Homotopy Theory And Differential Forms

This completely revised and corrected version of the well-known Florence notes circulated by the authors together with E. Friedlander examines basic topology, emphasizing homotopy theory. Included is a discussion of Postnikov towers and rational homotopy theory. This is then followed by an in-depth look at differential forms and de Tham’s theorem on simplicial complexes. In addition, Sullivan’s results on computing the rational homotopy type from forms is presented. New to the Second Edition: *Fully-revised appendices including an expanded discussion of the Hirsch lemma *Presentation of a natural proof of a Serre spectral sequence result *Updated content throughout the book, reflecting advances in the area of homotopy theory With its modern approach and timely revisions, this second edition of Rational Homotopy Theory and Differential Forms will be a valuable resource for graduate students and researchers in algebraic topology, differential forms, and homotopy theory.

Developed from a first-year graduate course in algebraic topology, this text is an informal introduction to some of the main ideas of contemporary homotopy and cohomology theory. The materials are structured around four core areas: de Rham theory, the Cech-de Rham complex, spectral sequences, and characteristic classes. By using the de Rham theory of differential forms as a prototype of cohomology, the machineries of algebraic topology are made easier to assimilate. With its stress on concreteness, motivation, and readability, this book is equally suitable for self-study and as a one-semester course in topology.

This monograph explores the cohomological theory of manifolds with various sheaves and its application to differential geometry. Based on lectures given by author Izu Vaisman at Romania's University of Iasi, the treatment is suitable for advanced undergraduates and graduate students of mathematics as well as mathematical researchers in differential geometry, global analysis, and topology. A self-contained development of cohomological theory constitutes the central part of the book. Topics include categories and functors, the Čech cohomology with coefficients in sheaves, the theory of fiber bundles, and differentiable, foliated, and complex analytic manifolds. The final chapter covers the theorems of de Rham and Dolbeault-Serre and examines the theorem of Allendoerfer and Eells, with applications of these theorems to characteristic classes and the general theory of harmonic forms.

This book is intended as an elementary introduction to differential manifolds. The authors concentrate on the intuitive geometric aspects and explain not only the basic properties but also teach how to do the basic geometrical constructions. An integral part of the work are the many diagrams which illustrate the proofs. The text is liberally supplied with exercises and will be welcomed by students with some basic knowledge of analysis and topology.

"A very valuable book. In little over 200 pages, it presents a well-organized and surprisingly comprehensive treatment of most of the basic material in differential topology, as far as is accessible without the methods of algebraic topology....There is an abundance of exercises, which supply many beautiful examples and much interesting additional information, and help the reader to become thoroughly familiar with the material of the main text." —MATHEMATICAL REVIEWS

This comprehensive monograph provides a self-contained treatment of the theory of I*-measure, or Sullivan's rational homotopy theory, from a constructive point of view. It centers on the notion of calculability which is due to the author himself, as are the measure-theoretical and constructive points of view in rational homotopy. The I*-measure is shown to differ from other homology and homotopy measures in that it is calculable with respect to most of the important geometric constructions encountered in algebraic topology. This approach provides a new method of treatment and leads to various new results. In particular, an axiomatic system of I*-measure is formulated, quite different in spirit from the usual Eilenberg-Steenrod axiomatic system for homology, and giving at the same time an algorithmic method of computation of the I*-measure in concrete cases. The book will be of interest to researchers in rational homotopy theory and will provide them with new ideas and lines of research to develop further.

This monograph is the first one to systematically present a series of local and global estimates and inequalities for differential forms, in particular the ones that satisfy the A-harmonic equations. The presentation focuses on the Hardy-Littlewood, Poincare, Cacciooli, imbedded and reverse Holder inequalities. Integral estimates for operators, such as homotopy operator, the Laplace-Beltrami operator, and the gradient operator are discussed next. Additionally, some related topics such as BMO inequalities, Lipschitz classes, Orlicz spaces and inequalities in Carnot groups are discussed in the concluding chapter. An abundance of bibliographical references and historical material supplement the text throughout. This rigorous presentation requires a familiarity with topics such as differential forms, topology and Sobolev space theory. It will serve as an invaluable reference for researchers, instructors and graduate students in analysis and partial differential equations and could be used as additional material for specific courses in these fields.