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Gromov–Witten Invariant
In mathematics, specifically in symplectic topology and algebraic geometry, Gromov–Witten (GW) invariants are rational numbers that, in certain situations, count pseudoholomorphic curves meeting prescribed conditions in a given symplectic manifold. The GW invariants may be packaged as a homology or cohomology class in an appropriate space, or as the deformed cup product of quantum cohomology. These invariants have been used to distinguish symplectic manifolds that were previously indistinguishable. They also play a crucial role in closed type IIA string theory. They are named after Mikhail Gromov and Edward Witten. The rigorous mathematical definition of Gromov–Witten invariants is lengthy and difficult, so it is treated separately in the stable map article. This article attempts a more intuitive explanation of what the invariants mean, how they are computed, and why they are important. Definition Consider the following: *''X'': a closed symplectic manifold of dimensi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mathematics
Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics with the major subdisciplines of number theory, algebra, geometry, and analysis, respectively. There is no general consensus among mathematicians about a common definition for their academic discipline. Most mathematical activity involves the discovery of properties of abstract objects and the use of pure reason to prove them. These objects consist of either abstractions from nature orin modern mathematicsentities that are stipulated to have certain properties, called axioms. A ''proof'' consists of a succession of applications of deductive rules to already established results. These results include previously proved theorems, axioms, andin case of abstraction from naturesome basic properties that are considered true starting points of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fundamental Class
In mathematics, the fundamental class is a homology class 'M''associated to a connected orientable compact manifold of dimension ''n'', which corresponds to the generator of the homology group H_n(M,\partial M;\mathbf)\cong\mathbf . The fundamental class can be thought of as the orientation of the top-dimensional simplices of a suitable triangulation of the manifold.In past years mathematics.... Definition Closed, orientable When ''M'' is a connected orientable closed manifold of dimension ''n'', the top homology group is infinite cyclic: H_n(M,\mathbf) \cong \mathbf, and an orientation is a choice of generator, a choice of isomorphism \mathbf \to H_n(M,\mathbf). The generator is called the fundamental class. If ''M'' is disconnected (but still orientable), a fundamental class is the direct sum of the fundamental classes for each connected component (corresponding to an orientation for each component). In relation with de Rham cohomology it represents ''integration over M''; na ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Toric Geometry
In algebraic geometry, a toric variety or torus embedding is an algebraic variety containing an algebraic torus as an open dense subset, such that the action of the torus on itself extends to the whole variety. Some authors also require it to be normal. Toric varieties form an important and rich class of examples in algebraic geometry, which often provide a testing ground for theorems. The geometry of a toric variety is fully determined by the combinatorics of its associated fan, which often makes computations far more tractable. For a certain special, but still quite general class of toric varieties, this information is also encoded in a polytope, which creates a powerful connection of the subject with convex geometry. Familiar examples of toric varieties are affine space, projective spaces, products of projective spaces and bundles over projective space. Toric varieties from tori The original motivation to study toric varieties was to study torus embeddings. Given the algebraic t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kuranishi Structure
In mathematics, especially in topology, a Kuranishi structure is a smooth analogue of scheme structure. If a topological space is endowed with a Kuranishi structure, then locally it can be identified with the zero set of a smooth map (f_1, \ldots, f_k)\colon \R^ \to \R^k, or the quotient of such a zero set by a finite group. Kuranishi structures were introduced by Japanese mathematicians Kenji Fukaya and Kaoru Ono in the study of Gromov–Witten invariants and Floer homology in symplectic geometry, and were named after Masatake Kuranishi. Definition Let X be a compact metrizable topological space. Let p \in X be a point. A Kuranishi neighborhood of p (of dimension k) is a 5-tuple ::: K_p = (U_p, E_p, S_p, F_p, \psi_p) where * U_p is a smooth orbifold; * E_p \to U_p is a smooth orbifold vector bundle; * S_p\colon U_p \to E_p is a smooth section; * F_p is an open neighborhood of p ; * \psi_p\colon S_p^(0) \to F_p is a homeomorphism. They should satisfy that \dim U_p - \operato ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Euler Class
In 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 E is an oriented, real vector bundle of rank r over a base space X. Formal definition The Euler class e(E) is an element of the integral cohomology group :H^r(X; \mathbf), constructed as follows. An orientation of E amounts to a continuous choice of generator of the cohomology :H^r(\mathbf^, \mathbf^ \setminus \; \mathbf)\cong \tilde^(S^;\mathbf)\cong \mathbf of each fiber \mathbf^ relative to the complement \mathbf^ \setminus \ of zero. From the Thom isomorphism, this induces an orientation class :u \in H^r(E, E \setminus E_0; \mathbf) in the cohomology of E relative to the co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vector Bundle
In mathematics, a vector bundle is a topological construction that makes precise the idea of a family of vector spaces parameterized by another space X (for example X could be a topological space, a manifold, or an algebraic variety): to every point x of the space X we associate (or "attach") a vector space V(x) in such a way that these vector spaces fit together to form another space of the same kind as X (e.g. a topological space, manifold, or algebraic variety), which is then called a vector bundle over X. The simplest example is the case that the family of vector spaces is constant, i.e., there is a fixed vector space V such that V(x)=V for all x in X: in this case there is a copy of V for each x in X and these copies fit together to form the vector bundle X\times V over X. Such vector bundles are said to be ''trivial''. A more complicated (and prototypical) class of examples are the tangent bundles of smooth (or differentiable) manifolds: to every point of such a manifold w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cokernel
The cokernel of a linear mapping of vector spaces is the quotient space of the codomain of by the image of . The dimension of the cokernel is called the ''corank'' of . Cokernels are dual to the kernels of category theory, hence the name: the kernel is a subobject of the domain (it maps to the domain), while the cokernel is a quotient object of the codomain (it maps from the codomain). Intuitively, given an equation that one is seeking to solve, the cokernel measures the ''constraints'' that must satisfy for this equation to have a solution – the obstructions to a solution – while the kernel measures the ''degrees of freedom'' in a solution, if one exists. This is elaborated in intuition, below. More generally, the cokernel of a morphism in some category (e.g. a homomorphism between groups or a bounded linear operator between Hilbert spaces) is an object and a morphism such that the composition is the zero morphism of the category, and furthermore is universa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kähler Manifold
In mathematics and especially differential geometry, a Kähler manifold is a manifold with three mutually compatible structures: a complex structure, a Riemannian structure, and a symplectic structure. The concept was first studied by Jan Arnoldus Schouten and David van Dantzig in 1930, and then introduced by Erich Kähler in 1933. The terminology has been fixed by André Weil. Kähler geometry refers to the study of Kähler manifolds, their geometry and topology, as well as the study of structures and constructions that can be performed on Kähler manifolds, such as the existence of special connections like Hermitian Yang–Mills connections, or special metrics such as Kähler–Einstein metrics. Every smooth complex projective variety is a Kähler manifold. Hodge theory is a central part of algebraic geometry, proved using Kähler metrics. Definitions Since Kähler manifolds are equipped with several compatible structures, they can be described from different points of view: ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Surjective
In mathematics, a surjective function (also known as surjection, or onto function) is a function that every element can be mapped from element so that . In other words, every element of the function's codomain is the image of one element of its domain. It is not required that be unique; the function may map one or more elements of to the same element of . The term ''surjective'' and the related terms ''injective'' and ''bijective'' were introduced by Nicolas Bourbaki, a group of mainly French 20th-century mathematicians who, under this pseudonym, wrote a series of books presenting an exposition of modern advanced mathematics, beginning in 1935. The French word '' sur'' means ''over'' or ''above'', and relates to the fact that the image of the domain of a surjective function completely covers the function's codomain. Any function induces a surjection by restricting its codomain to the image of its domain. Every surjective function has a right inverse assuming the axiom ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Linearization
In mathematics, linearization is finding the linear approximation to a function at a given point. The linear approximation of a function is the first order Taylor expansion around the point of interest. In the study of dynamical systems, linearization is a method for assessing the local stability of an equilibrium point of a system of nonlinear differential equations or discrete dynamical systems. This method is used in fields such as engineering, physics, economics, and ecology. Linearization of a function Linearizations of a function are lines—usually lines that can be used for purposes of calculation. Linearization is an effective method for approximating the output of a function y = f(x) at any x = a based on the value and slope of the function at x = b, given that f(x) is differentiable on , b/math> (or , a/math>) and that a is close to b. In short, linearization approximates the output of a function near x = a. For example, \sqrt = 2. However, what would be a good appro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chern Class
In mathematics, in particular in algebraic topology, differential geometry and algebraic geometry, the Chern classes are characteristic classes associated with complex vector bundles. They have since found applications in physics, Calabi–Yau manifolds, string theory, Chern–Simons theory, knot theory, Gromov–Witten invariants, topological quantum field theory, the Chern theorem etc. Chern classes were introduced by . Geometric approach Basic idea and motivation Chern classes are characteristic classes. They are topological invariants associated with vector bundles on a smooth manifold. The question of whether two ostensibly different vector bundles are the same can be quite hard to answer. The Chern classes provide a simple test: if the Chern classes of a pair of vector bundles do not agree, then the vector bundles are different. The converse, however, is not true. In topology, differential geometry, and algebraic geometry, it is often important to count how many l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Orbifold
In the mathematical disciplines of topology and geometry, an orbifold (for "orbit-manifold") is a generalization of a manifold. Roughly speaking, an orbifold is a topological space which is locally a finite group quotient of a Euclidean space. Definitions of orbifold have been given several times: by Ichirô Satake in the context of automorphic forms in the 1950s under the name ''V-manifold''; by William Thurston in the context of the geometry of 3-manifolds in the 1970s when he coined the name ''orbifold'', after a vote by his students; and by André Haefliger in the 1980s in the context of Mikhail Gromov's programme on CAT(k) spaces under the name ''orbihedron''. Historically, orbifolds arose first as surfaces with singular points long before they were formally defined. One of the first classical examples arose in the theory of modular forms with the action of the modular group \mathrm(2,\Z) on the upper half-plane: a version of the Riemann–Roch theorem holds after the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
