherical varieties.

Published in 1999, Christodoulou proved that the naked singularities of a self-gravitating scalar field are not stable in spherical symmetry and therefore the cosmic censorship conjecture is true in this context. The original proof is by contradiction and sharp estimates are obtained strictly depending on spherical symmetry. In this paper, appropriate a priori estimates for the solution are obtained. These estimates are more relaxed but sufficient for giving another robust argument in proving the instability, in particular not by contradiction. In a companion paper, we are able to prove certain instability theorems of the spherically symmetric naked singularities of a scalar field under gravitational perturbations without symmetries. The argument given in this paper plays a central role.

Let G=(V,E) be a locally finite connected weighted graph, and Ω be an unbounded subset of V. Using Rothe's method, we study the existence of solutions for the semilinear heat equation ∂_t u+|u|^{p−1}⋅u=Δu (p≥1) and the parabolic variational inequality ∫_{Ω^∘} ∂_t u⋅(v−u)dμ ≥ ∫_{Ω^∘} (Δu+f)⋅(v−u)dμ for any v∈H, where H={u∈W^{1,2}(V):u=0 on V∖Ω^∘}.