401-4571-22L  Topology of Manifolds

SemesterAutumn Semester 2022
LecturersD. Cekic
Periodicitynon-recurring course
Language of instructionEnglish



Courses

NumberTitleHoursLecturers
401-4571-22 VTopology of Manifolds2 hrs
Tue14:15-16:00ML F 39 »
D. Cekic
401-4571-22 UTopology of Manifolds
irregular course
1 hrs
Mon16:15-18:00HG E 33.5 »
D. Cekic

Catalogue data

AbstractThis will be an introduction to geometric topology, a field of mathematics concerned with topological properties of manifolds. We will study both topological and smooth manifolds, and prove some fundamental results about them (like the Schoenflies theorem, the generalised Poincaré conjecture, the existence of exotic smooth structures), several of which have been awarded with Fields medals.
ObjectiveAt the end of the course students will be able to differentiate between three types of manifolds, give examples showing various phenomena, and prove some classical results. They will understand what kinds of arguments are used in each of the cases, and where the difficulties arise. Moreover, they will become familiar with many open problems that are guiding current research, especially in the peculiar dimension four.
ContentThere are several notions of a manifold -- namely, topological, piecewise-linear, and smooth -- and only in 1956 did it become clear that these objects are in fact distinct, thanks to the construction by J. Milnor of multiple smooth structures on a single topological manifold. In this course we will start with basic definitions and properties of the three types of manifolds, building our way up to cover some fundamental results.

We will first study handle decompositions, transversality and the Whitney trick, the s-cobordism theorem, the Poincaré conjecture, and the Schoenflies theorem. Possible further topics include torus tricks, smoothing theory, exotic spheres, the Rohlin theorem, exotic 4-manifolds.
Literature• See the lecture notes and a reference list at Link
• Hirsch, M. Differential topology. Graduate Texts in Mathematics, No. 33. Springer-Verlag, New York-Heidelberg, 1976.
• Kosinski, A. Differential manifolds. Pure and Applied Mathematics, 138. Academic Press, Inc., Boston, MA, 1993.
• Scorpan, A. The wild world of 4-manifolds. American Mathematical Society, Providence, RI, 2005.
Prerequisites / NoticeWe will assume familiarity with point-set topology, the fundamental group (as covered in the course Topology), homology (as covered in Algebraic Topology I), and some basics of differential topology and vector bundles (as covered in Differential Geometry I). Some familiarity with cohomology and Poincaré duality would be useful.

Performance assessment

Performance assessment information (valid until the course unit is held again)
Performance assessment as a semester course
ECTS credits6 credits
ExaminersP. Feller
Typeend-of-semester examination
Language of examinationEnglish
RepetitionA repetition date will be offered in the first two weeks of the semester immediately consecutive.
Mode of examinationwritten 90 minutes
Written aidsnone

Learning materials

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Only public learning materials are listed.

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Offered in

ProgrammeSectionType
Mathematics BachelorSelection: GeometryWInformation
Mathematics MasterSelection: GeometryWInformation