Foliations and the Geometry of 3-Manifolds

Foliations and the Geometry of 3-Manifolds
Author: Danny Calegari
Publisher: Oxford University Press on Demand
Total Pages: 378
Release: 2007-05-17
Genre: Mathematics
ISBN: 0198570082

This unique reference, aimed at research topologists, gives an exposition of the 'pseudo-Anosov' theory of foliations of 3-manifolds. This theory generalizes Thurston's theory of surface automorphisms and reveals an intimate connection between dynamics, geometry and topology in 3 dimensions. Significant themes returned to throughout the text include the importance of geometry, especially the hyperbolic geometry of surfaces, the importance of monotonicity, especially in1-dimensional and co-dimensional dynamics, and combinatorial approximation, using finite combinatorical objects such as train-tracks, branched surfaces and hierarchies to carry more complicated continuous objects.

Group Actions on Manifolds

Group Actions on Manifolds
Author: Reinhard Schultz
Publisher: American Mathematical Soc.
Total Pages: 586
Release: 1985
Genre: Mathematics
ISBN: 0821850385

Presents an understanding of the sorts of problems one studies in group actions and the methods used to study such problems. This book features articles based upon lectures at the 1983 AMS-IMS-SIAM Joint Summer Research Conference, Group Actions on Manifolds, held at the University of Colorado.

Introduction to Symplectic Topology

Introduction to Symplectic Topology
Author: Dusa McDuff
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 632
Release: 2017-03-16
Genre: Mathematics
ISBN: 0192514016

Over the last number of years powerful new methods in analysis and topology have led to the development of the modern global theory of symplectic topology, including several striking and important results. The first edition of Introduction to Symplectic Topology was published in 1995. The book was the first comprehensive introduction to the subject and became a key text in the area. A significantly revised second edition was published in 1998 introducing new sections and updates on the fast-developing area. This new third edition includes updates and new material to bring the book right up-to-date.

Involutions on Manifolds

Involutions on Manifolds
Author: Santiago Lopez de Medrano
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 114
Release: 2012-12-06
Genre: Mathematics
ISBN: 3642650120

This book contains the results of work done during the years 1967-1970 on fixed-point-free involutions on manifolds, and is an enlarged version of the author's doctoral dissertation [54J written under the direction of Professor William Browder. The subject of fixed-paint-free involutions, as part of the subject of group actions on manifolds, has been an important source of problems, examples and ideas in topology for the last four decades, and receives renewed attention every time a new technical development suggests new questions and methods ([62, 8, 24, 63J). Here we consider mainly those properties of fixed-point-free involutions that can be best studied using the techniques of surgery on manifolds. This approach to the subject was initiated by Browder and Livesay. Special attention is given here to involutions of homotopy spheres, but even for this particular case, a more general theory is very useful. Two important related topics that we do not touch here are those of involutions with fixed points, and the relationship between fixed-point-free involutions and free Sl-actions. For these topics, the reader is referred to [23J, and to [33J, [61J, [82J, respectively. The two main problems we attack are those of classification of involutions, and the existence and uniqueness of invariant submanifolds with certain properties. As will be seen, these problems are closely related. If (T, l'n) is a fixed-point-free involution of a homotopy sphere l'n, the quotient l'n/Tis called a homotopy projective space.

Quantum Invariants of Knots and 3-Manifolds

Quantum Invariants of Knots and 3-Manifolds
Author: Vladimir G. Turaev
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
Total Pages: 608
Release: 2016-07-11
Genre: Mathematics
ISBN: 3110435225

Due to the strong appeal and wide use of this monograph, it is now available in its third revised edition. The monograph gives a systematic treatment of 3-dimensional topological quantum field theories (TQFTs) based on the work of the author with N. Reshetikhin and O. Viro. This subject was inspired by the discovery of the Jones polynomial of knots and the Witten-Chern-Simons field theory. On the algebraic side, the study of 3-dimensional TQFTs has been influenced by the theory of braided categories and the theory of quantum groups. The book is divided into three parts. Part I presents a construction of 3-dimensional TQFTs and 2-dimensional modular functors from so-called modular categories. This gives a vast class of knot invariants and 3-manifold invariants as well as a class of linear representations of the mapping class groups of surfaces. In Part II the technique of 6j-symbols is used to define state sum invariants of 3-manifolds. Their relation to the TQFTs constructed in Part I is established via the theory of shadows. Part III provides constructions of modular categories, based on quantum groups and skein modules of tangles in the 3-space. This fundamental contribution to topological quantum field theory is accessible to graduate students in mathematics and physics with knowledge of basic algebra and topology. It is an indispensable source for everyone who wishes to enter the forefront of this fascinating area at the borderline of mathematics and physics. Contents: Invariants of graphs in Euclidean 3-space and of closed 3-manifolds Foundations of topological quantum field theory Three-dimensional topological quantum field theory Two-dimensional modular functors 6j-symbols Simplicial state sums on 3-manifolds Shadows of manifolds and state sums on shadows Constructions of modular categories