In
topology
In mathematics, topology (from the Greek language, Greek words , and ) is concerned with the properties of a mathematical object, geometric object that are preserved under Continuous function, continuous Deformation theory, deformations, such ...
, a branch of
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 ...
, the suspension of a
topological space
In mathematics, a topological space is, roughly speaking, a geometrical space in which closeness is defined but cannot necessarily be measured by a numeric distance. More specifically, a topological space is a set whose elements are called points ...
''X'' is intuitively obtained by stretching ''X'' into a
cylinder
A cylinder (from ) has traditionally been a three-dimensional solid, one of the most basic of curvilinear geometric shapes. In elementary geometry, it is considered a prism with a circle as its base.
A cylinder may also be defined as an infin ...
and then collapsing both end faces to points. One views ''X'' as "suspended" between these end points. The suspension of ''X'' is denoted by ''SX'' or susp(''X'').
There is a variation of the suspension for
pointed space
In mathematics, a pointed space or based space is a topological space with a distinguished point, the basepoint. The distinguished point is just simply one particular point, picked out from the space, and given a name, such as x_0, that remains u ...
, which is called the reduced suspension and denoted by Σ''X''. The "usual" suspension ''SX'' is sometimes called the unreduced suspension, unbased suspension, or free suspension of ''X'', to distinguish it from Σ''X.''
Free suspension
The (free) suspension
of a
topological space
In mathematics, a topological space is, roughly speaking, a geometrical space in which closeness is defined but cannot necessarily be measured by a numeric distance. More specifically, a topological space is a set whose elements are called points ...
can be defined in several ways.
1.
is the
quotient space . In other words, it can be constructed as follows:
* Construct the
cylinder
A cylinder (from ) has traditionally been a three-dimensional solid, one of the most basic of curvilinear geometric shapes. In elementary geometry, it is considered a prism with a circle as its base.
A cylinder may also be defined as an infin ...