For an odd-dimensional oriented hyperbolic manifold with cusps and strongly acyclic coefficient systems, we define the Reidemeister torsion of the Borel–Serre compactification of the manifold using bases of cohomology classes defined via Eisenstein series by the method of Harder. In the main result of this paper we relate this combinatorial torsion to the regularized analytic torsion. Together with results on the asymptotic behaviour of the regularized analytic torsion, established previously, this should have applications to study the growth of torsion in the cohomology of arithmetic groups. Our main result is established via a gluing formula, and here our approach is heavily inspired by a recent paper of Lesch.

In this paper, we define and study strong right-invariant sub-Riemannian structures on the group of diffeomorphisms of a manifold with bounded geometry. We derive the Hamiltonian geodesic equations for such structures, and we provide examples of normal and of abnormal geodesics in that infinite-dimensional context. The momentum formulation gives a sub-Riemannian version of the Euler–Arnol’d equation. Finally, we establish some approximate and exact reachability properties for diffeomorphisms, and we give some consequences for Moser theorems.

We consider the semiclassical Schrödinger equation on a compact negatively curved surface. For any sequence of initial data microlocalized on the unit cotangent bundle, we look at the quantum evolution (below the Ehrenfest time) under small perturbations of the Schrödinger equation, and we prove that, in the semiclassical limit, and for typical perturbations, the solutions become equidistributed on the unit cotangent bundle.

Suppose that $(X,\unicode[STIX]{x1D714})$ is a compact Kähler manifold. In the present work we propose a construction for weak geodesic rays in the space of Kähler potentials that is tied together with properties of the class ${\mathcal{E}}(X,\unicode[STIX]{x1D714})$. As an application of our construction, we prove a characterization of ${\mathcal{E}}(X,\unicode[STIX]{x1D714})$ in terms of envelopes.

Classically, an indecomposable class $R$ in the cone of effective curves on a K3 surface $X$ is representable by a smooth rational curve if and only if $R^{2}=-2$. We prove a higher-dimensional generalization conjectured by Hassett and Tschinkel: for a holomorphic symplectic variety $M$ deformation equivalent to a Hilbert scheme of $n$ points on a K3 surface, an extremal curve class $R\in H_{2}(M,\mathbb{Z})$ in the Mori cone is the line in a Lagrangian $n$-plane $\mathbb{P}^{n}\subset M$ if and only if certain intersection-theoretic criteria are met. In particular, any such class satisfies $(R,R)=-\frac{n+3}{2}$, and the primitive such classes are all contained in a single monodromy orbit.

In this note, we prove that the Drinfeld–Grinberg–Kazhdan theorem on the structure of formal neighborhoods of arc schemes at a nonsingular arc does not extend to the case of singular arcs.

Let $G$ be a reductive algebraic group over an algebraically closed field of positive characteristic, $G_{1}$ the Frobenius kernel of $G$, and $T$ a maximal torus of $G$. We show that the parabolically induced $G_{1}T$-Verma modules of singular highest weights are all rigid, determine their Loewy length, and describe their Loewy structure using the periodic Kazhdan–Lusztig $P$- and $Q$-polynomials. We assume that the characteristic of the field is sufficiently large that, in particular, Lusztig’s conjecture for the irreducible $G_{1}T$-characters holds.