Extending Griffiths’ classical theory of period mappings for compact Kähler manifolds, this book develops and applies a theory of period mappings of “Hodge-de Rham type” for families of open complex manifolds. The text consists of three parts. The first part develops the theory. The second part investigates the degeneration behavior of the relative Frölicher spectral sequence associated to a submersive morphism of complex manifolds. The third part applies the preceding material to the study of irreducible symplectic complex spaces. The latter notion generalizes the idea of an irreducible symplectic manifold, dubbed an irreducible hyperkähler manifold in differential geometry, to possibly singular spaces. The three parts of the work are of independent interest, but intertwine nicely.

The goal of these notes is to provide a fast introduction to symplectic geometry for graduate students with some knowledge of differential geometry, de Rham theory and classical Lie groups. This text addresses symplectomorphisms, local forms, contact manifolds, compatible almost complex structures, Kaehler manifolds, hamiltonian mechanics, moment maps, symplectic reduction and symplectic toric manifolds. It contains guided problems, called homework, designed to complement the exposition or extend the reader's understanding. There are by now excellent references on symplectic geometry, a subset of which is in the bibliography of this book. However, the most efficient introduction to a subject is often a short elementary treatment, and these notes attempt to serve that purpose. This text provides a taste of areas of current research and will prepare the reader to explore recent papers and extensive books on symplectic geometry where the pace is much faster. For this reprint numerous corrections and clarifications have been made, and the layout has been improved.

This is Part 1 of a two-volume set. Since Oscar Zariski organized a meeting in 1954, there has been a major algebraic geometry meeting every decade: Woods Hole (1964), Arcata (1974), Bowdoin (1985), Santa Cruz (1995), and Seattle (2005). The American Mathematical Society has supported these summer institutes for over 50 years. Their proceedings volumes have been extremely influential, summarizing the state of algebraic geometry at the time and pointing to future developments. The most recent Summer Institute in Algebraic Geometry was held July 2015 at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, sponsored by the AMS with the collaboration of the Clay Mathematics Institute. This volume includes surveys growing out of plenary lectures and seminar talks during the meeting. Some present a broad overview of their topics, while others develop a distinctive perspective on an emerging topic. Topics span both complex algebraic geometry and arithmetic questions, specifically, analytic techniques, enumerative geometry, moduli theory, derived categories, birational geometry, tropical geometry, Diophantine questions, geometric representation theory, characteristic and -adic tools, etc. The resulting articles will be important references in these areas for years to come.

The method of using the moduli space of pseudo-holomorphic curves on a symplectic manifold was introduced by Mikhail Gromov in 1985. From the appearance of Gromov's original paper until today this approach has been the most important tool in global symplectic geometry. To produce numerical invariants of these manifolds using this method requires constructing a fundamental cycle associated with moduli spaces. This volume brings together three approaches to constructing the “virtual” fundamental cycle for the moduli space of pseudo-holomorphic curves. All approaches are based on the idea of local Kuranishi charts for the moduli space. Workers in the field will get a comprehensive understanding of the details of these constructions and the assumptions under which they can be made. These techniques and results will be essential in further applications of this approach to producing invariants of symplectic manifolds.

A prominent aspect of quantum theory, tunneling arises in a variety of contexts across several fields of study, including nuclear, atomic, molecular, and optical physics and has led to technologically relevant applications in mesoscopic science. Exploring mechanisms and consequences, Dynamical Tunneling: Theory and Experiment presents the work of i

This up-to-date introduction to Griffiths' theory of period maps and period domains focusses on algebraic, group-theoretic and differential geometric aspects. Starting with an explanation of Griffiths' basic theory, the authors go on to introduce spectral sequences and Koszul complexes that are used to derive results about cycles on higher-dimensional algebraic varieties such as the Noether–Lefschetz theorem and Nori's theorem. They explain differential geometric methods, leading up to proofs of Arakelov-type theorems, the theorem of the fixed part and the rigidity theorem. They also use Higgs bundles and harmonic maps to prove the striking result that not all compact quotients of period domains are Kähler. This thoroughly revised second edition includes a new third part covering important recent developments, in which the group-theoretic approach to Hodge structures is explained, leading to Mumford–Tate groups and their associated domains, the Mumford–Tate varieties and generalizations of Shimura varieties.

An introduction to Griffiths' theory of period maps and domains, focused on algebraic, group-theoretic and differential geometric aspects.

Symplectic and contact geometry naturally emerged from the mathematical description of classical physics. The discovery of new rigidity phenomena and properties satisfied by these geometric structures launched a new research field worldwide. The intense activity of many European research groups in this field is reflected by the ESF Research Networking Programme "Contact And Symplectic Topology" (CAST). The lectures of the Summer School in Nantes (June 2011) and of the CAST Summer School in Budapest (July 2012) provide a nice panorama of many aspects of the present status of contact and symplectic topology. The notes of the minicourses offer a gentle introduction to topics which have developed in an amazing speed in the recent past. These topics include 3-dimensional and higher dimensional contact topology, Fukaya categories, asymptotically holomorphic methods in contact topology, bordered Floer homology, embedded contact homology, and flexibility results for Stein manifolds.

Mapping class groups and moduli spaces of Riemann surfaces were the topics of the Graduate Summer School at the 2011 IAS/Park City Mathematics Institute. This book presents the nine different lecture series comprising the summer school, covering a selection of topics of current interest. The introductory courses treat mapping class groups and Teichmüller theory. The more advanced courses cover intersection theory on moduli spaces, the dynamics of polygonal billiards and moduli spaces, the stable cohomology of mapping class groups, the structure of Torelli groups, and arithmetic mapping class groups. The courses consist of a set of intensive short lectures offered by leaders in the field, designed to introduce students to exciting, current research in mathematics. These lectures do not duplicate standard courses available elsewhere. The book should be a valuable resource for graduate students and researchers interested in the topology, geometry and dynamics of moduli spaces of Riemann surfaces and related topics. Titles in this series are co-published with the Institute for Advanced Study/Park City Mathematics Institute. Members of the Mathematical Association of America (MAA) and the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) receive a 20% discount from list price.

In the first century after its discovery, the electron has come to be a fundamental element in the analysis of physical aspects of nature. This book is devoted to the construction of a deductive theory of the electron, starting from first principles and using a simple mathematical tool, geometric analysis. Its purpose is to present a comprehensive theory of the electron to the point where a connection can be made with the main approaches to the study of the electron in physics. The introduction describes the methodology. Chapter 2 presents the concept of space-time-action relativity theory and in chapter 3 the mathematical structures describing action are analyzed. Chapters 4, 5, and 6 deal with the theory of the electron in a series of aspects where the geometrical analysis is more relevant. Finally in chapter 7 the form of geometrical analysis used in the book is presented to elucidate the broad range of topics which are covered and the range of mathematical structures which are implicitly or explicitly included. The book is directed to two different audiences of graduate students and research scientists: primarily to theoretical physicists in the field of electron physics as well as those in the more general field of quantum mechanics, elementary particle physics, and general relativity; secondly, to mathematicians in the field of geometric analysis.