The Almgren-Pitts min-max theory is a Morse theoretical
type variational theory aiming at constructing unstable minimal
surfaces in a closed Riemannian manifold. In this talk, we will
survey recent progress along this direction. First, we will discuss
the understanding of the geometry of the classical Almgren-Pitts
min-max minimal surface with a focus on the Morse index problem.
Second, we will give an application of our results to quantitative
topology and metric geometry. Next, we will introduce the study of
the Morse indices for more general min-max minimal surfaces arising
from multi-parameter min-max constructions. Finally, we will
introduce a new min-max theory in the Gaussian probability space and
its application to the entropy conjecture in mean curvature flow.