Eigenvalue interlacing is a tremendously useful tool in linear algebra and spectral analysis. In its simplest form, the interlacing inequality states that a rank-one positive perturbation shifts the eigenvalue up, but not further than the next unperturbed eigenvalue. For different types of perturbations, this idea is known as the "Weyl interlacing" (additive perturbations), "Cauchy interlacing" (for principal submatrices of Hermitian matrices), "Dirichlet-Neumann bracketing" and so on.

We discuss the extension of this idea to general "perturbations in boundary conditions", encoded as interlacing between eigenvalues of two self-adjoint extensions of a fixed symmetric operator with finite (and equal) defect numbers. In this context, even the terms such as "signature of the perturbation" are not immediately clear, since one cannot take the difference of two operators with different domains. However, it turns out that definitive answers can be obtained, and they are expressed most concisely in terms of the Duistermaat index, an integer-valued topological invariant describing the relative position of three Lagrangian planes in a symplectic space. Two of the Lagrangian planes describe the two self-adjoint extensions being compared, while the third one corresponds to the distinguished Friedrichs extension.

We will illustrate our general results with simple examples, avoiding technicalities as much as possible and giving intuitive explanations of the Duistermaat index, the rank and signature of the perturbation in the self-adjoint extension, and the curious role of the third extension (Friedrichs) appearing in the answers.

Based on a work in progress with Graham Cox, Yuri Latushkin and Selim Sukhtaiev.

Considering finite particle systems, we elaborate on various ways to pass to the limit as the number of agents tends to infinity, either by mean field limit, deriving the Vlasov equation, or by hydrodynamic or graph limit, obtaining the Euler equation. We provide convergence estimates. We also show how to pass from Liouville to Vlasov or to Euler by taking adequate moments. Our results encompass and generalize a number of known results of the literature.

As a surprising consequence of our analysis, we show that sufficiently regular solutions of any quasilinear PDE can be approximated by solutions of systems of N particles, to within 1/log(log(N)).

This is a work with Thierry Paul.

After reviewing briefly the classical theory of harmonic maps between smooth manifolds, I will describe some recent results related to harmonic maps with free boundary, emphasizing on two different approaches based on recent developments by Da Lio and Riviere. This latter approach allows in particular to give another formulation which is well-suited for such maps between singular spaces. After the works of Gromov, Korevaar and Schoen, harmonic maps between singular spaces have been instrumental to investigate super-rigidity in geometry. I will report on recent results where we introduce a new energy between singular spaces and prove a version of Takahashi’s theorem (related to minimal immersions by eigenfunctions) on RCD spaces.