We construct commuting families in fraction fields of symmetric powers of algebras. The classical limit of this construction gives Poisson commuting families associated with linear systems. In the case of a $K3$-surface $S$, they correspond to Lagrangian fibrations introduced by A. Beauville. When $S$ is the canonical cone of an algebraic curve $C$, we construct commuting families of differential operators on symmetric powers of $C$, quantizing the Beauville systems.

The product of two Schubert cohomology classes on a Grassmannian ${\rm Gr}_k (\mathbb{c}^n)$ has long been known to be a positive combination of other Schubert classes, and many manifestly positive formulae are now available for computing such a product (e.g., the Littlewood-Richardson rule or the more symmetric puzzle rule from A. Knutson, T. Tao, and C. Woodward [KTW]). Recently, W.~Graham showed in [G], nonconstructively, that a similar positivity statement holds for {\em $T$-equivariant} cohomology (where the coefficients are polynomials). We give the first manifestly positive formula for these coefficients in terms of puzzles using an ``equivariant puzzle piece.''

The proof of the formula is mostly combinatorial but requires no prior combinatorics and only a modicum of equivariant cohomology (which we include). As a by-product the argument gives a new proof of the puzzle (or Littlewood-Richardson) rule in the ordinary-cohomology case, but this proof requires the equivariant generalization in an essential way, as it inducts backwards from the ``most equivariant'' case.

This formula is closely related to the one in A. Molev and B. Sagan [MS] for multiplying factorial Schur functions in three sets of variables, although their rule does not give a positive formula in the sense of [G]. We include a cohomological interpretation of their problem and a puzzle formulation for it.

The geometric and arithmetic properties of a smooth algebraic variety $X$ are reflected by the configuration of its subvarieties. A principal invariant of these are the Chow groups $\CH^p(X)$, defined to be the group of codimension-$p$ algebraic cycles modulo rational equivalence. For $p=1$ these groups are classical and well understood. For $p\dgeqq 2$ they are nonclassical in character and constitute a major area of study. In particular, it is generally difficult to decide whether a given higher codimension cycle is or is not rationally equivalent to zero. In their study of the moduli spaces of algebraic curves, C. Faber and R. Pandharipande introduced a canonical $0$-cycle $z_K$ on the product $X=Y\times Y$ of a curve $Y$ with itself. This cycle is of degree zero and Albanese equivalent to zero, and they asked whether or not it is rationally equivalent to zero. This is trivially the case when the genus $g=0,1,2$, and they proved that this is true when $g=3$. It is also the case when $Y$ is hyperelliptic or, conjecturally, when it is defined over a number field. We show that $z_K$ is not rationally equivalent when $Y$ is general and $g\dgeqq 4$. The proof is variational, and for it we introduce a new computational method using Shiffer variations. The condition $g\dgeqq 4$ enters via the property that the tangent lines to the canonical curve at two general points must intersect.

We develop a theory of motivic integration for smooth rigid varieties. As an application we obtain a motivic analogue for rigid varieties of Serre's invariant for $p$-adic varieties. Our construction provides new geometric birational invariants of degenerations of algebraic varieties. For degenerations of Calabi-Yau varieties, our results take a stronger form.

On any surface we give an example of a metric that contains simple closed geodesics with arbitrarily high Morse index. Similarly, on any $3$-manifold we give an example of a metric that contains embedded minimal tori with arbitrarily high Morse index. Previously, no such examples were known. We also discuss whether or not such bounds should hold for a generic metric and why bumpy does not seem to be the right generic notion. Finally, we mention briefly what such bounds might be used for.ADDHERE

Let $G$ be a real algebraic group defined over $\mathbb{Q}$, let $\Gamma$ be an arithmetic subgroup, and let $T$ be any torus containing a maximal $\mathbb{R}$-split torus. We prove that the closed orbits for the action of $T$ on $G/\Gamma$ admit a simple algebraic description. In particular, we show that if $G$ is reductive, an orbit $Tx\Gamma$ is closed if and only if $x^{-1}Tx$ is a product of a compact torus and a torus defined over $\mathbb{Q}$, and it is divergent if and only if the maximal $\mathbb{R}$-split subtorus of $x^{-1}Tx$ is defined over $\mathbb{Q}$ and $\mathbb{Q}$-split. Our analysis also yields the following:

· there is a compact $K \subset G/\Gamma$ which intersects every $T$-orbit;

· if $\rank_{\mathbb{Q}}G<\rank_{\mathbb{R}} G$, there are no divergent orbits for $T$.