In
mathematics
Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...
, particularly the area of
topology
Topology (from the Greek language, Greek words , and ) is the branch of mathematics concerned with the properties of a Mathematical object, geometric object that are preserved under Continuous function, continuous Deformation theory, deformat ...
, a simple-homotopy equivalence is a refinement of the concept of
homotopy equivalence
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 ...
. Two
CW-complex
In mathematics, and specifically in topology, a CW complex (also cellular complex or cell complex) is a topological space that is built by gluing together topological balls (so-called ''cells'') of different dimensions in specific ways. It generali ...
es are simple-homotopy equivalent if they are related by a sequence of
collapses and expansions (inverses of collapses), and a homotopy equivalence is a simple homotopy equivalence if it is homotopic to such a map.
The obstruction to a homotopy equivalence being a simple homotopy equivalence is the
Whitehead torsion In geometric topology, a field within mathematics, the obstruction to a homotopy equivalence f\colon X \to Y of finite CW-complexes being a simple homotopy equivalence is its Whitehead torsion \tau(f) which is an element in the Whitehead group \ope ...
,
A homotopy theory that studies simple-homotopy types is called
simple homotopy theory
In mathematics, simple homotopy theory is a homotopy theory (a branch of algebraic topology) that concerns with the simple-homotopy type of a space. It was originated by Whitehead in his 1950 paper "Simple homotopy types".
See also
*Whitehead t ...
.
See also
*
Discrete Morse theory Discrete Morse theory is a combinatorial adaptation of Morse theory developed by Robin Forman. The theory has various practical applications in diverse fields of applied mathematics and computer science, such as configuration spaces, homology com ...
References
*
Homotopy theory
Equivalence (mathematics)
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