The main purpose of this work is to study and apply generalized contact distributions of (inhomogeneous) Boolean models Z with values in the extended convex ring. Given a convex body L ⊂ ℝd and a gauge body B ⊂ ℝd , such a generalized contact distribution is the conditional distribution of the random vector (d B (L,Z),u B (L,Z),p B (L,Z),l B (L,Z)) given that Z∩L = ∅, where Z is a Boolean model, d B (L,Z) is the distance of L from Z with respect to B, p B (L,Z) is the boundary point in L realizing this distance (if it exists uniquely), u B (L,Z) is the corresponding boundary point of B (if it exists uniquely) and l B (L,·) may be taken from a large class of locally defined functionals. In particular, we pursue the question of the extent to which the spatial density and the grain distribution underlying an inhomogeneous Boolean model Z are determined by the generalized contact distributions of Z.

A pseudo-Riemannian manifold is said to be timelike (spacelike) Osserman if the Jordan form of the Jacobi operator Kx is independent of the particular unit timelike (spacelike) tangent vector X. The first main result is that timelike (spacelike) Osserman manifold (M, g) of signature (2, 2) with the diagonalizable Jacobi operator is either locally rank-one symmetric or flat. In the nondiagonalizable case the characteristic polynomial of Kx has to have a triple zero, which is the other main result. An important step in the proof is based on Walker's study of pseudo-Riemannian manifolds admitting parallel totally isotropic distributions. Also some interesting additional geometric properties of Osserman type manifolds are established. For the nondiagonalizable Jacobi operators some of the examples show a nature of the Osserman condition for Riemannian manifolds different from that of pseudo-Riemannian manifolds.

Let Mn, n ≥ 3, be a complete oriented minimal hypersurface in Euclidean space Rn+1. It is shown that, if the total scalar curvature on M is less than the n/2 power of 1/2Cs, where Cs is the Sobolev constant for M, and the square norm of the second fundamental form is a L2 function, then M is a hyperplane.

In this paper we construct a family of variational families for a Legendrian embedding, into the 1-jet bundle of a closed manifold, that can be obtained from the zero section through Legendrian embdeddings, by discretising the action functional. We compute the second variation of a generating funciton obtained as above at a nondegenerate critical point and prove a formula relating the signature of the second variation to the Maslov index as the mesh goes to zero. We use this to prove a generlisation of the Morse inequalities thus refining a theorem of Chekanov.

In this paper we prove a uniqueness theorem for minimal discs in R3 spanning a polygonal boundary.

Useful approximations have been developed along the years to predict the precision of systematic sampling for measurable functions of a bounded support in ℝd . Recently, the theory of systematic sampling on ℝ has received a thrust. In geometric sampling, design based unbiased estimators exist, however, which imply systematic sampling on the circle (𝕊1) and the semicircle (ℍ1); the planimeter estimator of an area, or the Buffon-Steinhaus estimator of curve length in the plane constitute popular examples. Over the last two decades, many other estimators of geometric measures have been obtained which imply systematic sampling also on the sphere (𝕊2). In this paper we adapt the theory available for non-periodic functions of bounded support on ℝ to periodic functions, and thereby to 𝕊1 and ℍ1, and we obtain new estimators of the corresponding variance approximations. Further we consider - we believe for the first time - the problem of predicting the precision of systematic sampling in 𝕊2. The paper starts with a historical perspective, and ends with suggestions for further research.

This paper investigates complete space-like submainfold with parallel mean curvature vector in the de Sitter space. Some pinching theorems on square of the norm of the second fundamental form are given

In this work we study the behaviour of compact, smooth, orientable, spacelike hypersurfaces without boundary, which are immersed in cosmological spacetimes and move under the inverse mean curvature flow. We prove longtime existence and regularity of a solution to the corresponding nonlinear parabolic system of partial differential equations.

Let M, N be Riemannian manifolds, f: M → N a harmonic map with potential H, namely, a smooth critical point of the functional EH(f) = ∫M[e(f)−H(f)], where e(f) is the energy density of f. Some results concerning the stability of these maps between spheres and any Riemannian manifold are given. For a general class of M, this paper also gives a result on the constant boundary-value problem which generalizes the result of Karcher-Wood even in the case of the usual harmonic maps. It can also be applied to the static Landau-Lifshitz equations.

We prove that a compact orientable Einstein-Thorpe manifold of dimension 8 that satisfies 6X = |P2| must be flat.

In this paper, isotropic random projections of d-sets in ℝn are studied, where a d-set is a subset of a d-dimensional affine subspace which satisfies certain regularity conditions. The squared volume reduction induced by the projection of a d-set onto an isotropic random p-subspace is shown to be distributed as a product of independent beta-distributed random variables, for d ≤ p. One of the proofs of this result uses Wilks' lambda distribution from multivariate normal theory. The result is related to Cauchy's and Crofton's formulae in stochastic geometry. In particular, it can be used to give a new and quite simple proof of one of the classical Crofton intersection formulae.

A multisymplectic structure on a manifold is defined by a closed differential form with zero characteristic distribution. Starting from the linear case, some of the basic properties of multisymplectic structures are described. Various examples of multisymplectic manifolds are considered, and special attention is paid to the canonical multisymplectic structure living on a bundle of exterior k-forms on a manifold. For a class of multisymplectic manifolds admitting a ‘Lagrangian’ fibration, a general structure theorem is given which, in particular, leads to a classification of these manifolds in terms of a prescribed family of cohomology classes.

We characterize four-dimensional generalized complex forms and construct an Einstein and weakly *-Einstein Hermitian manifold with pointwise constant holomorphic sectional curvature which is not globally constant.

The following Bernstein-type theorem in hyperbolic spaces is proved. Let ∑ be a non-zero constant mean curvature complete hypersurface in the hyperbolic space ℍn. Suppose that there exists a one-to-one orthogonal projection from ∑ into a horosphere. (1) If the projection is surjective, then ∑ is a horosphere. (2) If the projection is not surjective and its image is simply connected, then ∑ is a hypersphere.

Techniques currently available in the literature in dealing with problems in geometric probabilities seem to rely heavily on results from differential and integral geometry. This paper provides a radical departure in this respect. By using purely algebraic procedures and making use of some properties of Jacobians of matrix transformations and functions of matrix argument, the distributional aspects of the random p-content of a p-parallelotope in Euclidean n-space are studied. The common assumptions of independence and rotational invariance of the random points are relaxed and the exact distributions and arbitrary moments, not just integer moments, are derived in this article. General real matrix-variate families of distributions, whose special cases include the mulivariate Gaussian, a multivariate type-1 beta, a multivariate type-2 beta and spherically symmetric distributions, are considered.

In this paper we describe the moduli spaces of degree d branched superminimal immersions of a compact Riemann surface of genus g into S4. We prove that when d ≥ max {2g, g + 2}, such spaces have the structure of projectivzed fibre products and are path-connected quasi projective varieties of dimension 2d − g + 4. This generalizes known results for spaces of harmonic 2-spheres in S4.

In design stereology, and in the context of geometric sampling in general, the problem often arises of estimating the integral of a bounded non-random function over a bounded manifold D ⊂ ℝn by systematic sampling with geometric probes. Variance predictors, often based on Matheron's theory of regionalized variables, are available when the relevant function is sampled at the points of a grid intersecting D, but not when the dimension of the probes is greater than zero. For instance, the volume of a bounded object may be estimated using parallel systematic planes, which amounts to sampling on ℝ1 with systematic points, or using parallel systematic slabs of thickness t > 0, which amounts to sampling on ℝ1 with non-overlapping systematic segments of length t > 0. Useful variance predictors exist for the former case, but not for the latter. In this paper we set out a general scheme to predict estimation variances when the dimension of either D, or of the probes, is n. We make some progress when both dimensions are equal to n, and obtain explicit results for n = 1 (e.g. for systematic slice sampling). We check and illustrate our results for the volume estimators of ellipsoids and of rat lung.

Recently, Chen defined an invariant δM of a Riemannian manifold M. Sharp inequalities for this Riemannian invariant were obtained for submanifolds in real, complex and Sasakian space forms, in terms of their mean curvature. In the present paper, we investigate certain C-totally real submanifolds of a Sasakian space form M2m+1(C)satisfying Chen's equality.

The problem of finding a george joinning given points x0, x1 in a connected complete Riemannian manifold requires much more effort than determining a geodesic from initial data. Boundary value problems of this type are sometimes solved using shooting methods, which work best when good initial guesses are available expectually when x0, x1 are nearby. Galerkin methods have their drawbacks too. The situation is much more difficult with general variational problems, which is why we focus on the Riemannian case.

Our global algorithm is very simple to implement, and works well in practice, with no need for an initial guess. The proof of convergence to elementary and very carefully stated. with a view to possible generalizations latter on we have in mind the much larger class of interesting problems arising in optimal control especially from mechanical engineering.

We introduce a new homology theory for infinite graphs in order to generalize some results of Willis and Woodward on translation invariant functionals. We also extend some theorems of Gerl and Gromov.