
In
mathematics
Mathematics (from Greek: ) includes the study of such topics as numbers (arithmetic and number theory), formulas and related structures (algebra), shapes and spaces in which they are contained (geometry), and quantities and their changes (cal ...
, geometric topology is the study of
manifold
In mathematics
Mathematics (from Greek: ) includes the study of such topics as numbers (arithmetic and number theory), formulas and related structures (algebra), shapes and spaces in which they are contained (geometry), and quantities a ...

s and
maps
A map is a symbol
A symbol is a mark, sign, or word
In linguistics, a word of a spoken language can be defined as the smallest sequence of phonemes that can be uttered in isolation with semantic, objective or pragmatics, practical meani ...
between them, particularly
embedding
In mathematics
Mathematics (from Greek: ) includes the study of such topics as numbers ( and ), formulas and related structures (), shapes and spaces in which they are contained (), and quantities and their changes ( and ). There is no gen ...
s of one manifold into another.
History
Geometric topology as an area distinct from
algebraic topology
Algebraic topology is a branch of mathematics
Mathematics (from Greek: ) includes the study of such topics as numbers (arithmetic and number theory), formulas and related structures (algebra), shapes and spaces in which they are contained ...
may be said to have originated in the 1935 classification of
lens spaces
A lens space is an example of a topological space, considered in mathematics. The term often refers to a specific class of 3-manifolds, but in general can be defined for higher dimensions.
In the 3-manifold case, a lens space can be visualized as ...
by
Reidemeister torsion
In mathematics, Reidemeister torsion (or R-torsion, or Reidemeister–Franz torsion) is a topological invariantIn topology
s, which have only one surface and one edge, are a kind of object studied in topology.
In mathematics, topology (from the ...
, which required distinguishing spaces that are
homotopy equivalent
In topology, a branch of mathematics, two continuous function (topology), continuous functions from one topological space to another are called homotopic (from grc, ὁμός "same, similar" and "place") if one can be "continuously deformed ...
but not
homeomorphic
In the mathematical
Mathematics (from Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece
Greece ( el, Ελλάδα, , ), officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country located in Southeast Europe. Its populat ...
. This was the origin of
''simple'' homotopy theory. The use of the term geometric topology to describe these seems to have originated rather recently.
Differences between low-dimensional and high-dimensional topology
Manifolds differ radically in behavior in high and low dimension.
High-dimensional topology refers to manifolds of dimension 5 and above, or in relative terms, embeddings in
codimension
In mathematics
Mathematics (from Greek: ) includes the study of such topics as numbers (arithmetic and number theory), formulas and related structures (algebra), shapes and spaces in which they are contained (geometry), and quantities and th ...
3 and above.
Low-dimensional topology
In mathematics, low-dimensional topology is the branch of topology that studies manifolds, or more generally topological spaces, of four or fewer dimensions. Representative topics are the structure theory of 3-manifolds and 4-manifolds, knot theor ...
is concerned with questions in dimensions up to 4, or embeddings in codimension up to 2.
Dimension 4 is special, in that in some respects (topologically), dimension 4 is high-dimensional, while in other respects (differentiably), dimension 4 is low-dimensional; this overlap yields phenomena exceptional to dimension 4, such as
exotic differentiable structures on R4. Thus the topological classification of 4-manifolds is in principle easy, and the key questions are: does a topological manifold admit a differentiable structure, and if so, how many? Notably, the smooth case of dimension 4 is the last open case of the
generalized Poincaré conjecture
In the mathematical
Mathematics (from Greek: ) includes the study of such topics as numbers (arithmetic and number theory), formulas and related structures (algebra), shapes and spaces in which they are contained (geometry), and quantities a ...
; see
Gluck twist
In differential topology, an exotic sphere is a differentiable manifold ''M'' that is homeomorphic but not diffeomorphic to the standard Euclidean n-sphere, ''n''-sphere. That is, ''M'' is a sphere from the point of view of all its topological prop ...
s.
The distinction is because
surgery theory
In mathematics, specifically in geometric topology, surgery theory is a collection of techniques used to produce one finite-dimensional manifold from another in a 'controlled' way, introduced by . Milnor called this technique ''surgery'', while And ...
works in dimension 5 and above (in fact, it works topologically in dimension 4, though this is very involved to prove), and thus the behavior of manifolds in dimension 5 and above is controlled algebraically by surgery theory. In dimension 4 and below (topologically, in dimension 3 and below), surgery theory does not work, and other phenomena occur.
Indeed, one approach to discussing low-dimensional manifolds is to ask "what would surgery theory predict to be true, were it to work?" – and then understand low-dimensional phenomena as deviations from this.

The precise reason for the difference at dimension 5 is because the
Whitney embedding theorem
In mathematics
Mathematics (from Greek: ) includes the study of such topics as numbers (arithmetic and number theory), formulas and related structures (algebra), shapes and spaces in which they are contained (geometry), and quantities and th ...
, the key technical trick which underlies surgery theory, requires 2+1 dimensions. Roughly, the Whitney trick allows one to "unknot" knotted spheres – more precisely, remove self-intersections of immersions; it does this via a
homotopy
In topology
In mathematics
Mathematics (from Greek: ) includes the study of such topics as numbers (arithmetic and number theory), formulas and related structures (algebra), shapes and spaces in which they are contained (geometry) ...

of a disk – the disk has 2 dimensions, and the homotopy adds 1 more – and thus in codimension greater than 2, this can be done without intersecting itself; hence embeddings in codimension greater than 2 can be understood by surgery. In surgery theory, the key step is in the middle dimension, and thus when the middle dimension has codimension more than 2 (loosely, 2½ is enough, hence total dimension 5 is enough), the Whitney trick works. The key consequence of this is Smale's
''h''-cobordism theorem, which works in dimension 5 and above, and forms the basis for surgery theory.
A modification of the Whitney trick can work in 4 dimensions, and is called
Casson handle In 4-dimensional topology, a branch of mathematics, a Casson handle is a 4-dimensional topological 2-handle constructed by an infinite procedure. They are named for Andrew Casson, who introduced them in about 1973. They were originally called "flex ...
s – because there are not enough dimensions, a Whitney disk introduces new kinks, which can be resolved by another Whitney disk, leading to a sequence ("tower") of disks. The limit of this tower yields a topological but not differentiable map, hence surgery works topologically but not differentiably in dimension 4.
Important tools in geometric topology
Fundamental group
In all dimensions, the
fundamental group
In the mathematical
Mathematics (from Greek: ) includes the study of such topics as numbers (arithmetic and number theory), formulas and related structures (algebra), shapes and spaces in which they are contained (geometry), and quantities ...

of a manifold is a very important invariant, and determines much of the structure; in dimensions 1, 2 and 3, the possible fundamental groups are restricted, while in dimension 4 and above every
finitely presented group
In mathematics, a presentation is one method of specifying a group (mathematics), group. A presentation of a group ''G'' comprises a set ''S'' of generating set of a group, generators—so that every element of the group can be written as a produ ...
is the fundamental group of a manifold (note that it is sufficient to show this for 4- and 5-dimensional manifolds, and then to take products with spheres to get higher ones).
Orientability
A manifold is orientable if it has a consistent choice of
orientation
Orientation may refer to:
Positioning in physical space
* Map orientation, the relationship between directions on a map and compass directions
* Orientation (housing), the position of a building with respect to the sun, a concept in building desi ...
, and a
connected orientable manifold has exactly two different possible orientations. In this setting, various equivalent formulations of orientability can be given, depending on the desired application and level of generality. Formulations applicable to general topological manifolds often employ methods of
homology theory
In mathematics
Mathematics (from Greek: ) includes the study of such topics as numbers (arithmetic and number theory), formulas and related structures (algebra), shapes and spaces in which they are contained (geometry), and quantities and ...
, whereas for
differentiable manifolds
In mathematics, a differentiable manifold (also differential manifold) is a type of manifold
The real projective plane is a two-dimensional manifold that cannot be realized in three dimensions without self-intersection, shown here as Boy's s ...
more structure is present, allowing a formulation in terms of
differential form
In the mathematical
Mathematics (from Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece
Greece ( el, Ελλάδα, , ), officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country located in Southeast Europe. Its population ...
s. An important generalization of the notion of orientability of a space is that of orientability of a family of spaces parameterized by some other space (a
fiber bundle
In mathematics, and particularly topology, a fiber bundle (or, in English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English: fibre bundle) is a Space (mathematics), space that is ''locally'' a product space, but ''globally'' may have a dif ...
) for which an orientation must be selected in each of the spaces which varies continuously with respect to changes in the parameter values.
Handle decompositions
A
handle decomposition In mathematics, a handle decomposition of an ''m''-manifold ''M'' is a union
:\emptyset = M_ \subset M_0 \subset M_1 \subset M_2 \subset \dots \subset M_ \subset M_m = M
where each M_i is obtained from M_
by the attaching of i-handles. A handle ...
of an ''m''-
manifold
In mathematics
Mathematics (from Greek: ) includes the study of such topics as numbers (arithmetic and number theory), formulas and related structures (algebra), shapes and spaces in which they are contained (geometry), and quantities a ...

''M'' is a union
:
where each
is obtained from
by the attaching of
-handles. A handle decomposition is to a manifold what a
CW-decomposition is to a topological space—in many regards the purpose of a handle decomposition is to have a language analogous to CW-complexes, but adapted to the world of
smooth manifold
In mathematics, a differentiable manifold (also differential manifold) is a type of manifold
The real projective plane is a two-dimensional manifold that cannot be realized in three dimensions without self-intersection, shown here as Boy's s ...
s. Thus an ''i''-handle is the smooth analogue of an ''i''-cell. Handle decompositions of manifolds arise naturally via
Morse theory
In mathematics
Mathematics (from Greek: ) includes the study of such topics as numbers (arithmetic and number theory), formulas and related structures (algebra), shapes and spaces in which they are contained (geometry), and quantities and ...
. The modification of handle structures is closely linked to
Cerf theory
In mathematics
Mathematics (from Greek: ) includes the study of such topics as numbers (arithmetic and number theory), formulas and related structures (algebra), shapes and spaces in which they are contained (geometry), and quantities and th ...
.
Local flatness
Local flatness is a property of a
submanifold
In mathematics, a submanifold of a manifold ''M'' is a subset ''S'' which itself has the structure of a manifold, and for which the inclusion map satisfies certain properties. There are different types of submanifolds depending on exactly which p ...
in a
topological manifold In topology, a branch of mathematics, a topological manifold is a topological space which locally resembles real numbers, real ''n''-dimension (mathematics), dimensional Euclidean space. Topological manifolds are an important class of topological sp ...
of larger
dimension
In physics
Physics is the that studies , its , its and behavior through , and the related entities of and . "Physical science is that department of knowledge which relates to the order of nature, or, in other words, to the regular s ...

. In the
category
Category, plural categories, may refer to:
Philosophy and general uses
*Categorization
Categorization is the ability and activity to recognize shared features or similarities between the elements of the experience of the world (such as O ...
of topological manifolds, locally flat submanifolds play a role similar to that of
embedded submanifolds in the category of
smooth manifolds
In mathematics, a differentiable manifold (also differential manifold) is a type of manifold that is locally similar enough to a vector space to allow one to do calculus. Any manifold can be described by a collection of charts, also known as an ...
.
Suppose a ''d'' dimensional manifold ''N'' is embedded into an ''n'' dimensional manifold ''M'' (where ''d'' < ''n''). If
we say ''N'' is locally flat at ''x'' if there is a neighborhood
of ''x'' such that the
topological pair is
homeomorphic
In the mathematical
Mathematics (from Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece
Greece ( el, Ελλάδα, , ), officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country located in Southeast Europe. Its populat ...
to the pair
, with a standard inclusion of
as a subspace of
. That is, there exists a homeomorphism
such that the
image
An image (from la, imago) is an artifact that depicts visual perception
Visual perception is the ability to interpret the surrounding environment (biophysical), environment through photopic vision (daytime vision), color vision, sco ...
of
coincides with
.
Schönflies theorems
The generalized
Schoenflies theorem
In mathematics, the Schoenflies problem or Schoenflies theorem, of geometric topology is a sharpening of the Jordan curve theorem by Arthur Moritz Schoenflies, Arthur Schoenflies. For Camille Jordan, Jordan curves in the Plane (geometry), plane it ...
states that, if an (''n'' − 1)-dimensional
sphere
A sphere (from Greek#REDIRECT Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece
Greece ( el, Ελλάδα, , ), officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country located in Southeast Europe. Its population is appr ...

''S'' is embedded into the ''n''-dimensional sphere ''S
n'' in a
way (that is, the embedding extends to that of a thickened sphere), then the pair (''S
n'', ''S'') is homeomorphic to the pair (''S
n'', ''S''
''n''−1), where ''S''
''n''−1 is the equator of the ''n''-sphere. Brown and Mazur received the
Veblen Prize for their independent proofs
[Mazur, Barry, On embeddings of spheres., ''Bull. Amer. Math. Soc.'' 65 1959 59–65.
] of this theorem.
Branches of geometric topology
Low-dimensional topology
Low-dimensional topology
In mathematics, low-dimensional topology is the branch of topology that studies manifolds, or more generally topological spaces, of four or fewer dimensions. Representative topics are the structure theory of 3-manifolds and 4-manifolds, knot theor ...
includes:
*
Surfaces
A surface
File:Water droplet lying on a damask.jpg, Water droplet lying on a damask. Surface tension is high enough to prevent floating below the textile.
A surface, as the term is most generally used, is the outermost or uppermost layer of a ph ...
(2-manifolds)
*
3-manifold
In mathematics
Mathematics (from Greek: ) includes the study of such topics as numbers (arithmetic and number theory), formulas and related structures (algebra), shapes and spaces in which they are contained (geometry), and quantities and ...
s
*
4-manifold
In mathematics
Mathematics (from Greek: ) includes the study of such topics as numbers (arithmetic and number theory), formulas and related structures (algebra), shapes and spaces in which they are contained (geometry), and quantities and th ...
s
each have their own theory, where there are some connections.
Low-dimensional topology is strongly geometric, as reflected in the
uniformization theorem
In mathematics, the uniformization theorem says that every simply connected Riemann surface is Conformal equivalence, conformally equivalent to one of three Riemann surfaces: the open unit disk, the complex plane, or the Riemann sphere. The theore ...
in 2 dimensions – every surface admits a constant curvature metric; geometrically, it has one of 3 possible geometries: positive curvature/spherical, zero curvature/flat, negative curvature/hyperbolic – and the
geometrization conjecture
In mathematics, Thurston's geometrization conjecture states that each of certain three-dimensional topological spaces has a unique geometry, geometric structure that can be associated with it. It is an analogue of the uniformization theorem for tw ...
(now theorem) in 3 dimensions – every 3-manifold can be cut into pieces, each of which has one of 8 possible geometries.
2-dimensional topology can be studied as
complex geometry
In mathematics
Mathematics (from Greek: ) includes the study of such topics as numbers (arithmetic and number theory), formulas and related structures (algebra), shapes and spaces in which they are contained (geometry), and quantities and ...
in one variable (Riemann surfaces are complex curves) – by the uniformization theorem every conformal class of metrics is equivalent to a unique complex one, and 4-dimensional topology can be studied from the point of view of complex geometry in two variables (complex surfaces), though not every 4-manifold admits a complex structure.
Knot theory
Knot theory
In the mathematical field of topology
In mathematics
Mathematics (from Greek: ) includes the study of such topics as numbers (arithmetic and number theory), formulas and related structures (algebra), shapes and spaces in which they ...
is the study of
mathematical knots. While inspired by knots which appear in daily life in shoelaces and rope, a mathematician's knot differs in that the ends are joined together so that it cannot be undone. In mathematical language, a knot is an
embedding
In mathematics
Mathematics (from Greek: ) includes the study of such topics as numbers ( and ), formulas and related structures (), shapes and spaces in which they are contained (), and quantities and their changes ( and ). There is no gen ...
of a
circle
A circle is a shape
A shape or figure is the form of an object or its external boundary, outline, or external surface
File:Water droplet lying on a damask.jpg, Water droplet lying on a damask. Surface tension is high enough to preven ...

in 3-dimensional
Euclidean space
Euclidean space is the fundamental space of classical geometry. Originally, it was the three-dimensional space of Euclidean geometry, but in modern mathematics there are Euclidean spaces of any nonnegative integer dimension (mathematics), dimens ...
, R
3 (since we're using topology, a circle isn't bound to the classical geometric concept, but to all of its
homeomorphism
In the mathematical
Mathematics (from Greek: ) includes the study of such topics as numbers (arithmetic and number theory), formulas and related structures (algebra), shapes and spaces in which they are contained (geometry), and quantiti ...
s). Two mathematical knots are equivalent if one can be transformed into the other via a deformation of R
3 upon itself (known as an
ambient isotopy
In the mathematical
Mathematics (from Greek: ) includes the study of such topics as numbers (arithmetic and number theory), formulas and related structures (algebra), shapes and spaces in which they are contained (geometry), and quantities ...
); these transformations correspond to manipulations of a knotted string that do not involve cutting the string or passing the string through itself.
To gain further insight, mathematicians have generalized the knot concept in several ways. Knots can be considered in other
three-dimensional spaces and objects other than circles can be used; see ''
knot (mathematics)
In mathematics
Mathematics (from Greek: ) includes the study of such topics as numbers (arithmetic and number theory), formulas and related structures (algebra), shapes and spaces in which they are contained (geometry), and quantities ...
''. Higher-dimensional knots are
''n''-dimensional spheres in ''m''-dimensional Euclidean space.
High-dimensional geometric topology
In high-dimensional topology,
characteristic classes
In mathematics
Mathematics (from Greek: ) includes the study of such topics as numbers (arithmetic and number theory), formulas and related structures (algebra), shapes and spaces in which they are contained (geometry), and quantities and th ...
are a basic invariant, and
surgery theory
In mathematics, specifically in geometric topology, surgery theory is a collection of techniques used to produce one finite-dimensional manifold from another in a 'controlled' way, introduced by . Milnor called this technique ''surgery'', while And ...
is a key theory.
A
characteristic class
In mathematics, a characteristic class is a way of associating to each principal bundle of ''X'' a cohomology class of ''X''. The cohomology class measures the extent the bundle is "twisted" and whether it possesses section (fiber bundle), sections ...
is a way of associating to each
principal bundle
In mathematics, a principal bundle is a mathematical object that formalizes some of the essential features of the Cartesian product X \times G of a space X with a group (mathematics), group G. In the same way as with the Cartesian product, a princi ...
on a
topological space
In mathematics
Mathematics (from Greek: ) includes the study of such topics as numbers ( and ), formulas and related structures (), shapes and spaces in which they are contained (), and quantities and their changes ( and ). There is no gener ...
''X'' a
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 a ...
class of ''X''. The cohomology class measures the extent to which the bundle is "twisted" — particularly, whether it possesses
sections or not. In other words, characteristic classes are global
invariants which measure the deviation of a local product structure from a global product structure. They are one of the unifying geometric concepts in
algebraic topology
Algebraic topology is a branch of mathematics
Mathematics (from Greek: ) includes the study of such topics as numbers (arithmetic and number theory), formulas and related structures (algebra), shapes and spaces in which they are contained ...
,
differential geometry
Differential geometry is a Mathematics, mathematical discipline that studies the geometry of smooth shapes and smooth spaces, otherwise known as smooth manifolds, using the techniques of differential calculus, integral calculus, linear algebra a ...
and
algebraic geometry
Algebraic geometry is a branch of mathematics
Mathematics (from Greek: ) includes the study of such topics as numbers ( and ), formulas and related structures (), shapes and spaces in which they are contained (), and quantities and thei ...

.
Surgery theory
In mathematics, specifically in geometric topology, surgery theory is a collection of techniques used to produce one finite-dimensional manifold from another in a 'controlled' way, introduced by . Milnor called this technique ''surgery'', while And ...
is a collection of techniques used to produce one
manifold
In mathematics
Mathematics (from Greek: ) includes the study of such topics as numbers (arithmetic and number theory), formulas and related structures (algebra), shapes and spaces in which they are contained (geometry), and quantities a ...

from another in a 'controlled' way, introduced by . Surgery refers to cutting out parts of the manifold and replacing it with a part of another manifold, matching up along the cut or boundary. This is closely related to, but not identical with,
handlebody decompositions. It is a major tool in the study and classification of manifolds of dimension greater than 3.
More technically, the idea is to start with a well-understood manifold ''M'' and perform surgery on it to produce a manifold ''M ''′ having some desired property, in such a way that the effects on the
homology,
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, which records information about Loop (topology), loops in a Mathematical space, space. I ...
s, or other interesting invariants of the manifold are known.
The classification of
exotic sphere
In an area of mathematics called differential topology
In mathematics
Mathematics (from Ancient Greek, Greek: ) includes the study of such topics as quantity (number theory), mathematical structure, structure (algebra), space (geometry), an ...
s by led to the emergence of surgery theory as a major tool in high-dimensional topology.
See also
*
:Maps of manifolds
*
List of geometric topology topics
*
Plumbing (mathematics) In the mathematical field of geometric topology, among the techniques known as surgery theory, the process of plumbing is a way to create new manifolds out of disk bundles. It was first described by John Milnor and subsequently used extensively in ...
References
* R.B. Sher and R.J. Daverman (2002), ''Handbook of Geometric Topology'', North-Holland. .
{{DEFAULTSORT:Geometric Topology
Geometric topology,
Geometry processing