This volume deals with the theory of finite topological spaces and its relationship with the homotopy and simple homotopy theory of polyhedra. The interaction between their intrinsic combinatorial and topological structures makes finite spaces a useful tool for studying problems in Topology, Algebra and Geometry from a new perspective. In particular, the methods developed in this manuscript are used to study Quillen's conjecture on the poset of p-subgroups of a finite group and the Andrews-Curtis conjecture on the 3-deformability of contractible two-dimensional complexes. This self-contained work constitutes the first detailed exposition on the algebraic topology of finite spaces. It is intended for topologists and combinatorialists, but it is also recommended for advanced undergraduate students and graduate students with a modest knowledge of Algebraic Topology.

This book represents a novel approach to differential topology. Its main focus is to give a comprehensive introduction to the classification of manifolds, with special attention paid to the case of surfaces, for which the book provides a complete classification from many points of view: topological, smooth, constant curvature, complex, and conformal. Each chapter briefly revisits basic results usually known to graduate students from an alternative perspective, focusing on surfaces. We provide full proofs of some remarkable results that sometimes are missed in basic courses (e.g., the construction of triangulations on surfaces, the classification of surfaces, the Gauss-Bonnet theorem, the degree-genus formula for complex plane curves, the existence of constant curvature metrics on conformal surfaces), and we give hints to questions about higher dimensional manifolds. Many examples and remarks are scattered through the book. Each chapter ends with an exhaustive collection of problems and a list of topics for further study. The book is primarily addressed to graduate students who did take standard introductory courses on algebraic topology, differential and Riemannian geometry, or algebraic geometry, but have not seen their deep interconnections, which permeate a modern approach to geometry and topology of manifolds.

This volume is a collection of surveys of research problems in topology and its applications. The topics covered include general topology, set-theoretic topology, continuum theory, topological algebra, dynamical systems, computational topology and functional analysis.* New surveys of research problems in topology* New perspectives on classic problems* Representative surveys of research groups from all around the world

This book provides an accessible introduction to algebraic topology, a field at the intersection of topology, geometry and algebra, together with its applications. Moreover, it covers several related topics that are in fact important in the overall scheme of algebraic topology. Comprising eighteen chapters and two appendices, the book integrates various concepts of algebraic topology, supported by examples, exercises, applications and historical notes. Primarily intended as a textbook, the book offers a valuable resource for undergraduate, postgraduate and advanced mathematics students alike. Focusing more on the geometric than on algebraic aspects of the subject, as well as its natural development, the book conveys the basic language of modern algebraic topology by exploring homotopy, homology and cohomology theories, and examines a variety of spaces: spheres, projective spaces, classical groups and their quotient spaces, function spaces, polyhedra, topological groups, Lie groups and cell complexes, etc. The book studies a variety of maps, which are continuous functions between spaces. It also reveals the importance of algebraic topology in contemporary mathematics, theoretical physics, computer science, chemistry, economics, and the biological and medical sciences, and encourages students to engage in further study.

The aim of the textbook is two-fold: first to serve as an introductory graduate course in Algebraic Topology and then to provide an application-oriented presentation of some fundamental concepts in Algebraic Topology to the fixed point theory. A simple approach based on point-set Topology is used throughout to introduce many standard constructions of fundamental and homological groups of surfaces and topological spaces. The approach does not rely on Homological Algebra. The constructions of some spaces using the quotient spaces such as the join, the suspension, and the adjunction spaces are developed in the setting of Topology only. The computations of the fundamental and homological groups of many surfaces and topological spaces occupy large parts of the book (sphere, torus, projective space, Mobius band, Klein bottle, manifolds, adjunctions spaces). Borsuk's theory of retracts which is intimately related to the problem of the extendability of continuous functions is developed in details. This theory together with the homotopy theory, the lifting and covering maps may serve as additional course material for students involved in General Topology. The book comprises 280 detailed worked examples, 320 exercises (with hints or references), 80 illustrative figures, and more than 80 commutative diagrams to make it more oriented towards applications (maps between spheres, Borsuk-Ulam Theory, Fixed Point Theorems, ...) As applications, the book offers some existence results on the solvability of some nonlinear differential equations subject to initial or boundary conditions. The book is suitable for students primarily enrolled in Algebraic Topology, General Topology, Homological Algebra, Differential Topology, Differential Geometry, and Topological Geometry. It is also useful for advanced undergraduate students who aspire to grasp easily some new concepts in Algebraic Topology and Applications. The textbook is practical both as a teaching and research document for Bachelor, Master students, and first-year PhD students since it is accessible to any reader with a modest understanding of topological spaces. The book aspires to fill a gap in the existing literature by providing a research and teaching document which investigates both the theory and the applications of Algebraic Topology in an accessible way without missing the main results of the topics covered.

An approach to defining the conceptual bases of pattern recognition in mathematics, through the development of appropriate models based largely on homotopy theory and generalized shape theory. Topics include the problem of pattern recognition, topological and structural framework, and the formalization of recognition by means of a categorical framework. Appropriate as a graduate textbook on the mathematics of pattern recognition. Annotation(c) 2003 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Introduces a new method and language, based on finite topological spaces, for investigating molecular structure. Eschews the ``theorem-proof-remarks'' format of mathematics in favor of a more readable style commonly used in physical science. Part I develops the mathematical machinery which can serve as an analytical tool to investigate nonmetric aspects of chemical structure. Specific topics covered include set theory, lattices, graph theory, connectivity, classification of spaces, combinatorics, and functions and continuity. Part II explains the application of the above concepts to molecular structure. Chapters cover the bond topology, the graph topology, duplex spaces, and the topology of chemical reactions. Eight appendixes cover ancillary topics.