Let A 1, A 2 be standard operator algebras on complex Banach spaces X 1, X 2, respectively. For k 2, let (i 1,, i m) be a sequence with terms chosen from {1,, k}, and define the generalized Jordan product T 1 T k= T i 1 T i m+ T i m T i 1 on elements in A i. This includes the usual Jordan product A 1 A 2= A 1 A 2+ A 2 A 1, and the triple {A 1, A 2, A 3}= A 1 A 2 A 3+ A 3 A 2 A 1. Assume that at least one of the terms in (i 1,, i m) appears exactly once. Let a map : A 1 A 2 satisfy that ( (A 1) (A k))= (A 1 A k) whenever any one of A 1,, A k has rank at most one. It is shown in this paper that if the range of contains all operators of rank at most three, then must be a Jordan isomorphism multiplied by an m th root of unity. Similar results for maps between self-adjoint operators acting on Hilbert spaces are also obtained.

Nilpotency for discrete groups can be defined in terms of central extensions. In this paper, the analogous definition for spaces is stated in terms of principal fibrations having infinite loop spaces as fibers, yielding a new invariant between the classical LS cocategory and the more recent notion of homotopy nilpotency introduced by Biedermann and Dwyer. This allows us to characterize finite homotopy nilpotent loop spaces in the spirit of Hubbuck’s Torus Theorem, and obtain corresponding results for p-compact groups and p-Noetherian groups.

By a case-free approach we give a precise description of the closure of a Steinberg fiber within a twisted wonderful compactification of a simple linear algebraic group. In the nontwisted case this description was earlier obtained by the first author.

We study reactive front speeds in randomly perturbed cellular flows using a variational representation for the front speed. We develop this representation into a computational tool for computing the front speeds without resorting to closure approximations. We demonstrate that the front speeds depend on flow statistics and topologies in a complex and dramatic manner.

It is known that the singularity in the non-cutoff cross-section of the Boltzmann equation leads to the gain of regularity and a possible gain of weight in the velocity variable. By defining and analyzing a non-isotropic norm which precisely captures the dissipation in the linearized collision operator, we first give a new and precise coercivity estimate for the non-cutoff Boltzmann equation for general physical cross-sections. Then the Cauchy problem for the Boltzmann equation is considered in the framework of small perturbation of an equilibrium state. In this part, for the soft potential case in the sense that there is no positive power gain of weight in the coercivity estimate on the linearized operator, we derive some new functional estimates on the nonlinear collision operator. Together with the coercivity estimates, we prove the global existence of classical solutions for the Boltzmann equation in weighted Sobolev spaces.