In this thesis we examine singularities of surfaces and affine Schubert varieties in the affine Grassmannian $mathcal{G}/mathcal{P}$ of type $A^{(1)}$, by considering the action of a particular torus $widehat{T}$ on $mathcal{G}/mathcal{P}$. Let $Sigma$ be an irreducible $widehat{T}$-stable surface in $mathcal{G}/mathcal{P}$ and let $u$ be an attractive $widehat{T}$-fixed point with $widehat{T}$-stable affine neighborhood $Sigma_u$. We give a description of the $widehat{T}$-weights of the tangent space $T_u(Sigma)$ of $Sigma$ at $u$, give some conditions under which $Sigma$ is nonsingular at $u$, and provide some explicit criteria for $Sigma_u$ to be normal in terms of the weights of $T_u(Sigma)$. We will also prove a conjecture regarding the singular locus of an affine Schubert variety in $mathcal{G}/mathcal{P}$. / Mathematics

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