Real projective spaceIn mathematics, real projective space, denoted \mathbb{RP}^n or \mathbb{P}_n(\R), is the topological space of lines passing through the origin 0 in the real space \R^{n+1}. It is a compact, smooth manifold of dimension n, and is a special case \mathbf{Gr}(1, \R^{n+1}) of a Grassmannian space. As with all projective spaces, RPn is formed by taking the quotient of Rn+1 ∖ under the equivalence relation x ∼ λx for all real numbers λ ≠ 0. For all x in Rn+1 ∖ one can always find a λ such that λx has norm 1.
Hearing the shape of a drumTo hear the shape of a drum is to infer information about the shape of the drumhead from the sound it makes, i.e., from the list of overtones, via the use of mathematical theory. "Can One Hear the Shape of a Drum?" is the title of a 1966 article by Mark Kac in the American Mathematical Monthly which made the question famous, though this particular phrasing originates with Lipman Bers. Similar questions can be traced back all the way to physicist Arthur Schuster in 1882. For his paper, Kac was given the Lester R.
Invariant (mathematics)In mathematics, an invariant is a property of a mathematical object (or a class of mathematical objects) which remains unchanged after operations or transformations of a certain type are applied to the objects. The particular class of objects and type of transformations are usually indicated by the context in which the term is used. For example, the area of a triangle is an invariant with respect to isometries of the Euclidean plane. The phrases "invariant under" and "invariant to" a transformation are both used.
Homotopy sphereIn algebraic topology, a branch of mathematics, a homotopy sphere is an n-manifold that is homotopy equivalent to the n-sphere. It thus has the same homotopy groups and the same homology groups as the n-sphere, and so every homotopy sphere is necessarily a homology sphere. The topological generalized Poincaré conjecture is that any n-dimensional homotopy sphere is homeomorphic to the n-sphere; it was solved by Stephen Smale in dimensions five and higher, by Michael Freedman in dimension 4, and for dimension 3 (the original Poincaré conjecture) by Grigori Perelman in 2005.
Solid torusIn mathematics, a solid torus is the topological space formed by sweeping a disk around a circle. It is homeomorphic to the Cartesian product of the disk and the circle, endowed with the product topology. A standard way to visualize a solid torus is as a toroid, embedded in 3-space. However, it should be distinguished from a torus, which has the same visual appearance: the torus is the two-dimensional space on the boundary of a toroid, while the solid torus includes also the compact interior space enclosed by the torus.
PseudogroupIn mathematics, a pseudogroup is a set of diffeomorphisms between open sets of a space, satisfying group-like and sheaf-like properties. It is a generalisation of the concept of a group, originating however from the geometric approach of Sophus Lie to investigate symmetries of differential equations, rather than out of abstract algebra (such as quasigroup, for example). The modern theory of pseudogroups was developed by Élie Cartan in the early 1900s.
Topological propertyIn topology and related areas of mathematics, a topological property or topological invariant is a property of a topological space that is invariant under homeomorphisms. Alternatively, a topological property is a proper class of topological spaces which is closed under homeomorphisms. That is, a property of spaces is a topological property if whenever a space X possesses that property every space homeomorphic to X possesses that property. Informally, a topological property is a property of the space that can be expressed using open sets.
Gauss–Bonnet theoremIn the mathematical field of differential geometry, the Gauss–Bonnet theorem (or Gauss–Bonnet formula) is a fundamental formula which links the curvature of a surface to its underlying topology. In the simplest application, the case of a triangle on a plane, the sum of its angles is 180 degrees. The Gauss–Bonnet theorem extends this to more complicated shapes and curved surfaces, connecting the local and global geometries. The theorem is named after Carl Friedrich Gauss, who developed a version but never published it, and Pierre Ossian Bonnet, who published a special case in 1848.
Homology (mathematics)In mathematics, homology is a general way of associating a sequence of algebraic objects, such as abelian groups or modules, with other mathematical objects such as topological spaces. Homology groups were originally defined in algebraic topology. Similar constructions are available in a wide variety of other contexts, such as abstract algebra, groups, Lie algebras, Galois theory, and algebraic geometry. The original motivation for defining homology groups was the observation that two shapes can be distinguished by examining their holes.
Riemannian manifoldIn differential geometry, a Riemannian manifold or Riemannian space (M, g), so called after the German mathematician Bernhard Riemann, is a real, smooth manifold M equipped with a positive-definite inner product gp on the tangent space TpM at each point p. The family gp of inner products is called a Riemannian metric (or Riemannian metric tensor). Riemannian geometry is the study of Riemannian manifolds. A common convention is to take g to be smooth, which means that for any smooth coordinate chart (U, x) on M, the n2 functions are smooth functions.
Euler characteristicIn mathematics, and more specifically in algebraic topology and polyhedral combinatorics, the Euler characteristic (or Euler number, or Euler–Poincaré characteristic) is a topological invariant, a number that describes a topological space's shape or structure regardless of the way it is bent. It is commonly denoted by (Greek lower-case letter chi). The Euler characteristic was originally defined for polyhedra and used to prove various theorems about them, including the classification of the Platonic solids.
Ball (mathematics)In mathematics, a ball is the solid figure bounded by a sphere; it is also called a solid sphere. It may be a closed ball (including the boundary points that constitute the sphere) or an open ball (excluding them). These concepts are defined not only in three-dimensional Euclidean space but also for lower and higher dimensions, and for metric spaces in general. A ball in n dimensions is called a hyperball or n-ball and is bounded by a hypersphere or (n−1)-sphere.
Klein bottleIn mathematics, the Klein bottle (ˈklaɪn) is an example of a non-orientable surface; that is, informally, a one-sided surface which, if traveled upon, could be followed back to the point of origin while flipping the traveler upside down. More formally, the Klein bottle is a two-dimensional manifold on which one cannot define a normal vector at each point that varies continuously over the whole manifold. Other related non-orientable surfaces include the Möbius strip and the real projective plane.
Contractible spaceIn mathematics, a topological space X is contractible if the identity map on X is null-homotopic, i.e. if it is homotopic to some constant map. Intuitively, a contractible space is one that can be continuously shrunk to a point within that space. A contractible space is precisely one with the homotopy type of a point. It follows that all the homotopy groups of a contractible space are trivial. Therefore any space with a nontrivial homotopy group cannot be contractible.
Degrees of freedomIn many scientific fields, the degrees of freedom of a system is the number of parameters of the system that may vary independently. For example, a point in the plane has two degrees of freedom for translation: its two coordinates; a non-infinitesimal object on the plane might have additional degrees of freedoms related to its orientation. In mathematics, this notion is formalized as the dimension of a manifold or an algebraic variety.
General topologyIn mathematics, general topology (or point set topology) is the branch of topology that deals with the basic set-theoretic definitions and constructions used in topology. It is the foundation of most other branches of topology, including differential topology, geometric topology, and algebraic topology. The fundamental concepts in point-set topology are continuity, compactness, and connectedness: Continuous functions, intuitively, take nearby points to nearby points.
OrientabilityIn mathematics, orientability is a property of some topological spaces such as real vector spaces, Euclidean spaces, surfaces, and more generally manifolds that allows a consistent definition of "clockwise" and "counterclockwise". A space is orientable if such a consistent definition exists. In this case, there are two possible definitions, and a choice between them is an orientation of the space. Real vector spaces, Euclidean spaces, and spheres are orientable.
Arc lengthArc length is the distance between two points along a section of a curve. Determining the length of an irregular arc segment by approximating the arc segment as connected (straight) line segments is also called curve rectification. A rectifiable curve has a finite number of segments in its rectification (so the curve has a finite length). If a curve can be parameterized as an injective and continuously differentiable function (i.e., the derivative is a continuous function) , then the curve is rectifiable (i.
Tangent vectorIn mathematics, a tangent vector is a vector that is tangent to a curve or surface at a given point. Tangent vectors are described in the differential geometry of curves in the context of curves in Rn. More generally, tangent vectors are elements of a tangent space of a differentiable manifold. Tangent vectors can also be described in terms of germs. Formally, a tangent vector at the point is a linear derivation of the algebra defined by the set of germs at .
Critical point (mathematics)Critical point is a wide term used in many branches of mathematics. When dealing with functions of a real variable, a critical point is a point in the domain of the function where the function is either not differentiable or the derivative is equal to zero. When dealing with complex variables, a critical point is, similarly, a point in the function's domain where it is either not holomorphic or the derivative is equal to zero. Likewise, for a function of several real variables, a critical point is a value in its domain where the gradient is undefined or is equal to zero.
