We present a solution to the conjugacy problem in the group of outer automorphisms of $F_3$, a free group of rank 3. We distinguish according to several computable invariants, such as irreducibility, subgroups of polynomial growth and subgroups carrying the attracting lamination. We establish, by considerations on train tracks, that the conjugacy problem is decidable for the outer automorphisms of $F_3$ that preserve a given rank 2 free factor. Then we establish, by consideration on mapping tori, that it is decidable for outer automorphisms of $F_3$ whose maximal polynomial growth subgroups are cyclic. This covers all the cases left by the state of the art.

We prove a strong quantitative version of the Kurosh Problem, which has been conjectured by Zelmanov, up to a mild polynomial error factor, thereby extending all previously known growth rates of algebraic algebras. Consequently, we provide the first counterexamples to the Kurosh Problem over any field with known subexponential growth, and the first examples of finitely generated, infinite-dimensional, nil Lie algebras with known subexponential growth over fields of characteristic zero.

We also widen the known spectrum of the Gel’fand–Kirillov dimensions of algebraic algebras, improving the answer of Alahmadi–Alsulami–Jain–Zelmanov to a question of Bell, Smoktunowicz, Small and Young. Finally, we prove improved analogous results for graded-nil algebras.

Let G be a connected reductive group over an algebraically closed field k, and let $\operatorname {Fl}$ be the affine flag variety of G. For every regular semisimple element $\gamma $ of $G(k((t)))$, the affine Springer fiber $\operatorname {Fl}_\gamma $ can be presented as a union of closed subvarieties $\operatorname {Fl}^{\leq w}_{\gamma }$, defined as the intersection of $\operatorname {Fl}_{\gamma }$ with an affine Schubert variety $\operatorname {Fl}^{\leq w}$.

The main result of this paper asserts that if elements $w_1,\ldots ,w_n$ are sufficiently regular, then the natural map $H_i(\bigcup _{j=1}^n \operatorname {Fl}^{\leq w_j}_{\gamma })\to H_i(\operatorname {Fl}_{\gamma })$ is injective for every $i\in \mathbb Z$. It plays an important role in our work [BV], where our result is used to construct good filtrations of $H_i(\operatorname {Fl}_{\gamma })$. Along the way, we also show that every affine Schubert variety can be written as an intersection of closures of semi-infinite orbits.

Dale Peterson has discovered a surprising result that the quantum cohomology ring of the flag variety $\operatorname {\mathrm {GL}}_n({\mathbb {C}})/B$ is isomorphic to the coordinate ring of the intersection of the Peterson variety $\operatorname {\mathrm {Pet}}_n$ and the opposite Schubert cell associated with the identity element $\Omega _e^\circ $ in $\operatorname {\mathrm {GL}}_n({\mathbb {C}})/B$. This is an unpublished result, so papers of Kostant and Rietsch are referred for this result. An explicit presentation of the quantum cohomology ring of $\operatorname {\mathrm {GL}}_n({\mathbb {C}})/B$ is given by Ciocan–Fontanine and Givental–Kim. In this paper, we introduce further quantizations of their presentation so that they reflect the coordinate rings of the intersections of regular nilpotent Hessenberg varieties $\operatorname {\mathrm {Hess}}(N,h)$ and $\Omega _e^\circ $ in $\operatorname {\mathrm {GL}}_n({\mathbb {C}})/B$. In other words, we generalize the Peterson’s statement to regular nilpotent Hessenberg varieties via the presentation given by Ciocan–Fontanine and Givental–Kim. As an application of our theorem, we show that the singular locus of the intersection of some regular nilpotent Hessenberg variety $\operatorname {\mathrm {Hess}}(N,h_m)$ and $\Omega _e^\circ $ is the intersection of certain Schubert variety and $\Omega _e^\circ $, where $h_m=(m,n,\ldots ,n)$ for $1<m<n$. We also see that $\operatorname {\mathrm {Hess}}(N,h_2) \cap \Omega _e^\circ $ is related with the cyclic quotient singularity.

We study deformation theory of mod p Galois representations of p-adic fields with values in generalised tori, such as L-groups of (possibly non-split) tori. We show that the corresponding deformation rings are formally smooth over a group algebra of a finite abelian p-group. We compute their dimension and the set of irreducible components.

We give an explicit raising operator formula for the modified Macdonald polynomials $\tilde {H}_{\mu }(X;q,t)$, which follows from our recent formula for $\nabla $ on an LLT polynomial and the Haglund-Haiman-Loehr formula expressing modified Macdonald polynomials as sums of LLT polynomials. Our method just as easily yields a formula for a family of symmetric functions $\tilde {H}^{1,n}(X;q,t)$ that we call $1,n$-Macdonald polynomials, which reduce to a scalar multiple of $\tilde {H}_{\mu }(X;q,t)$ when $n=1$. We conjecture that the coefficients of $1,n$-Macdonald polynomials in terms of Schur functions belong to ${\mathbb N}[q,t]$, generalizing Macdonald positivity.

Let ${ F}/{ F}_0$ be a quadratic extension of non-Archimedean locally compact fields of residual characteristic $p\neq 2$ with Galois automorphism $\sigma $, and let R be an algebraically closed field of characteristic $\ell \notin \{0,p\}$. We reduce the classification of $\operatorname {GL}_n({ F}_0)$-distinguished cuspidal R-representations of $\operatorname {GL}_n({ F})$ to the level $0$ setting. Moreover, under a parity condition, we give necessary conditions for a $\sigma $-self-dual cuspidal R-representation to be distinguished. Finally, we classify the distinguished cuspidal ${\overline {\mathbb {F}}_{\ell }}$-representations of $\operatorname {GL}_n({ F})$ having a distinguished cuspidal lift to ${\overline {\mathbb {Q}}_\ell }$.