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Systolic Geometry
In mathematics, systolic geometry is the study of systolic invariants of manifolds and polyhedra, as initially conceived by Charles Loewner and developed by Mikhail Gromov, Michael Freedman, Peter Sarnak, Mikhail Katz, Larry Guth, and others, in its arithmetical, ergodic, and topological manifestations. See also Introduction to systolic geometry. The notion of systole The ''systole'' of a compact metric space ''X'' is a metric invariant of ''X'', defined to be the least length of a noncontractible loop in ''X'' (i.e. a loop that cannot be contracted to a point in the ambient space ''X''). In more technical language, we minimize length over free loops representing nontrivial conjugacy classes in the fundamental group of ''X''. When ''X'' is a graph, the invariant is usually referred to as the girth, ever since the 1947 article on girth by W. T. Tutte. Possibly inspired by Tutte's article, Loewner started thinking about systolic questions on surfaces in the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Free Loop
In the mathematical field of topology, a free loop is a variant of the notion of a loop. Whereas a loop has a distinguished point on it, called its basepoint, a free loop lacks such a distinguished point. Formally, let X be a topological space. Then a free loop in X is an equivalence class of continuous functions from the circle S^1 to X. Two loops are equivalent if they differ by a reparameterization of the circle. That is, f \sim g if there exists a homeomorphism \psi : S^1 \rightarrow S^1 such that g = f\circ\psi. Thus, a free loop, as opposed to a based loop used in the definition of the fundamental group, is a map from the circle to the space without the basepoint-preserving restriction. Assuming the space is path-connected, free homotopy classes of free loops correspond to conjugacy classes in the fundamental group. Recently, interest in the space of all free loops LX has grown with the advent of string topology, i.e. the study of new algebraic structures on the homo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Torus
In geometry, a torus (: tori or toruses) is a surface of revolution generated by revolving a circle in three-dimensional space one full revolution about an axis that is coplanarity, coplanar with the circle. The main types of toruses include ring toruses, horn toruses, and spindle toruses. A ring torus is sometimes colloquially referred to as a donut or doughnut. If the axis of revolution does not touch the circle, the surface has a ring shape and is called a torus of revolution, also known as a ring torus. If the axis of revolution is tangent to the circle, the surface is a horn torus. If the axis of revolution passes twice through the circle, the surface is a Lemon (geometry), spindle torus (or ''self-crossing torus'' or ''self-intersecting torus''). If the axis of revolution passes through the center of the circle, the surface is a degenerate torus, a double-covered sphere. If the revolved curve is not a circle, the surface is called a ''toroid'', as in a square toroid. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Isoperimetry
In mathematics, the isoperimetric inequality is a geometric inequality involving the square of the circumference of a closed curve in the plane and the area of a plane region it encloses, as well as its various generalizations. '' Isoperimetric'' literally means "having the same perimeter". Specifically, the isoperimetric inequality states, for the length ''L'' of a closed curve and the area ''A'' of the planar region that it encloses, that :4\pi A \le L^2, and that equality holds if and only if the curve is a circle. The isoperimetric problem is to determine a plane figure of the largest possible area whose boundary has a specified length. The closely related ''Dido's problem'' asks for a region of the maximal area bounded by a straight line and a curvilinear arc whose endpoints belong to that line. It is named after Dido, the legendary founder and first queen of Carthage. The solution to the isoperimetric problem is given by a circle and was known already in Ancient Greece. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Systolic Category and Yuli Rudyak in 2006, by analogy with the Lusternik–Schnirelmann category. The invariant is defined in terms of the systoles of ''M'' and its covers, as the largest number of systoles in a product yielding a curvature-free lower bound for the total volume of ''M''. The i ...
The systole (or systolic category) is a numerical invariant of a closed manifold ''M'', introduced by Mikhail Katz Mikhail "Mischa" Gershevich Katz (, ; born 1958)Curriculum vitae retrieved ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lusternik–Schnirelmann Category
In mathematics, the Lyusternik–Schnirelmann category (or, Lusternik–Schnirelmann category, LS-category) of a topological space X is the homotopy invariant defined to be the smallest integer number k such that there is an open covering \_ of X with the property that each inclusion map U_i\hookrightarrow X is nullhomotopic. For example, if X is a sphere, this takes the value two. Sometimes a different normalization of the invariant is adopted, which is one less than the definition above. Such a normalization has been adopted in the definitive monograph by Cornea, Lupton, Oprea, and Tanré (see below). In general it is not easy to compute this invariant, which was initially introduced by Lazar Lyusternik and Lev Schnirelmann in connection with variational problems. It has a close connection with algebraic topology, in particular cup-length. In the modern normalization, the cup-length is a lower bound for the LS-category. It was, as originally defined for the case of X a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
René Thom
René Frédéric Thom (; 2 September 1923 – 25 October 2002) was a French mathematician, who received the Fields Medal in 1958. He made his reputation as a topologist, moving on to aspects of what would be called singularity theory; he became world-famous among the wider academic community and the educated general public for one aspect of this latter interest, his work as the founder of catastrophe theory (later developed by Christopher Zeeman). Life and career René Thom grew up in a modest family in Montbéliard, Doubs and obtained a Baccalauréat in 1940. After the German invasion of France, his family took refuge in Switzerland and then in Lyon. In 1941 he moved to Paris to attend Lycée Saint-Louis and in 1943 he began studying mathematics at École Normale Supérieure, becoming agrégé in 1946. He received his PhD in 1951 from the University of Paris. His thesis, titled ''Espaces fibrés en sphères et carrés de Steenrod'' (''Sphere bundles and Steenrod squares' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marcel Berger
Marcel Berger (14 April 1927 – 15 October 2016) was a French mathematician, doyen of French differential geometry, and a former director of the Institut des Hautes Études Scientifiques (IHÉS), France. Biography After studying from 1948 to 1951 at the École normale supérieure in Paris, Berger obtained in 1954 his PhD from the University of Paris, with thesis written under the direction of André Lichnerowicz. From 1958 to 1964 he taught at the University of Strasbourg and had visiting positions at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of California, Berkeley. From 1964 to 1966 he taught at the University of Nice, after which he joined the University of Paris VII. From 1985 to 1993 he served as director of the IHÉS. Formerly residing in Le Castera in Lasseube, Berger was instrumental in Mikhail Gromov's accepting positions both at the University of Paris and at the IHÉS. Awards and honors *1956 Prix Peccot, Collège de France *1962 Prix Maurice ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
