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Twisted K-theory
In mathematics, twisted K-theory (also called K-theory with local coefficients) is a variation on K-theory, a mathematical theory from the 1950s that spans algebraic topology, abstract algebra and operator theory. More specifically, twisted K-theory with twist ''H'' is a particular variant of K-theory, in which the twist is given by an integral 3-dimensional cohomology class. It is special among the various twists that K-theory admits for two reasons. First, it admits a geometric formulation. This was provided in two steps; the first one was done in 1970 (Publ. Math. de l' IHÉS) by Peter Donovan and Max Karoubi; the second one in 1988 by Jonathan Rosenberg iContinuous-Trace Algebras from the Bundle Theoretic Point of View In physics, it has been conjectured to classify D-branes, Ramond-Ramond field strengths and in some cases even spinors in type II string theory. For more information on twisted K-theory in string theory, see K-theory (physics). In the broader context of K-the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
K-theory
In mathematics, K-theory is, roughly speaking, the study of a ring generated by vector bundles over a topological space or scheme. In algebraic topology, it is a cohomology theory known as topological K-theory. In algebra and algebraic geometry, it is referred to as algebraic K-theory. It is also a fundamental tool in the field of operator algebras. It can be seen as the study of certain kinds of invariants of large matrices. K-theory involves the construction of families of ''K''-functors that map from topological spaces or schemes to associated rings; these rings reflect some aspects of the structure of the original spaces or schemes. As with functors to groups in algebraic topology, the reason for this functorial mapping is that it is easier to compute some topological properties from the mapped rings than from the original spaces or schemes. Examples of results gleaned from the K-theory approach include the Grothendieck–Riemann–Roch theorem, Bott periodicity, the Atiyahâ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Classifying Space
In mathematics, specifically in homotopy theory, a classifying space ''BG'' of a topological group ''G'' is the quotient of a weakly contractible space ''EG'' (i.e. a topological space all of whose homotopy groups are trivial) by a proper free action of ''G''. It has the property that any ''G'' principal bundle over a paracompact manifold is isomorphic to a pullback of the principal bundle ''EG'' → ''BG''. As explained later, this means that classifying spaces represent a set-valued functor on the homotopy category of topological spaces. The term classifying space can also be used for spaces that represent a set-valued functor on the category of topological spaces, such as Sierpiński space. This notion is generalized by the notion of classifying topos. However, the rest of this article discusses the more commonly used notion of classifying space up to homotopy. For a discrete group ''G'', ''BG'' is, roughly speaking, a path-connected topological space ''X'' such that the fundam ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Michael Atiyah
Sir Michael Francis Atiyah (; 22 April 1929 – 11 January 2019) was a British-Lebanese mathematician specialising in geometry. His contributions include the Atiyah–Singer index theorem and co-founding topological K-theory. He was awarded the Fields Medal in 1966 and the Abel Prize in 2004. Life Atiyah grew up in Sudan and Egypt but spent most of his academic life in the United Kingdom at the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge and in the United States at the Institute for Advanced Study. He was the President of the Royal Society (1990–1995), founding director of the Isaac Newton Institute (1990–1996), master of Trinity College, Cambridge (1990–1997), chancellor of the University of Leicester (1995–2005), and the President of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (2005–2008). From 1997 until his death, he was an honorary professor in the University of Edinburgh. Atiyah's mathematical collaborators included Raoul Bott, Friedrich Hirzebruch and Isadore Sin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Superstring Theory
Superstring theory is an attempt to explain all of the particles and fundamental forces of nature in one theory by modeling them as vibrations of tiny supersymmetric strings. 'Superstring theory' is a shorthand for supersymmetric string theory because unlike bosonic string theory, it is the version of string theory that accounts for both fermions and bosons and incorporates supersymmetry to model gravity. Since the second superstring revolution, the five superstring theories are regarded as different limits of a single theory tentatively called M-theory. Background The deepest problem in theoretical physics is harmonizing the theory of general relativity, which describes gravitation and applies to large-scale structures (stars, galaxies, super clusters), with quantum mechanics, which describes the other three fundamental forces acting on the atomic scale. The development of a quantum field theory of a force invariably results in infinite possibilities. Physicists developed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Steenrod Square
In algebraic topology, a Steenrod algebra was defined by to be the algebra of stable cohomology operations for mod p cohomology. For a given prime number p, the Steenrod algebra A_p is the graded Hopf algebra over the field \mathbb_p of order p, consisting of all stable cohomology operations for mod p cohomology. It is generated by the Steenrod squares introduced by for p=2, and by the Steenrod reduced pth powers introduced in and the Bockstein homomorphism for p>2. The term "Steenrod algebra" is also sometimes used for the algebra of cohomology operations of a generalized cohomology theory. Cohomology operations A cohomology operation is a natural transformation between cohomology functors. For example, if we take cohomology with coefficients in a ring R, the cup product squaring operation yields a family of cohomology operations: :H^n(X;R) \to H^(X;R) :x \mapsto x \smile x. Cohomology operations need not be homomorphisms of graded rings; see the Cartan formula below. The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Edward Witten
Edward Witten (born August 26, 1951) is an American mathematical and theoretical physicist. He is a Professor Emeritus in the School of Natural Sciences at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton. Witten is a researcher in string theory, quantum gravity, supersymmetric quantum field theories, and other areas of mathematical physics. Witten's work has also significantly impacted pure mathematics. In 1990, he became the first physicist to be awarded a Fields Medal by the International Mathematical Union, for his mathematical insights in physics, such as his 1981 proof of the positive energy theorem in general relativity, and his interpretation of the Jones invariants of knots as Feynman integrals. He is considered the practical founder of M-theory.Duff 1998, p. 65 Early life and education Witten was born on August 26, 1951, in Baltimore, Maryland, to a Jewish family. He is the son of Lorraine (née Wollach) Witten and Louis Witten, a theoretical physicist specializing in gra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Greg Moore (physicist)
Gregory W. Moore is an American theoretical physicist who specializes in mathematical physics and string theory. Moore is a professor in the Physics and Astronomy Department of Rutgers University and a member of the University's High Energy Theory group. Education Moore received an AB in physics from Princeton University in 1982 and a PhD in the same subject from Harvard University in 1985. Career Moore's research has focused on: D-branes on Calabi–Yau manifolds and BPS state counting; relations to Borcherds products, automorphic forms, black-hole entropy, and wall-crossing; applications of the theory of automorphic forms to conformal field theory, string compactification, black hole entropy counting, and the AdS/CFT correspondence; potential relation between string theory and number theory; effective low energy supergravity theories in string compactification and the computation of nonperturbative stringy effects in effective supergravities; topological field theories, and app ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Atiyah–Hirzebruch Spectral Sequence
In mathematics, the Atiyah–Hirzebruch spectral sequence is a spectral sequence for calculating generalized cohomology, introduced by in the special case of topological K-theory. For a CW complex X and a generalized cohomology theory E^\bullet, it relates the generalized cohomology groups : E^i(X) with 'ordinary' cohomology groups H^j with coefficients in the generalized cohomology of a point. More precisely, the E_2 term of the spectral sequence is H^p(X;E^q(pt)), and the spectral sequence converges conditionally to E^(X). Atiyah and Hirzebruch pointed out a generalization of their spectral sequence that also generalizes the Serre spectral sequence, and reduces to it in the case where E=H_. It can be derived from an exact couple that gives the E_1 page of the Serre spectral sequence, except with the ordinary cohomology groups replaced with E. In detail, assume X to be the total space of a Serre fibration with fibre F and base space B. The filtration of B by its n-skeletons ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Associated Bundle
In mathematics, the theory of fiber bundles with a structure group G (a topological group) allows an operation of creating an associated bundle, in which the typical fiber of a bundle changes from F_1 to F_2, which are both topological spaces with a group action of G. For a fiber bundle ''F'' with structure group ''G'', the transition functions of the fiber (i.e., the cocycle) in an overlap of two coordinate systems ''U''α and ''U''β are given as a ''G''-valued function ''g''αβ on ''U''α∩''U''β. One may then construct a fiber bundle ''F''′ as a new fiber bundle having the same transition functions, but possibly a different fiber. An example A simple case comes with the Möbius strip, for which G is the cyclic group of order 2, \mathbb_2. We can take as F any of: the real number line \mathbb, the interval 1,\ 1/math>, the real number line less the point 0, or the two-point set \. The action of G on these (the non-identity element acting as x\ \rightarrow\ -x in each ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eilenberg–MacLane Space
In mathematics, specifically algebraic topology, an Eilenberg–MacLane spaceSaunders Mac Lane originally spelt his name "MacLane" (without a space), and co-published the papers establishing the notion of Eilenberg–MacLane spaces under this name. (See e.g. ) In this context it is therefore conventional to write the name without a space. is a topological space with a single nontrivial homotopy group. Let ''G'' be a group and ''n'' a positive integer. A connected topological space ''X'' is called an Eilenberg–MacLane space of type K(G,n), if it has ''n''-th homotopy group \pi_n(X) isomorphic to ''G'' and all other homotopy groups trivial. If n > 1 then ''G'' must be abelian. Such a space exists, is a CW-complex, and is unique up to a weak homotopy equivalence, therefore any such space is often just called K(G,n). The name is derived from Samuel Eilenberg and Saunders Mac Lane, who introduced such spaces in the late 1940s. As such, an Eilenberg–MacLane space is a special k ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Integral Cohomology Group
In mathematics, specifically in homology theory and algebraic topology, cohomology is a general term for a sequence of abelian groups, usually one associated with a topological space, often defined from a cochain complex. Cohomology can be viewed as a method of assigning richer algebraic invariants to a space than homology. Some versions of cohomology arise by dualizing the construction of homology. In other words, cochains are functions on the group of chains in homology theory. From its beginning in topology, this idea became a dominant method in the mathematics of the second half of the twentieth century. From the initial idea of homology as a method of constructing algebraic invariants of topological spaces, the range of applications of homology and cohomology theories has spread throughout geometry and algebra. The terminology tends to hide the fact that cohomology, a contravariant theory, is more natural than homology in many applications. At a basic level, this has to do ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Equivariant
In mathematics, equivariance is a form of symmetry for functions from one space with symmetry to another (such as symmetric spaces). A function is said to be an equivariant map when its domain and codomain are acted on by the same symmetry group, and when the function commutes with the action of the group. That is, applying a symmetry transformation and then computing the function produces the same result as computing the function and then applying the transformation. Equivariant maps generalize the concept of invariants, functions whose value is unchanged by a symmetry transformation of their argument. The value of an equivariant map is often (imprecisely) called an invariant. In statistical inference, equivariance under statistical transformations of data is an important property of various estimation methods; see invariant estimator for details. In pure mathematics, equivariance is a central object of study in equivariant topology and its subtopics equivariant cohomology and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
