The centroaffine Minkowski problem is studied, which is the critical case of the <i>L</i>_<i>p</i>-Minkowski problem. It admits a variational structure that plays an important role in studying the existence of solutions. In this paper, we find that there is generally no maximizer of the corresponding functional for the centroaffine Minkowski problem.

We prove several rigidity theorems for elliptic genera associated to Toeplitz operators on odd dimensional spin manifolds. We also prove an equivariant odd index theorem for Dirac operators with involution parity and the Atiyah-Hirzebruch vanishing theorems for odd dimensional spin manifolds.

In this note, we give a list of Calabi-Yau hypersurfaces in weighted projective 4-spaces with the property that a hypersurface contains naturally a pencil of K3 variety. For completeness we also obtain a similar list in the case K3 hypersurfaces in weighted projective 3-spaces. The first list significantly enlarges the list of K3-fibrations of\KlemmLercheMayr~ which has been obtained on some assumptions on the weights. Our lists are expected to correspond to examples of the so-called heterotic-type II duality\KachruVafa\KachruSilverstein.

Wave propagation in two-dimensional generalized honeycomb lattices is studied. By employing the tight-binding (TB) approximation, the linear dispersion relation and associated discrete envelope equations are derived for the lowest band. In the TB limit, the Bloch modes are localized at the minima of the potential wells and can analytically be constructed in terms of local orbitals. Bloch-mode relations are converted into integrals over orbitals. With this methodology, the linear dispersion relation is derived analytically in the TB limit. The nonlinear envelope dynamics are found to be governed by a unified nonlinear discrete wave system. The lowest Bloch band has two branches that touch at the Dirac points. In the neighborhood of these points, the unified system leads to a coupled nonlinear discrete Dirac system. In the continuous limit, the leading-order evolution is governed by a continuous nonlinear Dirac system. This system exhibits conical diffraction, a phenomenon observed in experiments. Coupled nonlinear Dirac systems are also obtained. Away from the Dirac points, the continuous limit of the discrete equation leads to coupled nonlinear Schrödinger equations when the underlying group velocities are nearly zero. With semiclassical approximations, all the parameters are estimated analytically.

Quasilocal mass in general relativity is a notion defined for a closed space like 2-surface in spacetime. In this note, we explain the definition in [23] and [24] from a mathematical viewpoint, emphasizing the connection to differential geometry and nonlinear partial differential equations. We also discuss a minimax interpretation of the definition and compare with other notions of quasilocal mass.