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The thesis consists of four chapters. First chapter is introductory. In Chapter 2, we recall some basic facts from the singularity theory of algebraic varieties (see Section 2.2) and the theory of minimal models (see Section 2.3), which will be used throughout the rest of the thesis. We also make some conventions on the notions and notation used in the thesis (see Section 2.1). Each Chapter 3 and 4 starts with some preliminary results (see Sections 3.1 and 4.1, respectively). Each Chapter 3 and 4 ends with some corollaries and conclusive remarks (see Sections 3.7 and 4.4, respectively). In Chapter 3, we prove Theorem 1.2.7, providing the complete description of Halphen pencils on a smooth projective quartic threefold X in P4. Let M be such a pencil. Firstly, we show that M ⊂ | − nKX | for some n ∈ N, and the pair (X,1n M) is canonical but not terminal. Further, if the set of not terminal centers CS(X, 1 ) (see Remark 2.2.8) does not contain points, we show that n = 1 (see Section 3.2). Finally, if there is a point P ∈ CS(X, n M), in Section 3.1 we show first that a general M ∈ M has multiplicity 2n at P (cf. Example 1.2.3). After that, analyzing the shape of the Hessian of the equation of X at the point P , we prove that n = 2 and M coincides with the exceptional Halphen pencil from Example 1.2.6 (see Sections 3.3-3.6). In Chapter 4, we prove Theorem 1.2.11, which shows, in particular, that a general smooth K3 surfaces of type R is an anticanonical section of the Fano threefold X with canonical Gorenstein singularities and genus 36. In Section 4.2, we prove that X is unique up to an isomorphism and has a unique singular point, providing the geometric quotient construction of the moduli space F in Section 4.3 (cf. Remark 1.2.12). Finally, in Section 4.3 we prove that the forgetful map F −→ KR is generically surjective.

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In this thesis we study deformations of functions on singular varieties with a view toward Frobenius manifolds. <br /><br />Chapter 2 is mainly introductory. We prove standard results in deformation theory for which we do not know a suitable reference. We also give a construction of the miniversal deformation of a function on a singular space that to the best of our knowledge does not appear in this form in literature. <br /><br />In Chapter 3 we find a sufficient condition for the dimension of the base space of the miniversal deformation to be equal to the number of critical points into which the original singularity splits. We show that it holds for functions on smoothable and unobstructed curves and for function on isolated complete intersections singularities, unifying under the same argument previously known results. <br /><br />In Chapter 4 we use the previous results to construct a multiplicative structure known as F -manifold on the base space of the miniversal deformation. We relate our construction to the theory of Frobenius manifolds by means of an example: mirrors of weighted projective lines.<br /><br />The appendix is joint work with D. Mond. We study unfolding of composed functions under a suitable deformation category. It also yields an F-manifold structure on the base space, which we use to answer some questions raised by V. Goryunov and V. Zakalyukin on the discriminant on matrix deformations.

In the early 70's Parshin introduced his notion of the multidimensional residues of meromorphic top-forms on algebraic varieties. Parshin's theory is a generalization of the classical one-dimensional residue theory. The main difference between the Parshin's definition and the one-dimensional case is that in higher dimensions one computes the residue not at a point but at a complete flag of irreducible subvarieties. Parshin, Beilinson, and Lomadze also proved the Reciprocity Law for residues: if one fixes all elements of the flag, except for one, and consider all possible choices of the missing element, then only finitely many of these choices give non-zero residues, and the sum of these residues is zero. Parshin's constructions are completely algebraic. In fact, they work in very general settings, not only over complex numbers. However, in the complex case one would expect a more geometric variant of the theory. In my thesis I study Parshin residues from the geometric point of view. In particular, the residue is expressed in terms of the integral over a smooth cycle. Parshin-Lomadze Reciprocity Law for residues in the complex case is proved via a homological relation on these cycles. The thesis consists of two parts. In the first part the theory of Leray coboundary operators for stratified spaces is developed. These operators are used to construct the cycle and prove the homological relation. In the second part resolution of singularities techniques are applied to study the local geometry near a complete flag of subvarieties.

In the early 70's Parshin introduced his notion of the multidimensional residues of meromorphic top-forms on algebraic varieties. Parshin's theory is a generalization of the classical one-dimensional residue theory. The main difference between the Parshin's definition and the one-dimensional case is that in higher dimensions one computes the residue not at a point but at a complete flag of irreducible subvarieties. Parshin, Beilinson, and Lomadze also proved the Reciprocity Law for residues: if one fixes all elements of the flag, except for one, and consider all possible choices of the missing element, then only finitely many of these choices give non-zero residues, and the sum of these residues is zero. Parshin's constructions are completely algebraic. In fact, they work in very general settings, not only over complex numbers. However, in the complex case one would expect a more geometric variant of the theory. In my thesis I study Parshin residues from the geometric point of view. In particular, the residue is expressed in terms of the integral over a smooth cycle. Parshin-Lomadze Reciprocity Law for residues in the complex case is proved via a homological relation on these cycles. The thesis consists of two parts. In the first part the theory of Leray coboundary operators for stratified spaces is developed. These operators are used to construct the cycle and prove the homological relation. In the second part resolution of singularities techniques are applied to study the local geometry near a complete flag of subvarieties.

This work aims to understand how cosmic inflation embeds into larger models of particle physics and string theory. Our work operates within a weakened version of the Landscape paradigm, wherein it is assumed that the set of possible Lagrangians is vast enough to admit the notion of a generic model. By focusing on slow-roll inflation, we examine the roles of both the scalar potential and the space of couplings which determine its precise form. In particular, we focus on the structural properties of the scalar potential, and find a surprising result: inflection point inflation emerges as an important —and under certain assumptions, dominant — possibility in the context of generic scalar potentials. We begin by a systematic coarse graining over the set of possible inflection point inflation models using V.I. Arnold’s ADE classification of singularities. Similar to du Val’s pioneering work on surface singularities, these determine structural classes for inflection point inflation which depened on a distinct number of control parameters. We consider both single and multifield inflation, and show how the various structural classes embed within each other. We also show how such control parameters influence the larger physical models in to which inflation is embedded. These techniques are then applied to both MSSM inflation and KKLT-type models of string cosmology. In the former case, we find that the scale of inflation can be entirely encoded within the super- potential of supersymmetric quantum field theories. We show how this relieves the fine-tuning required in such models by upwards of twelve orders of magnitude. Moreover, unnatural tuning between SUSY breaking and SUSY preserving sectors is eliminated without the explicit need for any hidden sector dynamics. In the later case, we discuss how structural stability vastly generalizes — and addresses — the Kallosh-Linde problem. Implications for the spectrum of SUSY breaking soft terms are then discussed, with an emphasis on how they may assist in constraining the inflationary scalar potential. We then pivot to a general discussion of the FLRW-scalar phase space, and show how inflection points induce caustics — or dynamical fixed points — amongst the space of possible trajectories. These fixed points are then used to argue that for uninformative priors on the space of couplings, the likelihood of inflection point inflation scales with the inverse cube of the number of e-foldings. We point out the geometric origin for the known ambiguity in the Liouville measure, and demonstrate of inflection point inflation ameliorates this problem. Finally we investigate the effect of the fixed point structure on the spectrum of density perturbations. We show how an anomaly in the Cosmic Mircowave Background data — low power at large scales — can be explained as a by product of the fixed point dynamics.

Let n > 1. We prove a homological stability theorem for the diffeomorphism groups of (4n+1)-dimensional manifolds, with respect to forming the connected sum with (2n-1)-connected, (4n+1)-dimensional manifolds that are stably parallelizable. Our techniques involve the study of the action of the diffeomorphism group of a manifold M on the linking form associated to the homology groups of M. In order to study this action we construct a geometric model for the linking form using the intersections of embedded and immersed Z/k-manifolds. In addition to our main homological stability theorem, we prove several results regarding disjunction for embeddings and immersions of Z/k-manifolds that could be of independent interest.

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The Landau-Ginzburg (LG) B-Model is a significant feature of singularity theory and mirror symmetry. Krawitz in 2010, guided by work of Kaufmann, provided an explicit construction for the LG B-model when using diagonal symmetries of a quasihomogeneous, nondegenerate polynomial. In this thesis we discuss aspects of how to generalize the LG B-model construction to allow for nondiagonal symmetries of a polynomial, and hence nonabelian symmetry groups. The construction is generalized to the level of graded vector space and the multiplication developed up to an unknown factor. We present complete examples of nonabelian LG B-models for the polynomials x^2y + y^3, x^3y + y^4, and x^3 + y^3 + z^3 + w^2.