Reduced homologyIn mathematics, reduced homology is a minor modification made to homology theory in algebraic topology, motivated by the intuition that all of the homology groups of a single point should be equal to zero. This modification allows more concise statements to be made (as in Alexander duality) and eliminates many exceptional cases (as in the homology groups of spheres). If P is a single-point space, then with the usual definitions the integral homology group H0(P) is isomorphic to (an infinite cyclic group), while for i ≥ 1 we have Hi(P) = {0}.
Whitehead torsionIn geometric topology, a field within mathematics, the obstruction to a homotopy equivalence of finite CW-complexes being a simple homotopy equivalence is its Whitehead torsion which is an element in the Whitehead group . These concepts are named after the mathematician J. H. C. Whitehead. The Whitehead torsion is important in applying surgery theory to non-simply connected manifolds of dimension > 4: for simply-connected manifolds, the Whitehead group vanishes, and thus homotopy equivalences and simple homotopy equivalences are the same.
W. V. D. HodgeSir William Vallance Douglas Hodge (hɒdʒ; 17 June 1903 – 7 July 1975) was a British mathematician, specifically a geometer. His discovery of far-reaching topological relations between algebraic geometry and differential geometry—an area now called Hodge theory and pertaining more generally to Kähler manifolds—has been a major influence on subsequent work in geometry.
Triangulated categoryIn mathematics, a triangulated category is a with the additional structure of a "translation functor" and a class of "exact triangles". Prominent examples are the of an , as well as the . The exact triangles generalize the short exact sequences in an abelian category, as well as fiber sequences and cofiber sequences in topology. Much of homological algebra is clarified and extended by the language of triangulated categories, an important example being the theory of sheaf cohomology.
Complex differential formIn mathematics, a complex differential form is a differential form on a manifold (usually a complex manifold) which is permitted to have complex coefficients. Complex forms have broad applications in differential geometry. On complex manifolds, they are fundamental and serve as the basis for much of algebraic geometry, Kähler geometry, and Hodge theory. Over non-complex manifolds, they also play a role in the study of almost complex structures, the theory of spinors, and CR structures.
Contractible spaceIn mathematics, a topological space X is contractible if the identity map on X is null-homotopic, i.e. if it is homotopic to some constant map. Intuitively, a contractible space is one that can be continuously shrunk to a point within that space. A contractible space is precisely one with the homotopy type of a point. It follows that all the homotopy groups of a contractible space are trivial. Therefore any space with a nontrivial homotopy group cannot be contractible.
Hodge star operatorIn mathematics, the Hodge star operator or Hodge star is a linear map defined on the exterior algebra of a finite-dimensional oriented vector space endowed with a nondegenerate symmetric bilinear form. Applying the operator to an element of the algebra produces the Hodge dual of the element. This map was introduced by W. V. D. Hodge. For example, in an oriented 3-dimensional Euclidean space, an oriented plane can be represented by the exterior product of two basis vectors, and its Hodge dual is the normal vector given by their cross product; conversely, any vector is dual to the oriented plane perpendicular to it, endowed with a suitable bivector.
Kähler differentialIn mathematics, Kähler differentials provide an adaptation of differential forms to arbitrary commutative rings or schemes. The notion was introduced by Erich Kähler in the 1930s. It was adopted as standard in commutative algebra and algebraic geometry somewhat later, once the need was felt to adapt methods from calculus and geometry over the complex numbers to contexts where such methods are not available. Let R and S be commutative rings and φ : R → S be a ring homomorphism.
Perverse sheafThe mathematical term perverse sheaves refers to a certain associated to a topological space X, which may be a real or complex manifold, or a more general topologically stratified space, usually singular. This concept was introduced in the thesis of Zoghman Mebkhout, gaining more popularity after the (independent) work of Joseph Bernstein, Alexander Beilinson, and Pierre Deligne (1982) as a formalisation of the Riemann-Hilbert correspondence, which related the topology of singular spaces (intersection homology of Mark Goresky and Robert MacPherson) and the algebraic theory of differential equations (microlocal calculus and holonomic D-modules of Joseph Bernstein, Masaki Kashiwara and Takahiro Kawai).
Bott periodicity theoremIn mathematics, the Bott periodicity theorem describes a periodicity in the homotopy groups of classical groups, discovered by , which proved to be of foundational significance for much further research, in particular in K-theory of stable complex vector bundles, as well as the stable homotopy groups of spheres. Bott periodicity can be formulated in numerous ways, with the periodicity in question always appearing as a period-2 phenomenon, with respect to dimension, for the theory associated to the unitary group.
