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In mathematics, a pullback is either of two different, but related processes: precomposition and fiber-product. Its dual is a pushforward.
| | This article needs additional citations for verification .(March 2014) |
In mathematics, a pullback is either of two different, but related processes: precomposition and fiber-product. Its dual is a pushforward.
Precomposition with a function probably provides the most elementary notion of pullback: in simple terms, a function of a variable where itself is a function of another variable may be written as a function of This is the pullback of by the function
It is such a fundamental process that it is often passed over without mention.
However, it is not just functions that can be "pulled back" in this sense. Pullbacks can be applied to many other objects such as differential forms and their cohomology classes; see
The pullback bundle is an example that bridges the notion of a pullback as precomposition, and the notion of a pullback as a Cartesian square. In that example, the base space of a fiber bundle is pulled back, in the sense of precomposition, above. The fibers then travel along with the points in the base space at which they are anchored: the resulting new pullback bundle looks locally like a Cartesian product of the new base space, and the (unchanged) fiber. The pullback bundle then has two projections: one to the base space, the other to the fiber; the product of the two becomes coherent when treated as a fiber product.
The notion of pullback as a fiber-product ultimately leads to the very general idea of a categorical pullback, but it has important special cases: inverse image (and pullback) sheaves in algebraic geometry, and pullback bundles in algebraic topology and differential geometry.
See also:
When the pullback is studied as an operator acting on function spaces, it becomes a linear operator, and is known as the transpose or composition operator. Its adjoint is the push-forward, or, in the context of functional analysis, the transfer operator.
The relation between the two notions of pullback can perhaps best be illustrated by sections of fiber bundles: if is a section of a fiber bundle over and then the pullback (precomposition) of s with is a section of the pullback (fiber-product) bundle over
In mathematics, specifically in homology theory and algebraic topology, cohomology is a general term for a sequence of abelian groups, usually one associated with a topological space, often defined from a cochain complex. Cohomology can be viewed as a method of assigning richer algebraic invariants to a space than homology. Some versions of cohomology arise by dualizing the construction of homology. In other words, cochains are functions on the group of chains in homology theory.
In the mathematical fields of differential geometry and tensor calculus, differential forms are an approach to multivariable calculus that is independent of coordinates. Differential forms provide a unified approach to define integrands over curves, surfaces, solids, and higher-dimensional manifolds. The modern notion of differential forms was pioneered by Élie Cartan. It has many applications, especially in geometry, topology and physics.
In mathematics, a sheaf is a tool for systematically tracking data attached to the open sets of a topological space and defined locally with regard to them. For example, for each open set, the data could be the ring of continuous functions defined on that open set. Such data is well behaved in that it can be restricted to smaller open sets, and also the data assigned to an open set is equivalent to all collections of compatible data assigned to collections of smaller open sets covering the original open set.
In mathematics, a vector bundle is a topological construction that makes precise the idea of a family of vector spaces parameterized by another space X : to every point x of the space X we associate a vector space V(x) in such a way that these vector spaces fit together to form another space of the same kind as X, which is then called a vector bundle over X.
In topology, a branch of mathematics, a fibration is a generalization of the notion of a fiber bundle. A fiber bundle makes precise the idea of one topological space being "parameterized" by another topological space. A fibration is like a fiber bundle, except that the fibers need not be the same space, nor even homeomorphic; rather, they are just homotopy equivalent. Weak fibrations discard even this equivalence for a more technical property.
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 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, :
Suppose that φ : M → N is a smooth map between smooth manifolds M and N. Then there is an associated linear map from the space of 1-forms on N to the space of 1-forms on M. This linear map is known as the pullback, and is frequently denoted by φ∗. More generally, any covariant tensor field – in particular any differential form – on N may be pulled back to M using φ.
This is a glossary of terms specific to differential geometry and differential topology. The following three glossaries are closely related:
In mathematics, differential refers to infinitesimal differences or to the derivatives of functions. The term is used in various branches of mathematics such as calculus, differential geometry, algebraic geometry and algebraic topology.
In mathematics, deformation theory is the study of infinitesimal conditions associated with varying a solution P of a problem to slightly different solutions Pε, where ε is a small number, or a vector of small quantities. The infinitesimal conditions are the result of applying the approach of differential calculus to solving a problem with constraints. The name is an analogy to non-rigid structures that deform slightly to accommodate external forces.
In mathematics, sheaf cohomology is the application of homological algebra to analyze the global sections of a sheaf on a topological space. Broadly speaking, sheaf cohomology describes the obstructions to solving a geometric problem globally when it can be solved locally. The central work for the study of sheaf cohomology is Grothendieck's 1957 Tôhoku paper.
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.
Fibred categories are abstract entities in mathematics used to provide a general framework for descent theory. They formalise the various situations in geometry and algebra in which inverse images of objects such as vector bundles can be defined. As an example, for each topological space there is the category of vector bundles on the space, and for every continuous map from a topological space X to another topological space Y is associated the pullback functor taking bundles on Y to bundles on X. Fibred categories formalise the system consisting of these categories and inverse image functors. Similar setups appear in various guises in mathematics, in particular in algebraic geometry, which is the context in which fibred categories originally appeared. Fibered categories are used to define stacks, which are fibered categories with "descent". Fibrations also play an important role in categorical semantics of type theory, and in particular that of dependent type theories.
In mathematics, a D-module is a module over a ring D of differential operators. The major interest of such D-modules is as an approach to the theory of linear partial differential equations. Since around 1970, D-module theory has been built up, mainly as a response to the ideas of Mikio Sato on algebraic analysis, and expanding on the work of Sato and Joseph Bernstein on the Bernstein–Sato polynomial.
In mathematics, the Gauss–Manin connection is a connection on a certain vector bundle over a base space S of a family of algebraic varieties . The fibers of the vector bundle are the de Rham cohomology groups of the fibers of the family. It was introduced by Yuri Manin (1958) for curves S and by Alexander Grothendieck (1966) in higher dimensions.
In differential geometry, an Ehresmann connection is a version of the notion of a connection, which makes sense on any smooth fiber bundle. In particular, it does not rely on the possible vector bundle structure of the underlying fiber bundle, but nevertheless, linear connections may be viewed as a special case. Another important special case of Ehresmann connections are principal connections on principal bundles, which are required to be equivariant in the principal Lie group action.
In the field of mathematics known as algebraic topology, the Gysin sequence is a long exact sequence which relates the cohomology classes of the base space, the fiber and the total space of a sphere bundle. The Gysin sequence is a useful tool for calculating the cohomology rings given the Euler class of the sphere bundle and vice versa. It was introduced by Gysin (1942), and is generalized by the Serre spectral sequence.
This is a glossary of algebraic geometry.
This is a glossary of properties and concepts in algebraic topology in mathematics.
