We revisit with another view point the construction by R. Brylinski and B. Kostant of minimal representations of simple Lie groups. We start from a pair $(V,Q)$, where $V$ is a complex vector space and $Q$ a homogeneous polynomial of degree 4 on $V$. The manifold $\Xi $ is an orbit of a covering of ${\rm Conf}(V,Q)$, the conformal group of the pair $(V,Q)$, in a finite dimensional representation space. By a generalized Kantor-Koecher-Tits construction we obtain a complex simple Lie algebra $\mathfrak g$, and furthermore a real form ${\mathfrak g}_{\mathbb R}$. The connected and simply connected Lie group $G_{\mathbb R}$ with ${\rm Lie}(G_{\mathbb R})={\mathfrak g}_{\mathbb R}$ acts unitarily on a Hilbert space of holomorphic functions defined on the manifold $\Xi $.

We study projections in the corona algebra of $C(X)\otimes K$, where K is the $C^*$-algebra of compact operators on a separable infinite dimensional Hilbert space and $X=[0,1],[0,\infty),(-\infty,\infty)$, or $[0,1]/\{ 0,1 \}$. Using BDF's essential codimension, we determine conditions for a projection in the corona algebra to be liftable to a projection in the multiplier algebra. We also determine the conditions for two projections to be equal in $K_0$, Murray-von Neumann equivalent, unitarily equivalent, or homotopic. In light of these characterizations, we construct examples showing that the equivalence notions above are all distinct.

We study the geometry of non-reductive $4$-dimensional homogeneous spaces. In particular, after describing their Levi-Civita connection and curvature properties, we classify homogeneous Ricci solitons on these spaces, proving the existence of shrinking, expanding and steady examples. For all the non-trivial examples we find, the Ricci operator is diagonalizable.

Considering quantum random walks, we construct discrete-time approximations of the eigenvalues processes of minors of Hermitian Brownian motion. It has been recently proved by Adler, Nordenstam, and van Moerbeke that the process of eigenvalues of two consecutive minors of a Hermitian Brownian motion is a Markov process; whereas, if one considers more than two consecutive minors, the Markov property fails. We show that there are analog results in the noncommutative counterpart and establish the Markov property of eigenvalues of some particular submatrices of Hermitian Brownian motion.

We introduce a $q,t$-enumeration of Dyck paths that are forced to touch the main diagonal at specific points and forbidden to touch elsewhere and conjecture that it describes the action of the Macdonald theory $\nabla$ operator applied to a Hall--Littlewood polynomial. Our conjecture refines several earlier conjectures concerning the space of diagonal harmonics including the ``shuffle conjecture" (Duke J. Math. $\mathbf {126}$ ($2005$), 195-232) for $\nabla e_n[X]$. We bring to light that certain generalized Hall--Littlewood polynomials indexed by compositions are the building blocks for the algebraic combinatorial theory of $q,t$-Catalan sequences, and we prove a number of identities involving these functions.

We study the topology of tropical varieties that arise from a certain natural class of varieties. We use the theory of tropical degenerations to construct a natural, ``multiplicity-free'' parameterization of $\operatorname{Trop}(X)$ by a topological space $\Gamma_X$ and give a geometric interpretation of the cohomology of $\Gamma_X$ in terms of the action of a monodromy operator on the cohomology of $X$. This gives bounds on the Betti numbers of $\Gamma_X$ in terms of the Betti numbers of $X$ which constrain the topology of $\operatorname{Trop}(X)$. We also obtain a description of the top power of the monodromy operator acting on middle cohomology of $X$ in terms of the volume pairing on $\Gamma_X$.

In this paper we study the balayage of semi-Dirichlet forms. We present new results on balayaged functions and balayaged measures of semi-Dirichlet forms. Some of the results are new even in the Dirichlet forms setting.

Let $({\mathcal X}, d, \mu)$ be a separable metric measure space satisfying the known upper doubling condition, the geometrical doubling condition, and the non-atomic condition that $\mu(\{x\})=0$ for all $x\in{\mathcal X}$. In this paper, we show that the boundedness of a Calderón-Zygmund operator $T$ on $L^2(\mu)$ is equivalent to that of $T$ on $L^p(\mu)$ for some $p\in (1, \infty)$, and that of $T$ from $L^1(\mu)$ to $L^{1,\,\infty}(\mu).$ As an application, we prove that if $T$ is a Calderón-Zygmund operator bounded on $L^2(\mu)$, then its maximal operator is bounded on $L^p(\mu)$ for all $p\in (1, \infty)$ and from the space of all complex-valued Borel measures on ${\mathcal X}$ to $L^{1,\,\infty}(\mu)$. All these results generalize the corresponding results of Nazarov et al. on metric spaces with measures satisfying the so-called polynomial growth condition.

The regularity of solutions to optimal transportation problems has become a hot topic in current research. It is well known by now that the optimal measure may not be concentrated on the graph of a continuous mapping unless both the transportation cost and the masses transported satisfy very restrictive hypotheses (including sign conditions on the mixed fourth-order derivatives of the cost function). The purpose of this note is to show that in spite of this, the optimal measure is supported on a Lipschitz manifold, provided only that the cost is $C^{2}$ with non-singular mixed second derivative. We use this result to provide a simple proof that solutions to Monge's optimal transportation problem satisfy a change of variables equation almost everywhere.

In his last letter to Hardy, Ramanujan defined 17 functions $F(q)$, $|q|\lt 1$, which he called mock $\theta$-functions. He observed that as $q$ radially approaches any root of unity $\zeta$ at which $F(q)$ has an exponential singularity, there is a $\theta$-function $T_\zeta(q)$ with $F(q)-T_\zeta(q)=O(1)$. Since then, other functions have been found that possess this property. These functions are related to a function $H(x,q)$, where $x$ is usually $q^r$ or $e^{2\pi i r}$ for some rational number $r$. For this reason we refer to $H$ as a ``universal'' mock $\theta$-function. Modular transformations of $H$ give rise to the functions $K$, $K_1$, $K_2$. The functions $K$ and $K_1$ appear in Ramanujan's lost notebook. We prove various linear relations between these functions using Appell-Lerch sums (also called generalized Lambert series). Some relations (mock theta ``conjectures'') involving mock $\theta$-functions of even order and $H$ are listed.