A new augmented method is proposed for elliptic interface problems with a piecewise variable coefficient that has a finite jump across a smooth interface. The main motivation is to get not only a second order accurate solution but also a second order accurate gradient from each side of the interface. Key to the new method is introducing the jump in the normal derivative of the solution as an augmented variable and rewriting the interface problem as a new PDE that consists of a leading Laplacian operator plus lower order derivative terms near the interface. In this way, the leading second order derivative jump relations are independent of the jump in the coefficient that appears only in the lower order terms after the scaling. An upwind type discretization is used for the finite difference discretization at the irregular grid points on or near the interface so that the resulting coefficient matrix is an M-matrix. A multigrid solver is used to solve the linear system of equations, and the GMRES iterative method is used to solve the augmented variable. Second order convergence for the solution and the gradient from each side of the interface is proved in this paper. Numerical examples for general elliptic interface problems confirm the theoretical analysis and efficiency of the new method.

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.

Let w be an Abelian differential on a compact Riemann surface of genus g ≥ 1. Then |w|2 defines a flat metric with conical singularities and trivial holonomy on the Riemann surface. We obtain an explicit holomorphic factorization formula for the ζ-regularized determinant of the Laplacian in the metric |w|2, generalizing the classical Ray-Singer result in g = 1.

Based on large N Chern-Simons/topological string duality, in a series of papers [36, 21, 19], Labastida, Marino, Ooguri, and Vafa conjectured certain remarkable new algebraic structure of link invariants and the existence of infinite series of new integer invariants. In this paper, we provide a proof of this conjecture. Moreover, we also show these new integer invariants vanish at large genera.

No abstract uploaded!