During the past 25 years, set theory has developed in several interesting directions. The most outstanding results cover the application of sophisticated techniques to problems in analysis, topology, infinitary combinatorics and other areas of mathematics. This book contains a selection of contributions, some of which are expository in nature, embracing various aspects of the latest developments. Amongst topics treated are forcing axioms and their applications, combinatorial principles used to construct models, and a variety of other set theoretical tools including inner models, partitions and trees. Audience: This book will be of interest to graduate students and researchers in foundational problems of mathematics.

Homological algebra has found a large number of applications in many fields ranging from finite and infinite group theory to representation theory, number theory, algebraic topology and sheaf theory. In the new edition of this broad introduction to the field, the authors address a number of select topics and describe their applications, illustrating the range and depth of their developments. A comprehensive set of exercises is included.

Based on a course given to talented high-school students at Ohio University in 1988, this book is essentially an advanced undergraduate textbook about the mathematics of fractal geometry. It nicely bridges the gap between traditional books on topology/analysis and more specialized treatises on fractal geometry. The book treats such topics as metric spaces, measure theory, dimension theory, and even some algebraic topology. It takes into account developments in the subject matter since 1990. Sections are clear and focused. The book contains plenty of examples, exercises, and good illustrations of fractals, including 16 color plates.

Contents: Introduction. - Fundamental Concepts. - Topological Vector Spaces.- The Quotient Topology. - Completion of Metric Spaces. - Homotopy. - The Two Countability Axioms. - CW-Complexes. - Construction of Continuous Functions on Topological Spaces. - Covering Spaces. - The Theorem of Tychonoff. - Set Theory (by T. Br|cker). - References. - Table of Symbols. -Index.

Property (T) is a rigidity property for topological groups, first formulated by D. Kazhdan in the mid 1960's with the aim of demonstrating that a large class of lattices are finitely generated. Later developments have shown that Property (T) plays an important role in an amazingly large variety of subjects, including discrete subgroups of Lie groups, ergodic theory, random walks, operator algebras, combinatorics, and theoretical computer science. This monograph offers a comprehensive introduction to the theory. It describes the two most important points of view on Property (T): the first uses a unitary group representation approach, and the second a fixed point property for affine isometric actions. Via these the authors discuss a range of important examples and applications to several domains of mathematics. A detailed appendix provides a systematic exposition of parts of the theory of group representations that are used to formulate and develop Property (T).

This book is based on lectures I have given to undergraduate and graduate audiences at Oxford and elsewhere over the years. My aim has been to provide an outline of both the topological theory and the uniform theory, with an emphasis on the relation between the two. Although I hope that the prospec tive specialist may find it useful as an introduction it is the non-specialist I have had more in mind in selecting the contents. Thus I have tended to avoid the ingenious examples and counterexamples which often occupy much ofthe space in books on general topology, and I have tried to keep the number of definitions down to the essential minimum. There are no particular pre requisites but I have worked on the assumption that a potential reader will already have had some experience of working with sets and functions and will also be familiar with the basic concepts of algebra and analysis. There are a number of fine books on general topology, some of which I have listed in the Select Bibliography at the end of this volume. Of course I have benefited greatly from this previous work in writing my own account. Undoubtedly the strongest influence is that of Bourbaki's Topologie Generale 2], the definitive treatment of the subject which first appeared over a genera tion ago."

In algebraic topology some classical invariants - such as Betti numbers and Reidemeister torsion - are defined for compact spaces and finite group actions. They can be generalized using von Neumann algebras and their traces, and applied also to non-compact spaces and infinite groups. These new L2-invariants contain very interesting and novel information and can be applied to problems arising in topology, K-Theory, differential geometry, non-commutative geometry and spectral theory. The book, written in an accessible manner, presents a comprehensive introduction to this area of research, as well as its most recent results and developments.

The modern theory of Kleinian groups starts with the work of Lars Ahlfors and Lipman Bers; specifically with Ahlfors' finiteness theorem, and Bers' observation that their joint work on the Beltrami equation has deep implications for the theory of Kleinian groups and their deformations. From the point of view of uniformizations of Riemann surfaces, Bers' observation has the consequence that the question of understanding the different uniformizations of a finite Riemann surface poses a purely topological problem; it is independent of the conformal structure on the surface. The last two chapters here give a topological description of the set of all (geometrically finite) uniformizations of finite Riemann surfaces. We carefully skirt Ahlfors' finiteness theorem. For groups which uniformize a finite Riemann surface; that is, groups with an invariant component, one can either start with the assumption that the group is finitely generated, and then use the finiteness theorem to conclude that the group represents only finitely many finite Riemann surfaces, or, as we do here, one can start with the assumption that, in the invariant component, the group represents a finite Riemann surface, and then, using essentially topological techniques, reach the same conclusion. More recently, Bill Thurston wrought a revolution in the field by showing that one could analyze Kleinian groups using 3-dimensional hyperbolic geome try, and there is now an active school of research using these methods."

Many nonlinear problems in physics, engineering, biology and social sciences can be reduced to finding critical points of functionals. While minimax and Morse theories provide answers to many situations and problems on the existence of multiple critical points of a functional, they often cannot provide much-needed additional properties of these critical points. Sign-changing critical point theory has emerged as a new area of rich research on critical points of a differentiable functional with important applications to nonlinear elliptic PDEs.

This book is intended for advanced graduate students and researchers involved in sign-changing critical point theory, PDEs, global analysis, and nonlinear functional analysis.

Rudyak 's groundbreaking monograph is the first guide on the subject of cobordism since Stong's influential notes of a generation ago. It concentrates on Thom spaces (spectra), orientability theory and (co)bordism theory (including (co)bordism with singularities and, in particular, Morava K-theories). These are all framed by (co)homology theories and spectra. The author has also performed a service to the history of science in this book, giving detailed attributions.

This monograph provides an introduction to the theory of topologies defined on the closed subsets of a metric space, and on the closed convex subsets of a normed linear space as well. A unifying theme is the relationship between topology and set convergence on the one hand, and set functionals on the other. The text includes for the first time anywhere an exposition of three topologies that over the past ten years have become fundamental tools in optimization, one-sided analysis, convex analysis, and the theory of multifunctions: the Wijsman topology, the Attouch--Wets topology, and the slice topology. Particular attention is given to topologies on lower semicontinuous functions, especially lower semicontinuous convex functions, as associated with their epigraphs. The interplay between convex duality and topology is carefully considered and a chapter on set-valued functions is included. The book contains over 350 exercises and is suitable as a graduate text. This book is of interest to those working in general topology, set-valued analysis, geometric functional analysis, optimization, convex analysis and mathematical economics.

One service mathematics has rendered the human race. It has put common sense back where it belongs. It has put common sense back where it belongs, on the topmost shelf next to the dusty canister labelled discarded nonsense. Eric TBell Every picture tells a story. Advenisement for for Sloan's backache and kidney oils, 1907 The book you have in your hands as you are reading this, is a text on3-dimensional topology. It can serve as a pretty comprehensive text book on the subject. On the other hand, it frequently gets to the frontiers of current research in the topic. If pressed, I would initially classify it as a monograph, but, thanks to the over three hundred illustrations of the geometrical ideas involved, as a rather accessible one, and hence suitable for advanced classes. The style is somewhat informal; more or less like orally presented lectures, and the illustrations more than make up for all the visual aids and handwaving one has at one's command during an actual presentation.

Quite simply, this book offers the most comprehensive survey to date of the theory of semiparallel submanifolds. It begins with the necessary background material, detailing symmetric and semisymmetric Riemannian manifolds, smooth manifolds in space forms, and parallel submanifolds. The book then introduces semiparallel submanifolds and gives some characterizations for their class as well as several subclasses. The coverage moves on to discuss the concept of main symmetric orbit and presents all known results concerning umbilic-like main symmetric orbits. With more than 40 published papers under his belt on the subject, Lumiste provides readers with the most authoritative treatment.

In Chapter 6, we describe the concept of braid equivalence from the topological point of view. This will lead us to a new concept braid homotopy that is discussed fully in the next chapter. As just mentioned, in Chapter 7, we shall discuss the difference between braid equivalence and braid homotopy. Also in this chapter, we define a homotopy braid invariant that turns out to be the so-called Milnor number. Chapter 8 is a quick review of knot theory, including Alexander's theorem. While, Chapters 9 is devoted to Markov's theorem, which allows the application of this theory to other fields. This was one of the motivations Artin had in mind when he began studying braid theory. In Chapter 10, we discuss the primary applications of braid theory to knot theory, including the introduction of the most important invariants of knot theory, the Alexander polynomial and the Jones polynomial. In Chapter 11, motivated by Dirac's string problem, the ordinary braid group is generalized to the braid groups of various surfaces. We discuss these groups from an intuitive and diagrammatic point of view. In the last short chapter 12, we present without proof one theorem, due to Gorin and Lin [GoL] , that is a surprising application of braid theory to the theory of algebraic equations.

The emergence of topological quantum ?eld theory has been one of the most important breakthroughs which have occurred in the context of ma- ematical physics in the last century, a century characterizedbyindependent developments of the main ideas in both disciplines, physics and mathematics, which has concluded with two decades of strong interaction between them, where physics, as in previous centuries, has acted as a source of new mat- matics. Topological quantum ?eld theories constitute the core of these p- nomena, although the main drivingforce behind it has been the enormous e?ort made in theoretical particle physics to understand string theory as a theory able to unify the four fundamental interactions observed in nature. These theories set up a new realm where both disciplines pro't from each other. Although the most striking results have appeared on the mathema- calside, theoreticalphysicshasclearlyalsobene?tted, sincethecorresponding developments have helped better to understand aspects of the fundamentals of ?eld and string theor

A NATO Advanced Study Institute entitled "Algebraic K-theory and Algebraic Topology" was held at Chateau Lake Louise, Lake Louise, Alberta, Canada from December 12 to December 16 of 1991. This book is the volume of proceedings for this meeting. The papers that appear here are representative of most of the lectures that were given at the conference, and therefore present a "snapshot" of the state ofthe K-theoretic art at the end of 1991. The underlying objective of the meeting was to discuss recent work related to the Lichtenbaum-Quillen complex of conjectures, fro both the algebraic and topological points of view. The papers in this volume deal with a range of topics, including motivic cohomology theories, cyclic homology, intersection homology, higher class field theory, and the former telescope conjecture. This meeting was jointly funded by grants from NATO and the National Science Foun dation in the United States. I would like to take this opportunity to thank these agencies for their support. I would also like to thank the other members of the organizing com mittee, namely Paul Goerss, Bruno Kahn and Chuck Weibel, for their help in making the conference successful. This was the second NATO Advanced Study Institute to be held in this venue; the first was in 1987. The success of both conferences owes much to the professionalism and helpfulness of the administration and staff of Chateau Lake Louise."

In this book a general topological construction of extension is proposed for problems of attainability in topological spaces under perturbation of a system of constraints. This construction is realized in a special class of generalized elements defined as finitely additive measures. A version of the method of programmed iterations is constructed. This version realizes multi-valued control quasistrategies, which guarantees the solution of the control problem that consists in guidance to a given set under observation of phase constraints.

Audience: The book will be of interest to researchers, and graduate students in the field of optimal control, mathematical systems theory, measure and integration, functional analysis, and general topology.

Topological K-theory is a key tool in topology, differential geometry and index theory, yet this is the first contemporary introduction for graduate students new to the subject. No background in algebraic topology is assumed; the reader need only have taken the standard first courses in real analysis, abstract algebra, and point-set topology. The book begins with a detailed discussion of vector bundles and related algebraic notions, followed by the definition of K-theory and proofs of the most important theorems in the subject, such as the Bott periodicity theorem and the Thom isomorphism theorem. The multiplicative structure of K-theory and the Adams operations are also discussed and the final chapter details the construction and computation of characteristic classes. With every important aspect of the topic covered, and exercises at the end of each chapter, this is the definitive book for a first course in topological K-theory.

This text on contact topology is a comprehensive introduction to the subject, including recent striking applications in geometric and differential topology: Eliashberg's proof of Cerf's theorem via the classification of tight contact structures on the 3-sphere, and the Kronheimer-Mrowka proof of property P for knots via symplectic fillings of contact 3-manifolds. Starting with the basic differential topology of contact manifolds, all aspects of 3-dimensional contact manifolds are treated in this book. One notable feature is a detailed exposition of Eliashberg's classification of overtwisted contact structures. Later chapters also deal with higher-dimensional contact topology. Here the focus is on contact surgery, but other constructions of contact manifolds are described, such as open books or fibre connected sums. This book serves both as a self-contained introduction to the subject for advanced graduate students and as a reference for researchers.

In this monograph, questions of extensions and relaxations are consid ered. These questions arise in many applied problems in connection with the operation of perturbations. In some cases, the operation of "small" per turbations generates "small" deviations of basis indexes; a corresponding stability takes place. In other cases, small perturbations generate spas modic change of a result and of solutions defining this result. These cases correspond to unstable problems. The effect of an unstability can arise in extremal problems or in other related problems. In this connection, we note the known problem of constructing the attainability domain in con trol theory. Of course, extremal problems and those of attainability (in abstract control theory) are connected. We exploit this connection here (see Chapter 5). However, basic attention is paid to the problem of the attainability of elements of a topological space under vanishing perturba tions of restrictions. The stability property is frequently missing; the world of unstable problems is of interest for us. We construct regularizing proce dures. However, in many cases, it is possible to establish a certain property similar to partial stability. We call this property asymptotic nonsensitivity or roughness under the perturbation of some restrictions. The given prop erty means the following: in the corresponding problem, it is the same if constraints are weakened in some "directions" or not. On this basis, it is possible to construct a certain classification of constraints, selecting "di rections of roughness" and "precision directions.""

Many, perhaps most textbooks of quantum mechanics present a Copenhagen, single system angle; fewer present the subject matter as an instrument for treating ensembles, but the two methods have been silently coexisting since the mid-Thirties. This lingering dichotomy of purpose for a major physical discipline has much shrouded further insights into the foundations of quantum theory. Quantum Reprogramming resolves this long-standing dichotomy by examining the mutual relation between single systems and ensembles, assigning each its own tools for treating the subject at hand: i.e., Schrodinger-Dirac methods for ensembles versus period integrals for single systems. A unified treatment of integer and fractional quantum Hall effects and a finite description of the electron's anomalies are mentioned as measures of justification for the chosen procedure of resolving an old-time dichotomy. The methods of presentation are, in part, elementary, with repetitive references needed to delineate differences with respect to standard methods. The parts on period integrals are developed with a perspective on elementary methods in physics, thus leading up to some standard results of de Rham theory and algebraic topology. Audience: Students of physics, mathematics, philosophers as well as outsiders with a general interest in the conceptual development of physics will find useful reading in these pages, which will stimulate further inquiry and study. "

This book covers analysis on fractals, a developing area of mathematics which focuses on the dynamical aspects of fractals, such as heat diffusion on fractals and the vibration of a material with fractal structure. The book provides a self-contained introduction to the subject, starting from the basic geometry of self-similar sets and going on to discuss recent results, including the properties of eigenvalues and eigenfunctions of the Laplacians, and the asymptotical behaviors of heat kernels on self-similar sets. Requiring only a basic knowledge of advanced analysis, general topology and measure theory, this book will be of value to graduate students and researchers in analysis and probability theory. It will also be useful as a supplementary text for graduate courses covering fractals.

From the reviews of the 1st edition:

"This book provides a comprehensive and detailed account of different topics in algorithmic 3-dimensional topology, culminating with the recognition procedure for Haken manifolds and including the up-to-date results in computer enumeration of 3-manifolds. Originating from lecture notes of various courses given by the author over a decade, the book is intended to combine the pedagogical approach of a graduate textbook (without exercises) with the completeness and reliability of a research monograph...

All the material, with few exceptions, is presented from the peculiar point of view of special polyhedra and special spines of 3-manifolds. This choice contributes to keep the level of the exposition really elementary.

In conclusion, the reviewer subscribes to the quotation from the back cover: "the book fills a gap in the existing literature and will become a standard reference for algorithmic 3-dimensional topology both for graduate students and researchers."

Zentralblatt fur Mathematik 2004

For this 2nd edition, new results, new proofs, and commentaries for a better orientation of the reader have been added. In particular, in Chapter 7 several new sections concerning applications of the computer program "3-Manifold Recognizer" have been included. "

This collection of survey lectures in mathematics traces the career of Beno Eckmann, whose work ranges across a broad spectrum of mathematical concepts from topology through homological algebra to group theory. One of our most influential living mathematicians, Eckmann has been associated for nearly his entire professional life with the Swiss Federal Technical University (ETH) at Zurich, as student, lecturer, professor, and professor emeritus.

Descriptive set theory has been one of the main areas of research in set theory for almost a century. This text attempts to present a largely balanced approach, which combines many elements of the different traditions of the subject. It includes a wide variety of examples, exercises (over 400), and applications, in order to illustrate the general concepts and results of the theory.
This text provides a first basic course in classical descriptive set theory and covers material with which mathematicians interested in the subject for its own sake or those that wish to use it in their field should be familiar. Over the years, researchers in diverse areas of mathematics, such as logic and set theory, analysis, topology, probability theory, etc., have brought to the subject of descriptive set theory their own intuitions, concepts, terminology and notation.