We consider the two-dimensional water wave problem in the case where the free interface of the fluid meets a vertical wall at a possibly non-trivial angle; our problem also covers interfaces with angled crests. We assume that the fluid is inviscid, incompressible, and irrotational, with no surface tension and with air density zero. We construct a low-regularity energy and prove a closed energy estimate for this problem, and we show that the two-dimensional water wave problem is solvable locally in time in this framework. Our work differs from earlier work in that, in our case, only a degenerate Taylor stability criterion holds, with $-\frac{\partial P}{\partial \bold{n}} \ge 0$, instead of the strong Taylor stability criterion $-\frac{\partial P}{\partial \bold{n}} \ge c > 0$. This work is partially joint with Rafe Kinsey.

The eigenvalues of the Laplacian encode fundamental
geometric information about a Riemannian metric. As an
example of their importance, I will discuss how they
arose in work of Cao, Hamilton and Illmanan, together
with joint work with Stuart Hall,  concerning stability
of Einstein manifolds and Ricci solitons. I will outline
progress on these problems for Einstein metrics with
large symmetry groups. We calculate bounds on the first
non-zero eigenvalue for certain Hermitian-Einstein four
manifolds. Similar ideas allow us estimate to the
spectral gap (the distance between the first and second
non-zero eigenvalues) for any toric Kaehler-Einstein manifold M in
terms of the polytope associated to M. I will finish by
discussing a numerical proof of the instability of the
Chen-LeBrun-Weber metric.

We show that for an immersed two-sided minimal surface in R^3,
there is a lower bound on the index depending on the genus and number of
ends. Using this, we show the nonexistence of an embedded minimal surface
in R^3 of index 2, as conjectured by Choe. Moreover, we show that the
index of an immersed two-sided minimal surface with embedded ends is
bounded from above and below by a linear function of the total curvature
of the surface. (This is joint work with Otis Chodosh)

Closed quasi-Fuchsian subsurfaces of closed hyperbolic
3-manifolds constructed by J. Kahn and V. Markovic have played a crucial
role in the recent proof of the Virtual Haken Conjecture. In this talk, we
will investigate the techniques and construct homologically interesting
possibly bounded quasi-Fuchsian subsurfaces in closed hyperbolic
3-manifolds. We will focus on extending the geometric and topological
aspects from work of Kahn-Markovic, and will discuss further questions.
This is joint work with Vladimir Markovic.

This will be the first of a two lecture series describing the basic mathematics behind fixed income securities.