Simplicial setIn mathematics, a simplicial set is an object composed of simplices in a specific way. Simplicial sets are higher-dimensional generalizations of directed graphs, partially ordered sets and . Formally, a simplicial set may be defined as a contravariant functor from the to the . Simplicial sets were introduced in 1950 by Samuel Eilenberg and Joseph A. Zilber. Every simplicial set gives rise to a "nice" topological space, known as its geometric realization.
Homotopy groups of spheresIn the mathematical field of algebraic topology, the homotopy groups of spheres describe how spheres of various dimensions can wrap around each other. They are examples of topological invariants, which reflect, in algebraic terms, the structure of spheres viewed as topological spaces, forgetting about their precise geometry. Unlike homology groups, which are also topological invariants, the homotopy groups are surprisingly complex and difficult to compute.
GrassmannianIn mathematics, the Grassmannian Gr(k, V) is a space that parameterizes all k-dimensional linear subspaces of the n-dimensional vector space V. For example, the Grassmannian Gr(1, V) is the space of lines through the origin in V, so it is the same as the projective space of one dimension lower than V. When V is a real or complex vector space, Grassmannians are compact smooth manifolds.
Tautological bundleIn mathematics, the tautological bundle is a vector bundle occurring over a Grassmannian in a natural tautological way: for a Grassmannian of -dimensional subspaces of , given a point in the Grassmannian corresponding to a -dimensional vector subspace , the fiber over is the subspace itself. In the case of projective space the tautological bundle is known as the tautological line bundle. The tautological bundle is also called the universal bundle since any vector bundle (over a compact space) is a pullback of the tautological bundle; this is to say a Grassmannian is a classifying space for vector bundles.
Spectrum (topology)In algebraic topology, a branch of mathematics, a spectrum is an object representing a generalized cohomology theory. Every such cohomology theory is representable, as follows from Brown's representability theorem. This means that, given a cohomology theory,there exist spaces such that evaluating the cohomology theory in degree on a space is equivalent to computing the homotopy classes of maps to the space , that is.Note there are several different of spectra leading to many technical difficulties, but they all determine the same , known as the stable homotopy category.
Homotopy categoryIn mathematics, the homotopy category is a built from the category of topological spaces which in a sense identifies two spaces that have the same shape. The phrase is in fact used for two different (but related) categories, as discussed below. More generally, instead of starting with the category of topological spaces, one may start with any and define its associated homotopy category, with a construction introduced by Quillen in 1967. In this way, homotopy theory can be applied to many other categories in geometry and algebra.
Homotopy theoryIn mathematics, homotopy theory is a systematic study of situations in which maps can come with homotopies between them. It originated as a topic in algebraic topology but nowadays is studied as an independent discipline. Besides algebraic topology, the theory has also been used in other areas of mathematics such as algebraic geometry (e.g., A1 homotopy theory) and (specifically the study of ). In homotopy theory and algebraic topology, the word "space" denotes a topological space.
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.
Generalized flag varietyIn mathematics, a generalized flag variety (or simply flag variety) is a homogeneous space whose points are flags in a finite-dimensional vector space V over a field F. When F is the real or complex numbers, a generalized flag variety is a smooth or complex manifold, called a real or complex flag manifold. Flag varieties are naturally projective varieties. Flag varieties can be defined in various degrees of generality. A prototype is the variety of complete flags in a vector space V over a field F, which is a flag variety for the special linear group over F.
Complex projective spaceIn mathematics, complex projective space is the projective space with respect to the field of complex numbers. By analogy, whereas the points of a real projective space label the lines through the origin of a real Euclidean space, the points of a complex projective space label the complex lines through the origin of a complex Euclidean space (see below for an intuitive account). Formally, a complex projective space is the space of complex lines through the origin of an (n+1)-dimensional complex vector space.
Principal bundleIn mathematics, a principal bundle is a mathematical object that formalizes some of the essential features of the Cartesian product of a space with a group . In the same way as with the Cartesian product, a principal bundle is equipped with An action of on , analogous to for a product space. A projection onto . For a product space, this is just the projection onto the first factor, . Unlike a product space, principal bundles lack a preferred choice of identity cross-section; they have no preferred analog of .
G-structure on a manifoldIn differential geometry, a G-structure on an n-manifold M, for a given structure group G, is a principal G-subbundle of the tangent frame bundle FM (or GL(M)) of M. The notion of G-structures includes various classical structures that can be defined on manifolds, which in some cases are tensor fields. For example, for the orthogonal group, an O(n)-structure defines a Riemannian metric, and for the special linear group an SL(n,R)-structure is the same as a volume form.
Stiefel manifoldIn mathematics, the Stiefel manifold is the set of all orthonormal k-frames in That is, it is the set of ordered orthonormal k-tuples of vectors in It is named after Swiss mathematician Eduard Stiefel. Likewise one can define the complex Stiefel manifold of orthonormal k-frames in and the quaternionic Stiefel manifold of orthonormal k-frames in . More generally, the construction applies to any real, complex, or quaternionic inner product space.
Quaternionic projective spaceIn mathematics, quaternionic projective space is an extension of the ideas of real projective space and complex projective space, to the case where coordinates lie in the ring of quaternions Quaternionic projective space of dimension n is usually denoted by and is a closed manifold of (real) dimension 4n. It is a homogeneous space for a Lie group action, in more than one way. The quaternionic projective line is homeomorphic to the 4-sphere. Its direct construction is as a special case of the projective space over a division algebra.
Principal homogeneous spaceIn mathematics, a principal homogeneous space, or torsor, for a group G is a homogeneous space X for G in which the stabilizer subgroup of every point is trivial. Equivalently, a principal homogeneous space for a group G is a non-empty set X on which G acts freely and transitively (meaning that, for any x, y in X, there exists a unique g in G such that x·g = y, where · denotes the (right) action of G on X).
Characteristic classIn mathematics, a characteristic class is a way of associating to each principal bundle of X a cohomology class of X. The cohomology class measures the extent the bundle is "twisted" and whether it possesses sections. Characteristic classes are global invariants that measure the deviation of a local product structure from a global product structure. They are one of the unifying geometric concepts in algebraic topology, differential geometry, and algebraic geometry.
Postnikov systemIn homotopy theory, a branch of algebraic topology, a Postnikov system (or Postnikov tower) is a way of decomposing a topological space's homotopy groups using an inverse system of topological spaces whose homotopy type at degree agrees with the truncated homotopy type of the original space . Postnikov systems were introduced by, and are named after, Mikhail Postnikov. A Postnikov system of a path-connected space is an inverse system of spaces with a sequence of maps compatible with the inverse system such that The map induces an isomorphism for every .
Group cohomologyIn mathematics (more specifically, in homological algebra), group cohomology is a set of mathematical tools used to study groups using cohomology theory, a technique from algebraic topology. Analogous to group representations, group cohomology looks at the group actions of a group G in an associated G-module M to elucidate the properties of the group. By treating the G-module as a kind of topological space with elements of representing n-simplices, topological properties of the space may be computed, such as the set of cohomology groups .
Homotopy groupIn mathematics, homotopy groups are used in algebraic topology to classify topological spaces. The first and simplest homotopy group is the fundamental group, denoted which records information about loops in a space. Intuitively, homotopy groups record information about the basic shape, or holes, of a topological space. To define the n-th homotopy group, the base-point-preserving maps from an n-dimensional sphere (with base point) into a given space (with base point) are collected into equivalence classes, called homotopy classes.
Euler classIn mathematics, specifically in algebraic topology, the Euler class is a characteristic class of oriented, real vector bundles. Like other characteristic classes, it measures how "twisted" the vector bundle is. In the case of the tangent bundle of a smooth manifold, it generalizes the classical notion of Euler characteristic. It is named after Leonhard Euler because of this. Throughout this article is an oriented, real vector bundle of rank over a base space . The Euler class is an element of the integral cohomology group constructed as follows.
