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Contractible
In 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. Properties 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. Similarly, since singular homology is a homotopy invariant, the reduced homology groups of a contractible space are all trivial. For a nonempty topological space ''X'' the following are all equivalent: *''X'' is contractible (i.e. the identity map is null-homotopic). *''X'' is homotopy equivalent to a one-point space. *''X'' deformation retracts onto a point. (However, there exist contractible spaces which do not ''strongly'' deformation retract to a point.) *For any path-connected space ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Deformation Retract
In topology, a retraction is a continuous mapping from a topological space into a subspace that preserves the position of all points in that subspace. The subspace is then called a retract of the original space. A deformation retraction is a mapping that captures the idea of ''continuously shrinking'' a space into a subspace. An absolute neighborhood retract (ANR) is a particularly well-behaved type of topological space. For example, every topological manifold is an ANR. Every ANR has the homotopy type of a very simple topological space, a CW complex. Definitions Retract Let ''X'' be a topological space and ''A'' a subspace of ''X''. Then a continuous map :r\colon X \to A is a retraction if the restriction of ''r'' to ''A'' is the identity map on ''A''; that is, r(a) = a for all ''a'' in ''A''. Equivalently, denoting by :\iota\colon A \hookrightarrow X the inclusion, a retraction is a continuous map ''r'' such that :r \circ \iota = \operatorname_A, that is, the composition ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Whitehead Manifold
In mathematics, the Whitehead manifold is an open 3-manifold that is contractible, but not homeomorphic to \R^3. discovered this puzzling object while he was trying to prove the Poincaré conjecture, correcting an error in an earlier paper where he incorrectly claimed that no such manifold exists. A contractible manifold is one that can continuously be shrunk to a point inside the manifold itself. For example, an open ball is a contractible manifold. All manifolds homeomorphic to the ball are contractible, too. One can ask whether ''all'' contractible manifolds are homeomorphic to a ball. For dimensions 1 and 2, the answer is classical and it is "yes". In dimension 2, it follows, for example, from the Riemann mapping theorem. Dimension 3 presents the first counterexample: the Whitehead manifold. Construction Take a copy of S^3, the three-dimensional sphere. Now find a compact unknotted solid torus T_1 inside the sphere. (A solid torus is an ordinary three-dimensional doughnut, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Locally Simply Connected
In mathematics, a locally simply connected space is a topological space that admits a Base (topology), basis of simply connected sets. Every locally simply connected space is also locally path-connected and locally connected. The circle is an example of a locally simply connected space which is not simply connected. The Hawaiian earring is a space which is neither locally simply connected nor simply connected. The cone (topology), cone on the Hawaiian earring is contractible space, contractible and therefore simply connected, but still not locally simply connected. All topological manifolds and CW complexes are locally simply connected. In fact, these satisfy the much stronger property of being locally contractible space, locally contractible. A strictly weaker condition is that of being semi-locally simply connected. Both locally simply connected spaces and simply connected spaces are semi-locally simply connected, but neither converse holds. References Properties of top ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Homotopy Type
In topology, two continuous functions from one topological space to another are called homotopic (from and ) if one can be "continuously deformed" into the other, such a deformation being called a homotopy ( ; ) between the two functions. A notable use of homotopy is the definition of homotopy groups and cohomotopy groups, important invariants in algebraic topology. In practice, there are technical difficulties in using homotopies with certain spaces. Algebraic topologists work with compactly generated spaces, CW complexes, or spectra. Formal definition Formally, a homotopy between two continuous functions ''f'' and ''g'' from a topological space ''X'' to a topological space ''Y'' is defined to be a continuous function H: X \times ,1\to Y from the product of the space ''X'' with the unit interval , 1to ''Y'' such that H(x,0) = f(x) and H(x,1) = g(x) for all x \in X. If we think of the second parameter of ''H'' as time then ''H'' describes a ''continuous def ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Path Connected
In topology and related branches of mathematics, a connected space is a topological space that cannot be represented as the union (set theory), union of two or more disjoint set, disjoint Empty set, non-empty open (topology), open subsets. Connectedness is one of the principal topological properties that distinguish topological spaces. A subset of a topological space X is a if it is a connected space when viewed as a Subspace topology, subspace of X. Some related but stronger conditions are #Path connectedness, path connected, Simply connected space, simply connected, and N-connected space, n-connected. Another related notion is Locally connected space, locally connected, which neither implies nor follows from connectedness. Formal definition A topological space X is said to be if it is the union of two disjoint non-empty open sets. Otherwise, X is said to be connected. A subset of a topological space is said to be connected if it is connected under its subspace topology. So ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cone (topology)
In topology, especially algebraic topology, the cone of a topological space X is intuitively obtained by stretching ''X'' into a cylinder and then collapsing one of its end faces to a point. The cone of X is denoted by CX or by \operatorname(X). Definitions Formally, the cone of ''X'' is defined as: :CX = (X \times ,1\cup_p v\ =\ \varinjlim \bigl( (X \times ,1 \hookleftarrow (X\times \) \xrightarrow v\bigr), where v is a point (called the vertex of the cone) and p is the projection to that point. In other words, it is the result of attaching the cylinder X \times ,1/math> by its face X\times\ to a point v along the projection p: \bigl( X\times\ \bigr)\to v. If X is a non-empty compact subspace of Euclidean space, the cone on X is homeomorphic to the union of segments from X to any fixed point v \not\in X such that these segments intersect only in v itself. That is, the topological cone agrees with the geometric cone for compact spaces when the latter is defined. H ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
N-connected
In algebraic topology, homotopical connectivity is a property describing a topological space based on the dimension of its holes. In general, low homotopical connectivity indicates that the space has at least one low-dimensional hole. The concept of ''n''-connectedness generalizes the concepts of path-connectedness and simple connectedness. An equivalent definition of homotopical connectivity is based on the homotopy groups of the space. A space is ''n''-connected (or ''n''-simple connected) if its first ''n'' homotopy groups are trivial. Homotopical connectivity is defined for maps, too. A map is ''n''-connected if it is an isomorphism "up to dimension ''n,'' in homotopy". Definition using holes All definitions below consider a topological space ''X''. A hole in ''X'' is, informally, a thing that prevents some suitably-placed sphere from continuously shrinking to a point., Section 4.3 Equivalently, it is a sphere that cannot be continuously extended to a ball. Formally, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Star Domain
In geometry, a set S in the Euclidean space \R^n is called a star domain (or star-convex set, star-shaped set or radially convex set) if there exists an s_0 \in S such that for all s \in S, the line segment from s_0 to s lies in S. This definition is immediately generalizable to any real, or complex, vector space. Intuitively, if one thinks of S as a region surrounded by a wall, S is a star domain if one can find a vantage point s_0 in S from which any point s in S is within line-of-sight. A similar, but distinct, concept is that of a radial set. Definition Given two points x and y in a vector space X (such as Euclidean space \R^n), the convex hull of \ is called the and it is denoted by \left , y\right~:=~ \left\ ~=~ x + (y - x) , 1 where z , 1:= \ for every vector z. A subset S of a vector space X is said to be s_0 \in S if for every s \in S, the closed interval \left _0, s\right\subseteq S. A set S is and is called a if there exists some point s_0 \in S such that S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Karol Borsuk
Karol Borsuk (8 May 1905 – 24 January 1982) was a Polish mathematician. His main area of interest was topology. He made significant contributions to Shape theory (mathematics), shape theory, a term which he coined. He also obtained important results in functional analysis. He was a professor of mathematics at the University of Warsaw, a member of the Polish Academy of Sciences, the Polish Mathematical Society and a leading representative of the Warsaw School (mathematics), Warsaw School of Mathematics. Life and career Early life and education Borsuk was born in 1905 in Warsaw to father Marian, a surgeon, and mother Zofia (née Maciejewska). In 1923, he graduated from the Stanisław Staszic State Gymnasium in Warsaw. Between 1923–1927, he studied mathematics at the Faculty of Philosophy of the University of Warsaw. He received his master's degree and doctorate from Warsaw University in 1927 and 1930, respectively. His PhD thesis title was ''On the Subject of Topological Chara ... [...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 simplex, standard -simplex to a topological space, and composing them into Free abelian group#Integer functions and formal sums, formal sums, called singular chains. The boundary operation – mapping each n-dimensional simplex to its (n-1)-dimensional boundary operator, boundary – induces the singular chain complex. The singular homology is then ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
