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From fundamental forms to curvatures and geodesics, differential geometry has many special theorems and applications worth examining. Among these, the Gauss-Bonnet Theorem is one of the well-known theorems in classical differential geometry. It links geometrical and topological properties of a surface. The thesis introduced some basic concepts in differential geometry, explained them with examples, analyzed the Gauss-Bonnet Theorem and presented the proof of the theorem in greater detail. The thesis also considered applications of the Gauss-Bonnet theorem to some special surfaces.

This thesis presents an overview of some approaches to compute Gaussian and mean curvature on discrete surfaces and discusses discrete minimal surfaces. The variety of applications of differential geometry in visualization and shape design leads to great interest in studying discrete surfaces. With the rich smooth surface theory in hand, one would hope that this elegant theory can still be applied to the discrete counter part. Such a generalization, however, is not always successful. While discrete surfaces have the advantage of being finite dimensional, thus easier to treat, their geometric properties such as curvatures are not well defined in the classical sense. Furthermore, the powerful calculus tool can hardly be applied. The methods in this thesis, including angular defect formula, cotangent formula, parallel meshes, relative geometry etc. are approaches based on offset meshes or generalized offset meshes. As an important application, we discuss discrete minimal surfaces and discrete Koenigs meshes.

Discrete Differential Geometry (DDG) concerns discrete counterparts of notions and methods in differential geometry. This thesis deals with a core subject in DDG, discrete curvature theories on various types of polyhedral surfaces that are practically important for free-form architecture, sunlight-redirecting shading systems, and face recognition. Modeled as polyhedral surfaces, the shapes of free-form structures may have to satisfy different geometric or physical constraints. We study a combination of geometry and physics – the discrete surfaces that can stand on their own, as well as having proper shapes for the manufacture. These proper shapes, known as circular and conical meshes, are closely related to discrete principal curvatures. We study curvature theories that make such surfaces possible. Shading systems of freeform building skins are new types of energy-saving structures that can re-direct the sunlight. From these systems, discrete line congruences across polyhedral surfaces can be abstracted. We develop a new curvature theory for polyhedral surfaces equipped with normal congruences – a particular type of congruences defined by linear interpolation of vertex normals. The main results are a discussion of various definitions of normality, a detailed study of the geometry of such congruences, and a concept of curvatures and shape operators associated with the faces of a triangle mesh. These curvatures are compatible with both normal congruences and the Steiner formula. In addition to architecture, we consider the role of discrete curvatures in face recognition. We use geometric measure theory to introduce the notion of asymptotic cones associated with a singular subspace of a Riemannian manifold, which is an extension of the classical notion of asymptotic directions. We get a simple expression of these cones for polyhedral surfaces, as well as convergence and approximation theorems. We use the asymptotic cones as facial descriptors and demonstrate the practicability and accuracy of their applications in face recognition.

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<p>This dissertation concerns the construction of some examples of complex algebraic varieties giving insight into certain questions in Hodge theory. </p>

<p>See abstract. </p>

Let f_1, f_2 be univalent harmonic mappings of some planar domain D into the complex plane C. This thesis contains results concerning conditions under which the convolution f_1 ∗ f_2 or the convex combination tf_1 + (1 − t)f_2 is univalent. This is a long-standing problem, and I provide several partial solutions. I also include applications to minimal surfaces.

<p>A Hodge module on an algebraic variety may be viewed as a variation of Hodge structure  with singularities. Given an irreducible variety $X$, for any polarized variation of Hodge structure $\bold{H}$ on a smooth open subvariety $U\subset X,$ there exists a unique Hodge module $\cM \in HM_{X}(X)$ that extends $\bH.$ Conversely, for any Hodge module $\cM \in HM_{X}(X)$ with strict support on $X,$ there exists a polarized variation of Hodge structure $\bH$ on a smooth open subset $U \subset X$ such that $\cM \vert _{V} \cong \bH.$ In this thesis, we first study the singularities of a Hodge module $\cM \in HM_{X}(X)$ by using Morihiko Saito's theory of $S$-sheaves and duality. Then using local cohomology and the theory of mixed Hodge modules, we study the Hodge structure of $H^{i}(X, DR(\cM))$  when $X$ is a projective variety. Finally, we consider a variation of Hodge structure $\bH$ on $U$ as a Hodge module $\cN \in HM(U)$ on $U,$ and study the local cohomology of the complex $Gr^{F}_{p}DR(j_{!}\cN) \in D^{b}_{coh}(\cO_{X}),$ where $j: U \hookrightarrow X$ is the natural map.</p>

The Grassmannian space GC(2, 4) embedded in CP5 as the Klein quadric of twistor theory has a natural interpretation in terms of the geometry of “round” 2-spheres in S4. The incidence of two lines in CP3 corresponds to the contact properties of two 2- spheres, where contact is generalized from tangency to include “half-tangency:” 2-spheres may be in contact at two isolated points. There is a connection between the contact properties of 2-spheres and soliton geometry through the classical Ribaucour and Darboux transformations. The transformation theory of surfaces in S4 is investigated using the recently developed theory of “Discrete Differential Geometry” with results leading to the conclusion that the discrete conformal maps into C of Hertrich-Jeromin, McIntosh, Norman and Pedit may be defined in terms a discrete integrable system employing halftangency in S4.