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Let$d$be a positive integer, $A={\mathbb{C}} [t_{1}^{\pm1},\ldots ,t_{d}^{\pm1}]$ be the Laurent polynomial algebra, and $W=\operatorname{Der} (A)$ be the derivation Lie algebra of$A$. Then we have the semidirect product Lie algebra$W$⋉$A$which we call the extended Witt algebra of rank$d$. In this paper, we classify all irreducible Harish-Chandra modules over$W$⋉$A$with nontrivial action of$A$.

We prove that weak solutions to the obstacle problem for the porous medium equation are locally Hölder continuous, provided that the obstacle is Hölder continuous.

Starting with a commutative ring $R$ and an ideal $I$ , it is possible to define a family of rings $R(I)_{a,b}$ , with $a,b \in R$ , as quotients of the Rees algebra $\oplus_{n \geq0} I^{n}t^{n}$ ; among the rings appearing in this family we find Nagata’s idealization and amalgamated duplication. Many properties of these rings depend only on $R$ and $I$ and not on $a$ , $b$ ; in this paper we show that the Gorenstein and the almost Gorenstein properties are independent of $a$ , $b$ . More precisely, we characterize when the rings in the family are Gorenstein, complete intersection, or almost Gorenstein and we find a formula for the type.

It is a great honor for me to be invited by Tsinghua University to talk today. Tsinghua has, in its history, made many contributions to mathematics. The two most famous mathematicians in modern Chinese history have both been closely related to Tsinghua University. One is Professor Hua Lo-Keng, the other is Prof essor Chern Shiing-Sheng. Especially since Professor Chern is my teacher, I feel proud to be able to say some words in the opening ceremony for the Center for Advanced Study. I chose the title of my talk also for this reason. Due to my critical comments, I have decided to spend most of my time in giving a general talk in English. The remainder of the talk will be in Chinese.