Weighted discrete hypergroups

Weighted group algebras have been studied extensively in Abstract Harmonic Analysis where complete characterizations have been found for some important properties of weighted group algebras, namely amenability and Arens regularity. One of the generalizations of weighted group algebras is weighted hypergroup algebras. Defining weighted hypergroups, analogous to weighted groups, we study Arens regularity and isomorphism to operator algebras for them. We also examine our results on three classes of discrete weighted hypergroups constructed by conjugacy classes of FC groups, the dual space of compact groups, and hypergroup structure defined by orthogonal polynomials. We observe some unexpected examples regarding Arens regularity and operator isomorphisms of weighted hypergroup algebras.Comment: 27 pages. This version is shorter but still covers all the main results of the previous on

Linearization of Poisson actions and singular values of matrix products

We prove that the linearization functor from the category of Hamiltonian K-actions with group-valued moment maps in the sense of Lu, to the category of ordinary Hamiltonian K-actions, preserves products up to symplectic isomorphism. As an application, we give a new proof of the Thompson conjecture on singular values of matrix products and extend this result to the case of real matrices. We give a formula for the Liouville volume of these spaces and obtain from it a hyperbolic version of the Duflo isomorphism.Comment: 20 page

Desingularizing isolated conical singularities: Uniform estimates via weighted Sobolev spaces

We define a very general "parametric connect sum" construction which can be used to eliminate isolated conical singularities of Riemannian manifolds. We then show that various important analytic and elliptic estimates, formulated in terms of weighted Sobolev spaces, can be obtained independently of the parameters used in the construction. Specifically, we prove uniform estimates related to (i) Sobolev Embedding Theorems, (ii) the invertibility of the Laplace operator and (iii) Poincare' and Gagliardo-Nirenberg-Sobolev type inequalities. Our main tools are the well-known theories of weighted Sobolev spaces and elliptic operators on "conifolds". We provide an overview of both, together with an extension of the former to general Riemannian manifolds. For a geometric application of our results we refer the reader to our paper "Special Lagrangian conifolds, II: Gluing constructions in C^m".Comment: Minor changes, improved presentation. Final version. To appear in CA

Special Lagrangian conifolds, II: Gluing constructions in C^m

We prove two gluing theorems for special Lagrangian (SL) conifolds in complex space C^m. Conifolds are a key ingredient in the compactification problem for moduli spaces of compact SLs in Calabi-Yau manifolds. In particular, our theorems yield the first examples of smooth SL conifolds with 3 or more planar ends and the first (non-trivial) examples of SL conifolds which have a conical singularity but are not, globally, cones. We also obtain: (i) a desingularization procedure for transverse intersection and self-intersection points, using "Lawlor necks"; (ii) a construction which completely desingularizes any SL conifold by replacing isolated conical singularities with non-compact asymptotically conical (AC) ends; (iii) a proof that there is no upper bound on the number of AC ends of a SL conifold; (iv) the possibility of replacing a given collection of conical singularities with a completely different collection of conical singularities and of AC ends. As a corollary of (i) we improve a result by Arezzo and Pacard concerning minimal desingularizations of certain configurations of SL planes in C^m, intersecting transversally.Comment: Several new results. Final version. To appear in Proc. LM

Higgs bundles and higher Teichm\"uller spaces

This paper is a survey on the role of Higgs bundle theory in the study of higher Teichm\"uller spaces. Recall that the Teichm\"uller space of a compact surface can be identified with a certain connected component of the moduli space of representations of the fundamental group of the surface into $\mathrm{PSL}(2,{\mathbb{R}})$. Higher Teichm\"uller spaces correspond to special components of the moduli space of representations when one replaces $\mathrm{PSL}(2,{\mathbb{R}})$ by a real non-compact semisimple Lie group of higher rank. Examples of these spaces are provided by the Hitchin components for split real groups, and maximal Toledo invariant components for groups of Hermitian type. More recently, the existence of such components has been proved for $\mathrm{SO}(p,q)$, in agreement with the conjecture of Guichard and Wienhard relating the existence of higher Teichm\"uller spaces to a certain notion of positivity on a Lie group that they have introduced. We review these three different situations, and end up explaining briefly the conjectural general picture from the point of view of Higgs bundle theory.Comment: arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:1511.0775