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112 votes
6 answers
10k views

Counterexamples in algebraic topology?

In this thread Books you would like to read (if somebody would just write them...), I expressed my desire for a book with the title "(Counter)examples in Algebraic Topology". My reason for doing so ...
46 votes
5 answers
3k views

‘Naturally occurring’ $K(\pi, n)$ spaces, for $n \geq 2$

[edited!] Given a group $\pi$ and an integer $n>1$, what are examples of Eilenberg–MacLane spaces $K(\pi, n)$ that can be constructed as "known" manifolds? (Or if not a manifold, say some ...
Romeo's user avatar
  • 2,734
27 votes
6 answers
4k views

Failure of smoothing theory for topological 4-manifolds

Smoothing theory fails for topological 4-manifolds, in that a smooth structure on a topological 4-manifold $M$ is not equivalent to a vector bundle structure on the tangent microbundle of $M$. Is ...
John Francis's user avatar
70 votes
28 answers
7k views

Examples where it's useful to know that a mathematical object belongs to some family of objects

For an expository piece I'm writing, it would be useful to have good examples of the following phenomenon: (1) ${\cal X}$ is a parameterized family of somethings. (Varieties, schemes, manifolds, ...
45 votes
13 answers
9k views

Motivating the de Rham theorem

In grad school I learned the isomorphism between de Rham cohomology and singular cohomology from a course that used Warner's book Foundations of Differentiable Manifolds and Lie Groups. One thing ...
Timothy Chow's user avatar
  • 82.7k
41 votes
10 answers
4k views

Phenomena of gerbes

What is your favourite example of Gerbes? I would like to know Where do we find Gerbes in "nature"? The examples could vary from String theory to Galois theory. For example my favourite examples of ...
tttbase's user avatar
  • 1,720
37 votes
3 answers
3k views

Are there pairs of highly connected finite CW-complexes with the same homotopy groups?

Fix an integer n. Can you find two finite CW-complexes X and Y which * are both n connected, * are not homotopy equivalent, yet * $\pi_q X \approx \pi_q Y$ for all $q$. In Are there two non-...
Charles Rezk's user avatar
  • 27.2k
31 votes
3 answers
4k views

Algebras over the little disks operad

Hello, The so-called "recognition principle" of Boardman-Vogt and May leaves me unsatisfied. My problem is the following: The "recognition principle" says that every "group-like" algebra over the ...
Oblomov's user avatar
  • 2,521
25 votes
1 answer
5k views

Example of fiber bundle that is not a fibration

It is well-known that a fiber bundle under some mild hypothesis is a fibration, but I don't know any examples of fiber bundles which aren't (Hurewicz) fibrations (they should be weird examples, I ...
Xxxx's user avatar
  • 253
21 votes
2 answers
2k views

A simplicial complex which is not collapsible, but whose barycentric subdivision is

Does anyone know of a simplicial complex which is not collapsible but whose barycentric subdivision is? Every collapsible complex is necessarily contractible, and subdivision preserves the ...
Andy Soffer's user avatar
13 votes
2 answers
2k views

Request: A Serre fibration that is not a Dold fibration

A Serre fibration has the homotopy lifting property with respect to the maps $[0,1]^n \times \{0\} \to [0,1]^{n+1}$. A Dold fibration $E \to B$ has the weak covering homotopy property: lifts with ...
David Roberts's user avatar
  • 35.5k
8 votes
2 answers
574 views

Non-trivial examples of Stably diffeomorphic 4-manifolds

I am looking for some non-trivial examples of (smooth) 4-mflds $M,N$ such that $M$ and $N$ are STABLY diffeomorphic. I.e. $$M\sharp_n (S^2\times S^2) \cong N \sharp_r (S^2\times S^2)$$ for $r,n$ not ...
Luigi M's user avatar
  • 503