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Circle-valued Morse Theory
In mathematics, circle-valued Morse theory studies the topology of a smooth manifold by analyzing the critical points of smooth maps from the manifold to the circle, in the framework of Morse homology. It is an important special case of Sergei Novikov's Morse theory of closed one-forms. Michael Hutchings and Yi-Jen Lee have connected it to Reidemeister torsion and Seiberg–Witten theory In theoretical physics, Seiberg–Witten theory is a theory that determines an exact low-energy effective action (for massless degrees of freedom) of a \mathcal = 2 supersymmetric gauge theory—namely the metric of the moduli space of vacua. S ..... References Morse theory {{topology-stub ... [...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] |
Smooth Manifold
In mathematics, a differentiable manifold (also differential manifold) is a type of manifold that is locally similar enough to a vector space to allow one to apply calculus. Any manifold can be described by a collection of charts (atlas). One may then apply ideas from calculus while working within the individual charts, since each chart lies within a vector space to which the usual rules of calculus apply. If the charts are suitably compatible (namely, the transition from one chart to another is differentiable), then computations done in one chart are valid in any other differentiable chart. In formal terms, a differentiable manifold is a topological manifold with a globally defined differential structure. Any topological manifold can be given a differential structure locally by using the homeomorphisms in its atlas and the standard differential structure on a vector space. To induce a global differential structure on the local coordinate systems induced by the homeomorphisms, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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. The value of the function at a critical point is a critical value. This sort of definition extends to differentiable maps between and a critical point being, in this case, a point where the rank of the Jacobian matrix is not maximal. It extends further to differentiable maps between differentiable manifolds, as the points where the rank of the Jacobian matrix decreases. In this case, critical points are al ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Circle
A circle is a shape consisting of all points in a plane that are at a given distance from a given point, the centre. Equivalently, it is the curve traced out by a point that moves in a plane so that its distance from a given point is constant. The distance between any point of the circle and the centre is called the radius. Usually, the radius is required to be a positive number. A circle with r=0 (a single point) is a degenerate case. This article is about circles in Euclidean geometry, and, in particular, the Euclidean plane, except where otherwise noted. Specifically, a circle is a simple closed curve that divides the plane into two regions: an interior and an exterior. In everyday use, the term "circle" may be used interchangeably to refer to either the boundary of the figure, or to the whole figure including its interior; in strict technical usage, the circle is only the boundary and the whole figure is called a '' disc''. A circle may also be defined as a special ki ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Morse Homology
In mathematics, specifically in the field of differential topology, Morse homology is a homology theory defined for any smooth manifold. It is constructed using the smooth structure and an auxiliary metric on the manifold, but turns out to be topologically invariant, and is in fact isomorphic to singular homology. Morse homology also serves as a model for the various infinite-dimensional generalizations known as Floer homology theories. Formal definition Given any (compact) smooth manifold, let ''f'' be a Morse function and ''g'' a Riemannian metric on the manifold. (These are auxiliary; in the end, the Morse homology depends on neither.) The pair (f, g) gives us a gradient vector field. We say that (f, g) is Morse–Smale if the stable and unstable manifolds associated to all of the critical points of ''f'' intersect each other transversely. For any such pair (f, g), it can be shown that the difference in index between any two critical points is equal to the dimension of th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sergei Novikov (mathematician)
Sergei Petrovich Novikov (also Serguei) (Russian: Серге́й Петро́вич Но́виков) (born 20 March 1938) is a Soviet and Russian mathematician, noted for work in both algebraic topology and soliton theory. In 1970, he won the Fields Medal. Early life Novikov was born on 20 March 1938 in Gorky, Soviet Union (now Nizhny Novgorod, Russia). He grew up in a family of talented mathematicians. His father was Pyotr Sergeyevich Novikov, who gave a negative solution to the word problem for groups. His mother, Lyudmila Vsevolodovna Keldysh, and maternal uncle, Mstislav Vsevolodovich Keldysh, were also important mathematicians. In 1955 Novikov entered Moscow State University, from which he graduated in 1960. Four years later he received the Moscow Mathematical Society Award for young mathematicians. In the same year he defended a dissertation for the ''Candidate of Science in Physics and Mathematics'' degree (equivalent to the PhD) at Moscow State University. In 196 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Morse Theory
In mathematics, specifically in differential topology, Morse theory enables one to analyze the topology of a manifold by studying differentiable functions on that manifold. According to the basic insights of Marston Morse, a typical differentiable function on a manifold will reflect the topology quite directly. Morse theory allows one to find CW structures and handle decompositions on manifolds and to obtain substantial information about their homology. Before Morse, Arthur Cayley and James Clerk Maxwell had developed some of the ideas of Morse theory in the context of topography. Morse originally applied his theory to geodesics ( critical points of the energy functional on the space of paths). These techniques were used in Raoul Bott's proof of his periodicity theorem. The analogue of Morse theory for complex manifolds is Picard–Lefschetz theory. Basic concepts To illustrate, consider a mountainous landscape surface M (more generally, a manifold). If f is the function M ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
One-form
In differential geometry, a one-form on a differentiable manifold is a smooth section of the cotangent bundle. Equivalently, a one-form on a manifold M is a smooth mapping of the total space of the tangent bundle of M to \R whose restriction to each fibre is a linear functional on the tangent space. Symbolically, \alpha : TM \rightarrow ,\quad \alpha_x = \alpha, _: T_xM \rightarrow , where \alpha_x is linear. Often one-forms are described locally, particularly in local coordinates. In a local coordinate system, a one-form is a linear combination of the differentials of the coordinates: \alpha_x = f_1(x) \, dx_1 + f_2(x) \, dx_2 + \cdots + f_n(x) \, dx_n , where the f_i are smooth functions. From this perspective, a one-form has a covariant transformation law on passing from one coordinate system to another. Thus a one-form is an order 1 covariant tensor field. Examples The most basic non-trivial differential one-form is the "change in angle" form d\theta. This is defined as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Michael Hutchings (mathematician)
Michael Lounsbery Hutchings is an American mathematician, a professor of mathematics at the University of California, Berkeley. He is known for proving the double bubble conjecture on the shape of two-chambered soap bubbles, and for his work on circle-valued Morse theory and on embedded contact homology, which he defined. Career As an undergraduate student at Harvard University, Hutchings did an REU project with Frank Morgan at Williams College that began his interest in the mathematics of soap bubbles. He finished his undergraduate studies in 1993, and stayed at Harvard for graduate school, earning his Ph.D. in 1998 under the supervision of Clifford Taubes. After postdoctoral and visiting positions at Stanford University, the Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in Bonn, Germany, and the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey, he joined the UC Berkeley faculty in 2001. His work on circle-valued Morse theory (partly in collaboration with Yi-Jen Lee) studies to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Reidemeister Torsion
In mathematics, Reidemeister torsion (or R-torsion, or Reidemeister–Franz torsion) is a topological invariant of manifolds introduced by Kurt Reidemeister for 3-manifolds and generalized to higher dimensions by and . Analytic torsion (or Ray–Singer torsion) is an invariant of Riemannian manifolds defined by as an analytic analogue of Reidemeister torsion. and proved Ray and Singer's conjecture that Reidemeister torsion and analytic torsion are the same for compact Riemannian manifolds. Reidemeister torsion was the first invariant in algebraic topology that could distinguish between closed manifolds which are homotopy equivalent but not homeomorphic, and can thus be seen as the birth of geometric topology as a distinct field. It can be used to classify lens spaces. Reidemeister torsion is closely related to Whitehead torsion; see . It has also given some important motivation to arithmetic topology; see . For more recent work on torsion see the books and . Definition of a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Seiberg–Witten Theory
In theoretical physics, Seiberg–Witten theory is a theory that determines an exact low-energy effective action (for massless degrees of freedom) of a \mathcal = 2 supersymmetric gauge theory—namely the metric of the moduli space of vacua. Seiberg–Witten curves In general, effective Lagrangians of supersymmetric gauge theories are largely determined by their holomorphic properties and their behavior near the singularities. In particular, in gauge theory with \mathcal = 2 extended supersymmetry, the moduli space of vacua is a special Kähler manifold and its Kähler potential is constrained by above conditions. In the original approach, by Seiberg and Witten, holomorphy and electric-magnetic duality constraints are strong enough to almost uniquely constrain the prepotential, and therefore the metric of the moduli space of vacua, for theories with SU(2) gauge group. More generally, consider the example with gauge group SU(n). The classical potential is This vanishes ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Topology (journal)
''Topology'' was a peer-reviewed mathematical journal covering topology and geometry. It was established in 1962 and was published by Elsevier. The last issue of ''Topology'' appeared in 2009. Pricing dispute On 10 August 2006, after months of unsuccessful negotiations with Elsevier about the price policy of library subscriptions, the entire editorial board of the journal handed in their resignation, effective 31 December 2006. Subsequently, two more issues appeared in 2007 with papers that had been accepted before the resignation of the editors. In early January the former editors instructed Elsevier to remove their names from the website of the journal, but Elsevier refused to comply, justifying their decision by saying that the editorial board should remain on the journal until all of the papers accepted during its tenure had been published. In 2007 the former editors of ''Topology'' announced the launch of the ''Journal of Topology'', published by Oxford University Press ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
