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Phantom Map
In homotopy theory, phantom maps are continuous maps f: X \to Y of CW-complexes A CW complex (also called cellular complex or cell complex) is a kind of a topological space that is particularly important in algebraic topology. It was introduced by J. H. C. Whitehead (open access) to meet the needs of homotopy theory. This cl ... for which the restriction of f to any finite subcomplex Z \subset X is inessential (i.e., nullhomotopic). produced the first known nontrivial example of such a map with Y finite-dimensional (answering a question of Paul Olum). Shortly thereafter, the terminology of "phantom map" was coined by , who constructed a stably essential phantom map from infinite-dimensional complex projective space to S^3. The subject was analysed in the thesis of Gray, much of which was elaborated and later published in . Similar constructions are defined for maps of spectra. References * * * Homotopy theory {{Topology-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
CW Complex
A CW complex (also called cellular complex or cell complex) is a kind of a topological space that is particularly important in algebraic topology. It was introduced by J. H. C. Whitehead (open access) to meet the needs of homotopy theory. This class of spaces is broader and has some better categorical properties than simplicial complexes, but still retains a combinatorial nature that allows for computation (often with a much smaller complex). The ''C'' stands for "closure-finite", and the ''W'' for "weak" topology. Definition CW complex A CW complex is constructed by taking the union of a sequence of topological spaces\emptyset = X_ \subset X_0 \subset X_1 \subset \cdotssuch that each X_k is obtained from X_ by gluing copies of k-cells (e^k_\alpha)_\alpha, each homeomorphic to D^k, to X_ by continuous gluing maps g^k_\alpha: \partial e^k_\alpha \to X_. The maps are also called attaching maps. Each X_k is called the k-skeleton of the complex. The topology of X = \cup_ X_ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nullhomotopic
In topology, a branch of mathematics, two continuous functions from one topological space to another are called homotopic (from grc, ὁμός "same, similar" and "place") if one can be "continuously deformed" into the other, such a deformation being called a homotopy (, ; , ) between the two functions. A notable use of homotopy is the definition of homotopy groups and cohomotopy groups, important invariants in algebraic topology. In practice, there are technical difficulties in using homotopies with certain spaces. Algebraic topologists work with compactly generated spaces, CW complexes, or spectra. Formal definition Formally, a homotopy between two continuous functions ''f'' and ''g'' from a topological space ''X'' to a topological space ''Y'' is defined to be a continuous function H: X \times ,1\to Y from the product of the space ''X'' with the unit interval , 1to ''Y'' such that H(x,0) = f(x) and H(x,1) = g(x) for all x \in X. If we think of the second p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paul Olum
Paul Olum (August 16, 1918 – January 19, 2001) was an American mathematician (algebraic topology), professor of mathematics, and university administrator. Early years Born in Binghamton, New York to a father who was a Russian Jew who immigrated at age of nine to escape persecution, Olum took an interest in mathematics at an early age. He graduated summa cum laude from Harvard University in 1940. In 1942 he married Vivian Goldstein, completed an MA in physics at Princeton University, and joined the scientific staff of the Manhattan Project. During his time at Los Alamos, Olum was among the Los Alamos scientists who questioned the implications of the atomic bomb, and after its use against Japan, he became a lifelong advocate for world peace and for nuclear arms control. Reportedly, one reason he switched from physics to mathematics as his field was that compared to his office mate, future Nobel laureate Richard Feynman, Olum did not think he was good at physics. He returned to Ha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Complex Projective Space
In 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. The space is denoted variously as P(C''n''+1), P''n''(C) or CP''n''. When , the complex projective space CP1 is the Riemann sphere, and when , CP2 is the complex projective plane (see there for a more elementary discussion). Complex projective space was first introduced by as an instance of what was then known as the "geometry of position", a notion originally due to Lazare Carnot, a kind of synthetic geometry that included other projective geometries as well. Sub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spectrum (topology)
In algebraic topology, a branch of mathematics, a spectrum is an object representable functor, representing a Cohomology#Generalized cohomology theories, generalized cohomology theory. Every such cohomology theory is representable, as follows from Brown's representability theorem. This means that, given a cohomology theory\mathcal^*:\text^ \to \text,there exist spaces E^k such that evaluating the cohomology theory in degree k on a space X is equivalent to computing the homotopy classes of maps to the space E^k, that is\mathcal^k(X) \cong \left[X, E^k\right].Note there are several different category (mathematics), categories of spectra leading to many technical difficulties, but they all determine the same homotopy category, known as the stable homotopy category. This is one of the key points for introducing spectra because they form a natural home for stable homotopy theory. The definition of a spectrum There are many variations of the definition: in general, a ''spectrum'' is any s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
