|
Cohomology
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] |
Homology Theory
In mathematics, homology is a general way of associating a sequence of algebraic objects, such as abelian groups or modules, with other mathematical objects such as topological spaces. Homology groups were originally defined in algebraic topology. Similar constructions are available in a wide variety of other contexts, such as abstract algebra, groups, Lie algebras, Galois theory, and algebraic geometry. The original motivation for defining homology groups was the observation that two shapes can be distinguished by examining their holes. For instance, a circle is not a disk because the circle has a hole through it while the disk is solid, and the ordinary sphere is not a circle because the sphere encloses a two-dimensional hole while the circle encloses a one-dimensional hole. However, because a hole is "not there", it is not immediately obvious how to define a hole or how to distinguish different kinds of holes. Homology was originally a rigorous mathematical method for d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Algebraic Topology
Algebraic topology is a branch of mathematics that uses tools from abstract algebra to study topological spaces. The basic goal is to find algebraic invariants that classify topological spaces up to homeomorphism, though usually most classify up to homotopy equivalence. Although algebraic topology primarily uses algebra to study topological problems, using topology to solve algebraic problems is sometimes also possible. Algebraic topology, for example, allows for a convenient proof that any subgroup of a free group is again a free group. Main branches of algebraic topology Below are some of the main areas studied in algebraic topology: Homotopy groups In mathematics, homotopy groups are used in algebraic topology to classify topological spaces. The first and simplest homotopy group is the fundamental group, which records information about loops in a space. Intuitively, homotopy groups record information about the basic shape, or holes, of a topological space. Homology ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ring (mathematics)
In mathematics, rings are algebraic structures that generalize fields: multiplication need not be commutative and multiplicative inverses need not exist. In other words, a ''ring'' is a set equipped with two binary operations satisfying properties analogous to those of addition and multiplication of integers. Ring elements may be numbers such as integers or complex numbers, but they may also be non-numerical objects such as polynomials, square matrices, functions, and power series. Formally, a ''ring'' is an abelian group whose operation is called ''addition'', with a second binary operation called ''multiplication'' that is associative, is distributive over the addition operation, and has a multiplicative identity element. (Some authors use the term " " with a missing i to refer to the more general structure that omits this last requirement; see .) Whether a ring is commutative (that is, whether the order in which two elements are multiplied might change the result ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Singular Chain Complex
In algebraic topology, singular homology refers to the study of a certain set of algebraic invariants of a topological space ''X'', the so-called homology groups H_n(X). Intuitively, singular homology counts, for each dimension ''n'', the ''n''-dimensional holes of a space. Singular homology is a particular example of a homology theory, which has now grown to be a rather broad collection of theories. Of the various theories, it is perhaps one of the simpler ones to understand, being built on fairly concrete constructions (see also the related theory simplicial homology). In brief, singular homology is constructed by taking maps of the standard ''n''-simplex to a topological space, and composing them into formal sums, called singular chains. The boundary operation – mapping each ''n''-dimensional simplex to its (''n''−1)-dimensional boundary – induces the singular chain complex. The singular homology is then the homology of the chain complex. The resultin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Singular Homology
In algebraic topology, singular homology refers to the study of a certain set of algebraic invariants of a topological space ''X'', the so-called homology groups H_n(X). Intuitively, singular homology counts, for each dimension ''n'', the ''n''-dimensional holes of a space. Singular homology is a particular example of a homology theory, which has now grown to be a rather broad collection of theories. Of the various theories, it is perhaps one of the simpler ones to understand, being built on fairly concrete constructions (see also the related theory simplicial homology). In brief, singular homology is constructed by taking maps of the standard ''n''-simplex to a topological space, and composing them into formal sums, called singular chains. The boundary operation – mapping each ''n''-dimensional simplex to its (''n''−1)-dimensional boundary – induces the singular chain complex. The singular homology is then the homology of the chain complex. The resul ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dual Space
In mathematics, any vector space ''V'' has a corresponding dual vector space (or just dual space for short) consisting of all linear forms on ''V'', together with the vector space structure of pointwise addition and scalar multiplication by constants. The dual space as defined above is defined for all vector spaces, and to avoid ambiguity may also be called the . When defined for a topological vector space, there is a subspace of the dual space, corresponding to continuous linear functionals, called the ''continuous dual space''. Dual vector spaces find application in many branches of mathematics that use vector spaces, such as in tensor analysis with finite-dimensional vector spaces. When applied to vector spaces of functions (which are typically infinite-dimensional), dual spaces are used to describe measures, distributions, and Hilbert spaces. Consequently, the dual space is an important concept in functional analysis. Early terms for ''dual'' include ''polarer Raum'' ah ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Homotopy Group
In mathematics, homotopy groups are used in algebraic topology to classify topological spaces. The first and simplest homotopy group is the fundamental group, denoted \pi_1(X), which records information about loops in a space. Intuitively, homotopy groups record information about the basic shape, or '' holes'', of a topological space. To define the ''n''-th homotopy group, the base-point-preserving maps from an ''n''-dimensional sphere (with base point) into a given space (with base point) are collected into equivalence classes, called homotopy classes. Two mappings are homotopic if one can be continuously deformed into the other. These homotopy classes form a group, called the ''n''-th homotopy group, \pi_n(X), of the given space ''X'' with base point. Topological spaces with differing homotopy groups are never equivalent (homeomorphic), but topological spaces that homeomorphic have the same homotopy groups. The notion of homotopy of paths was introduced by Camille Jordan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Free Abelian Group
In mathematics, a free abelian group is an abelian group with a basis. Being an abelian group means that it is a set with an addition operation that is associative, commutative, and invertible. A basis, also called an integral basis, is a subset such that every element of the group can be uniquely expressed as an integer combination of finitely many basis elements. For instance the two-dimensional integer lattice forms a free abelian group, with coordinatewise addition as its operation, and with the two points (1,0) and (0,1) as its basis. Free abelian groups have properties which make them similar to vector spaces, and may equivalently be called free the free modules over the integers. Lattice theory studies free abelian subgroups of real vector spaces. In algebraic topology, free abelian groups are used to define chain groups, and in algebraic geometry they are used to define divisors. The elements of a free abelian group with basis B may be described in several equiv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 with the major subdisciplines of number theory, algebra, geometry, and analysis, respectively. There is no general consensus among mathematicians about a common definition for their academic discipline. Most mathematical activity involves the discovery of properties of abstract objects and the use of pure reason to prove them. These objects consist of either abstractions from nature orin modern mathematicsentities that are stipulated to have certain properties, called axioms. A ''proof'' consists of a succession of applications of deductive rules to already established results. These results include previously proved theorems, axioms, andin case of abstraction from naturesome basic properties that are considered true starting points of t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Equivalence Class
In mathematics, when the elements of some set S have a notion of equivalence (formalized as an equivalence relation), then one may naturally split the set S into equivalence classes. These equivalence classes are constructed so that elements a and b belong to the same equivalence class if, and only if, they are equivalent. Formally, given a set S and an equivalence relation \,\sim\, on S, the of an element a in S, denoted by is the set \ of elements which are equivalent to a. It may be proven, from the defining properties of equivalence relations, that the equivalence classes form a partition of S. This partition—the set of equivalence classes—is sometimes called the quotient set or the quotient space of S by \,\sim\,, and is denoted by S / \sim. When the set S has some structure (such as a group operation or a topology) and the equivalence relation \,\sim\, is compatible with this structure, the quotient set often inherits a similar structure from its parent set. Exa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ring Homomorphism
In ring theory, a branch of abstract algebra, a ring homomorphism is a structure-preserving function between two rings. More explicitly, if ''R'' and ''S'' are rings, then a ring homomorphism is a function such that ''f'' is: :addition preserving: ::f(a+b)=f(a)+f(b) for all ''a'' and ''b'' in ''R'', :multiplication preserving: ::f(ab)=f(a)f(b) for all ''a'' and ''b'' in ''R'', :and unit (multiplicative identity) preserving: ::f(1_R)=1_S. Additive inverses and the additive identity are part of the structure too, but it is not necessary to require explicitly that they too are respected, because these conditions are consequences of the three conditions above. If in addition ''f'' is a bijection, then its inverse ''f''−1 is also a ring homomorphism. In this case, ''f'' is called a ring isomorphism, and the rings ''R'' and ''S'' are called ''isomorphic''. From the standpoint of ring theory, isomorphic rings cannot be distinguished. If ''R'' and ''S'' are rngs, then the cor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Module (mathematics)
In mathematics, a module is a generalization of the notion of vector space in which the field of scalars is replaced by a ring. The concept of ''module'' generalizes also the notion of abelian group, since the abelian groups are exactly the modules over the ring of integers. Like a vector space, a module is an additive abelian group, and scalar multiplication is distributive over the operation of addition between elements of the ring or module and is compatible with the ring multiplication. Modules are very closely related to the representation theory of groups. They are also one of the central notions of commutative algebra and homological algebra, and are used widely in algebraic geometry and algebraic topology. Introduction and definition Motivation In a vector space, the set of scalars is a field and acts on the vectors by scalar multiplication, subject to certain axioms such as the distributive law. In a module, the scalars need only be a ring, so the modu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
