Kervaire Invariant Problem
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Kervaire Invariant Problem
In mathematics, the Kervaire invariant is an invariant of a framed (4k+2)-dimensional manifold that measures whether the manifold could be surgically converted into a sphere. This invariant evaluates to 0 if the manifold can be converted to a sphere, and 1 otherwise. This invariant was named after Michel Kervaire who built on work of Cahit Arf. The Kervaire invariant is defined as the Arf invariant of the skew-quadratic form on the middle dimensional homology group. It can be thought of as the simply-connected ''quadratic'' L-group L_, and thus analogous to the other invariants from L-theory: the signature, a 4k-dimensional invariant (either symmetric or quadratic, L^ \cong L_), and the De Rham invariant, a (4k+1)-dimensional ''symmetric'' invariant L^. In any given dimension, there are only two possibilities: either all manifolds have Arf–Kervaire invariant equal to 0, or half have Arf–Kervaire invariant 0 and the other half have Arf–Kervaire invariant 1. The Kervaire inv ...
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Parallelizable Manifold
In mathematics, a differentiable manifold M of dimension ''n'' is called parallelizable if there exist smooth vector fields \ on the manifold, such that at every point p of M the tangent vectors \ provide a basis of the tangent space at p. Equivalently, the tangent bundle is a trivial bundle, so that the associated principal bundle of linear frames has a global section on M. A particular choice of such a basis of vector fields on M is called a parallelization (or an absolute parallelism) of M. Examples *An example with n = 1 is the circle: we can take ''V''1 to be the unit tangent vector field, say pointing in the anti-clockwise direction. The torus of dimension n is also parallelizable, as can be seen by expressing it as a cartesian product of circles. For example, take n = 2, and construct a torus from a square of graph paper with opposite edges glued together, to get an idea of the two tangent directions at each point. More generally, every Lie group ''G'' is parallelizable, ...
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Hopf Invariant
In mathematics, in particular in algebraic topology, the Hopf invariant is a homotopy invariant of certain maps between n-spheres. __TOC__ Motivation In 1931 Heinz Hopf used Clifford parallels to construct the ''Hopf map'' :\eta\colon S^3 \to S^2, and proved that \eta is essential, i.e., not homotopic to the constant map, by using the fact that the linking number of the circles :\eta^(x),\eta^(y) \subset S^3 is equal to 1, for any x \neq y \in S^2. It was later shown that the homotopy group \pi_3(S^2) is the infinite cyclic group generated by \eta. In 1951, Jean-Pierre Serre proved that the rational homotopy groups :\pi_i(S^n) \otimes \mathbb for an odd-dimensional sphere (n odd) are zero unless i is equal to 0 or ''n''. However, for an even-dimensional sphere (''n'' even), there is one more bit of infinite cyclic homotopy in degree 2n-1. Definition Let \phi \colon S^ \to S^n be a continuous map (assume n>1). Then we can form the cell complex : C_\phi = S^n \cup_\phi ...
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Symplectic Basis
In linear algebra, a standard symplectic basis is a basis _i, _i of a symplectic vector space, which is a vector space with a nondegenerate alternating bilinear form \omega, such that \omega(_i, _j) = 0 = \omega(_i, _j), \omega(_i, _j) = \delta_. A symplectic basis of a symplectic vector space always exists; it can be constructed by a procedure similar to the Gram–Schmidt process.Maurice de Gosson: ''Symplectic Geometry and Quantum Mechanics'' (2006), p.7 and pp. 12–13 The existence of the basis implies in particular that the dimension of a symplectic vector space is even if it is finite. See also *Darboux theorem * Symplectic frame bundle * Symplectic spinor bundle *Symplectic vector space In mathematics, a symplectic vector space is a vector space ''V'' over a field ''F'' (for example the real numbers R) equipped with a symplectic bilinear form. A symplectic bilinear form is a mapping that is ; Bilinear: Linear in each argument s ... Notes References *da Silva, A.C., ...
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Torus
In geometry, a torus (plural tori, colloquially donut or doughnut) is a surface of revolution generated by revolving a circle in three-dimensional space about an axis that is coplanar with the circle. If the axis of revolution does not touch the circle, the surface has a ring shape and is called a torus of revolution. If the axis of revolution is tangent to the circle, the surface is a horn torus. If the axis of revolution passes twice through the circle, the surface is a spindle torus. If the axis of revolution passes through the center of the circle, the surface is a degenerate torus, a double-covered sphere. If the revolved curve is not a circle, the surface is called a ''toroid'', as in a square toroid. Real-world objects that approximate a torus of revolution include swim rings, inner tubes and ringette rings. Eyeglass lenses that combine spherical and cylindrical correction are toric lenses. A torus should not be confused with a '' solid torus'', which is formed by r ...
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Bernoulli Number
In mathematics, the Bernoulli numbers are a sequence of rational numbers which occur frequently in analysis. The Bernoulli numbers appear in (and can be defined by) the Taylor series expansions of the tangent and hyperbolic tangent functions, in Faulhaber's formula for the sum of ''m''-th powers of the first ''n'' positive integers, in the Euler–Maclaurin formula, and in expressions for certain values of the Riemann zeta function. The values of the first 20 Bernoulli numbers are given in the adjacent table. Two conventions are used in the literature, denoted here by B^_n and B^_n; they differ only for , where B^_1=-1/2 and B^_1=+1/2. For every odd , . For every even , is negative if is divisible by 4 and positive otherwise. The Bernoulli numbers are special values of the Bernoulli polynomials B_n(x), with B^_n=B_n(0) and B^+_n=B_n(1). The Bernoulli numbers were discovered around the same time by the Swiss mathematician Jacob Bernoulli, after whom they are named, and indepe ...
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J-homomorphism
In mathematics, the ''J''-homomorphism is a mapping from the homotopy groups of the special orthogonal groups to the homotopy groups of spheres. It was defined by , extending a construction of . Definition Whitehead's original homomorphism is defined geometrically, and gives a homomorphism :J \colon \pi_r (\mathrm(q)) \to \pi_(S^q) of abelian groups for integers ''q'', and r \ge 2. (Hopf defined this for the special case q = r+1.) The ''J''-homomorphism can be defined as follows. An element of the special orthogonal group SO(''q'') can be regarded as a map :S^\rightarrow S^ and the homotopy group \pi_r(\operatorname(q))) consists of homotopy classes of maps from the ''r''-sphere to SO(''q''). Thus an element of \pi_r(\operatorname(q)) can be represented by a map :S^r\times S^\rightarrow S^ Applying the Hopf construction to this gives a map :S^= S^r*S^\rightarrow S( S^) =S^q in \pi_(S^q), which Whitehead defined as the image of the element of \pi_r(\operatorname(q)) under t ...
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Stable Homotopy Group Of Spheres
In 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. The -dimensional unit sphere — called the -sphere for brevity, and denoted as — generalizes the familiar circle () and the ordinary sphere (). The -sphere may be defined geometrically as the set of points in a Euclidean space of dimension located at a unit distance from the origin. The -th ''homotopy group'' summarizes the different ways in which the -dimensional sphere can be mapped continuously into the sphere . This summary does not distinguish between two mappings if one can be continuously deformed to the oth ...
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Homotopy Sphere
In 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. The resolution of the smooth Poincaré conjecture in dimensions 5 and larger implies that homotopy spheres in those dimensions are precisely exotic spheres. It is still an open question () whether or not there are non-trivial smooth homotopy spheres in dimension 4. References See also *Homology sphere *Homotopy groups of spheres *Poincaré conjecture In the mathematics, mathema ...
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H-cobordism
In geometric topology and differential topology, an (''n'' + 1)-dimensional cobordism ''W'' between ''n''-dimensional manifolds ''M'' and ''N'' is an ''h''-cobordism (the ''h'' stands for homotopy equivalence) if the inclusion maps : M \hookrightarrow W \quad\mbox\quad N \hookrightarrow W are homotopy equivalences. The ''h''-cobordism theorem gives sufficient conditions for an ''h''-cobordism to be trivial, i.e., to be C-isomorphic to the cylinder ''M'' × , 1 Here C refers to any of the categories of smooth, piecewise linear, or topological manifolds. The theorem was first proved by Stephen Smale for which he received the Fields Medal and is a fundamental result in the theory of high-dimensional manifolds. For a start, it almost immediately proves the generalized Poincaré conjecture. Background Before Smale proved this theorem, mathematicians became stuck while trying to understand manifolds of dimension 3 or 4, and assumed that the higher-dimensional cases were e ...
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Exotic Sphere
In an area of mathematics called differential topology, an exotic sphere is a differentiable manifold ''M'' that is homeomorphic but not diffeomorphic to the standard Euclidean ''n''-sphere. That is, ''M'' is a sphere from the point of view of all its topological properties, but carrying a smooth structure that is not the familiar one (hence the name "exotic"). The first exotic spheres were constructed by in dimension n = 7 as S^3- bundles over S^4. He showed that there are at least 7 differentiable structures on the 7-sphere. In any dimension showed that the diffeomorphism classes of oriented exotic spheres form the non-trivial elements of an abelian monoid under connected sum, which is a finite abelian group if the dimension is not 4. The classification of exotic spheres by showed that the oriented exotic 7-spheres are the non-trivial elements of a cyclic group of order 28 under the operation of connected sum. Introduction The unit ''n''-sphere, S^n, is the set of all ('' ...
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Smooth Structure
In mathematics, a smooth structure on a manifold allows for an unambiguous notion of smooth function. In particular, a smooth structure allows one to perform mathematical analysis on the manifold. Definition A smooth structure on a manifold M is a collection of smoothly equivalent smooth atlases. Here, a smooth atlas for a topological manifold M is an atlas for M such that each transition function is a smooth map, and two smooth atlases for M are smoothly equivalent provided their union is again a smooth atlas for M. This gives a natural equivalence relation on the set of smooth atlases. A smooth manifold is a topological manifold M together with a smooth structure on M. Maximal smooth atlases By taking the union of all atlases belonging to a smooth structure, we obtain a maximal smooth atlas. This atlas contains every chart that is compatible with the smooth structure. There is a natural one-to-one correspondence between smooth structures and maximal smooth atlases. Th ...
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PL Manifold
PL, P.L., Pl, or .pl may refer to: Businesses and organizations Government and political * Partit Laburista, a Maltese political party * Liberal Party (Brazil, 2006), a Brazilian political party * Liberal Party (Moldova), a Moldovan political party * Liberal Party (Rwanda), a Rwandan political party * Parlamentarische Linke, a parliamentary caucus in Germany * Patriotic League (Bosnia and Herzegovina) (Bosnian: ''Patriotska Liga''), a military organisation of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina * Philippine Legislature, a legislature that existed in the Philippines from 1907 to 1935 * Progressive Labor Party (United States), a United States communist party Sports leagues * Premier League, the top English association football league * Pacific League, one of the two leagues in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball * Pioneer Baseball League, a Rookie league in Minor League Baseball * Pioneer Football League, NCAA FCS conference Other businesses and organizations * Airstars Air ...
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