In mathematics, specifically category theory, a functor is a mapping between categories. Functors were first considered in algebraic topology, where algebraic objects are associated to topological spaces, and maps between these algebraic objects are associated to continuous maps between spaces. Nowadays, functors are used throughout modern mathematics to relate various categories. Thus, functors are important in all areas within mathematics to which category theory is applied.
In mathematics, a vector bundle is a topological construction that makes precise the idea of a family of vector spaces parameterized by another space : to every point of the space we associate a vector space in such a way that these vector spaces fit together to form another space of the same kind as , which is then called a vector bundle over .
In mathematics, and particularly topology, a fiber bundle is a space that is locally a product space, but globally may have a different topological structure. Specifically, the similarity between a space and a product space is defined using a continuous surjective map, that in small regions of behaves just like a projection from corresponding regions of to The map called the projection or submersion of the bundle, is regarded as part of the structure of the bundle. The space is known as the total space of the fiber bundle, as the base space, and the fiber.
In mathematics, homotopy groups are used in algebraic topology to classify topological spaces. The first and simplest homotopy group is the fundamental group, denoted which records information about loops in a space. Intuitively, homotopy groups record information about the basic shape, or holes, of a topological space.
In mathematics, a Lie groupoid is a groupoid where the set of objects and the set of morphisms are both manifolds, all the category operations are smooth, and the source and target operations
In mathematics, a principal bundle is a mathematical object that formalizes some of the essential features of the Cartesian product of a space with a group . In the same way as with the Cartesian product, a principal bundle is equipped with
- An action of on , analogous to for a product space.
- A projection onto . For a product space, this is just the projection onto the first factor, .
In mathematics, a characteristic class is a way of associating to each principal bundle of X a cohomology class of X. The cohomology class measures the extent the bundle is "twisted" and whether it possesses sections. Characteristic classes are global invariants that measure the deviation of a local product structure from a global product structure. They are one of the unifying geometric concepts in algebraic topology, differential geometry, and algebraic geometry.
In the mathematical fields of topology and K-theory, the Serre–Swan theorem, also called Swan's theorem, relates the geometric notion of vector bundles to the algebraic concept of projective modules and gives rise to a common intuition throughout mathematics: "projective modules over commutative rings are like vector bundles on compact spaces".
In mathematics, a frame bundle is a principal fiber bundle F(E) associated to any vector bundle E. The fiber of F(E) over a point x is the set of all ordered bases, or frames, for Ex. The general linear group acts naturally on F(E) via a change of basis, giving the frame bundle the structure of a principal GL(k, R)-bundle (where k is the rank of E).
In the mathematical field of topology, a section of a fiber bundle is a continuous right inverse of the projection function . In other words, if is a fiber bundle over a base space, :
In mathematics, the theory of fiber bundles with a structure group allows an operation of creating an associated bundle, in which the typical fiber of a bundle changes from to , which are both topological spaces with a group action of . For a fiber bundle F with structure group G, the transition functions of the fiber in an overlap of two coordinate systems Uα and Uβ are given as a G-valued function gαβ on Uα∩Uβ. One may then construct a fiber bundle F′ as a new fiber bundle having the same transition functions, but possibly a different fiber.
This is a glossary of terms specific to differential geometry and differential topology. The following three glossaries are closely related:
In category theory, a branch of mathematics, a pullback is the limit of a diagram consisting of two morphisms f : X → Z and g : Y → Z with a common codomain. The pullback is written
A Seifert fiber space is a 3-manifold together with a decomposition as a disjoint union of circles. In other words, it is a -bundle over a 2-dimensional orbifold. Many 3-manifolds are Seifert fiber spaces, and they account for all compact oriented manifolds in 6 of the 8 Thurston geometries of the geometrization conjecture.
In mathematics, a pullback bundle or induced bundle is the fiber bundle that is induced by a map of its base-space. Given a fiber bundle π : E → B and a continuous map f : B′ → B one can define a "pullback" of E by f as a bundle f*E over B′. The fiber of f*E over a point b′ in B′ is just the fiber of E over f(b′). Thus f*E is the disjoint union of all these fibers equipped with a suitable topology.
In differential geometry, in the category of differentiable manifolds, a fibered manifold is a surjective submersion
In mathematics, the vertical bundle and the horizontal bundle are vector bundles associated to a smooth fiber bundle. More precisely, given a smooth fiber bundle , the vertical bundle and horizontal bundle are subbundles of the tangent bundle of whose Whitney sum satisfies . This means that, over each point , the fibers and form complementary subspaces of the tangent space . The vertical bundle consists of all vectors that are tangent to the fibers, while the horizontal bundle requires some choice of complementary subbundle.
In mathematics a stack or 2-sheaf is, roughly speaking, a sheaf that takes values in categories rather than sets. Stacks are used to formalise some of the main constructions of descent theory, and to construct fine moduli stacks when fine moduli spaces do not exist.
In mathematics, a microbundle is a generalization of the concept of vector bundle, introduced by the American mathematician John Milnor in 1964. It allows the creation of bundle-like objects in situations where they would not ordinarily be thought to exist. For example, the tangent bundle is defined for a smooth manifold but not a topological manifold; use of microbundles allows the definition of a topological tangent bundle.
This is a glossary of properties and concepts in algebraic topology in mathematics.
