All Questions
5,183 questions
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Something like Yoneda's lemma
This is inspired by The Whitehead for maps question.
Consider two maps f, g: X\to Y which happen to induce the same maps (of discrete spaces) ...
- 15.1k
5
votes
2
answers
482
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Is a map that is locally fiberwise equivalent to a product a Hurewicz fibration?
The following is a result I feel like I've seen some form of before, but can't figure out how to prove or find a reference for. Suppose you have a map p:E \to B, with B paracompact, and suppose that ...
- 31.2k
31
votes
6
answers
6k
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Least number of charts to describe a given manifold
Hello, I'm wondering if there is a standard reference discussing the least number of charts in an atlas of a given manifold required to describe it.
E.g. a circle requires at least two charts, and ...
- 2,901
30
votes
5
answers
3k
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The ants-on-a-ball problem
Suppose I put an ant in a tiny racecar on every face of a soccer ball. Each ant then drives around the edges of her face counterclockwise. The goal is to prove that two of the ants will eventually ...
5
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1
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1k
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Equivalence of boundedness and total boundedness
Compact subspaces of metric spaces are totally bounded. In some spaces, however, this is equivalent to just being bounded. This (supposedly) holds in finite dimensional Banach spaces.
Can we ...
- 2,389
16
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4
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1k
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HOMFLY and homology; also superalgebras
My understanding is that an analogy along the following lines is (roughly) true:
"The Alexander polynomial is to knot Floer homology is to gl(1|1)
as the Jones polynomial is to Khovanov homology is ...
- 2,806
6
votes
1
answer
187
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Homotopy type of stabilizers
Let X be a contractible metric space and G a topological group acting transitively on X (i.e. given any two points x,y \in X, there exists g \in G such that gx=y).
My question is the following: is it ...
- 1,060
8
votes
1
answer
688
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Universal covers of domains in complex projective space
The Uniformization Theorem states that the universal cover of a Riemann surface is biholomorphic to the extended complex plane, the complex plane or the open unit disk. Each of these three is a domain ...
- 4,485
75
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3
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11k
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Cohomology and fundamental classes
Let X be a real orientable compact differentiable manifold. Is the (co)homology of X generated by the fundamental classes of oriented subvarieties? And if not, what is known about the subgroup ...
- 14.7k
4
votes
3
answers
777
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Is there a co-Hahn-Mazurkiewicz theorem for line-filling spaces?
A famous theorem on space-filling curves is the Hahn-Mazurkiewicz theorem: Let $X$ be a Hausdorff space, then there exists a surjective continuous map $[0,1] \to X$ if and only if $X$ is compact, ...
- 8,167
5
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2
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3k
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What does the property that path-connectedness implies arc-connectedness imply?
A space X is path-connected if any two points are the endpoints of a path, that is, the image of a map [0,1] \to X. A space is arc-connected if any two points are the endpoints of a path, that, the ...
- 8,167
8
votes
2
answers
592
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Base change for category objects in topological spaces
I was prompted by this question, but the motivation is different.
Suppose we have an internal category object in topological spaces, i.e. an object space X and a morphism space Y, together with ...
- 52.6k
1
vote
4
answers
5k
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11
votes
1
answer
336
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cardinality of final coalgebras in Top
Let P be a polynomial functor from Top to Top, by which I mean a functor of the form P(X) = ∐i ≥ 0 Si × Xi where the Si are finite sets, all but finitely many of which are empty. ...
- 25.2k
7
votes
6
answers
2k
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How to partition R^3 into pairwise non-parallel lines?
Problem. How to partition R^3 into pairwise non-parallel lines?
A possible solution is to stack infinitely many ``concentric'' hyperboloids, by increasing radius and decreasing slope. And don't forget ...
- 1,110
23
votes
6
answers
2k
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Is there a topological description of combinatorial Euler characteristic?
There are a collection of definitions of "combinatorial Euler characteristic", which is different from the "homotopy Euler characteristic". I will describe a few of them and give some references, and ...
- 54.6k
56
votes
17
answers
13k
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Atiyah-Singer index theorem
Every year or so I make an attempt to "really" learn the Atiyah-Singer index theorem. I always find that I give up because my analysis background is too weak -- most of the sources spend a lot of ...
- 44.8k
17
votes
8
answers
3k
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Smooth classifying spaces?
Take G to be a group. I care about discrete groups, but the answer in general would be welcome too. There are the various ways to construct the classifying space of G, bar construction, cellular ...
- 1,422
10
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6
answers
2k
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What is an example of a topological space that is not homotopy equivalent to a CW-complex?
It would also be nice if someone can explain this comment appearing on the Wikipedia page on CW-complexes:
"The homotopy category of CW complexes is, in the opinion of some experts, the best if not ...
- 775
4
votes
2
answers
439
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Legendrian homotopy of curves in a contact structure?
I'm aware of the great body of work on Legendrian knot theory in contact geometry, but suppose I'm curious just about homotopy and not isotopy. How does one understand the space of Legendrian loops ...
- 13.6k
2
votes
8
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3k
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The core question of topology
As I see it, the core question of topology is to figure out whether a homeomorphism exists between two topological spaces.
To answer this question, one defines various properties of a space such as ...
- 159
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9
answers
15k
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understanding Steenrod squares
There is a function on $\mathbb{Z}/2\mathbb{Z}$-cohomology called Steenrod squaring: $Sq^i:H^k(X,\mathbb{Z}/2\mathbb{Z}) \to H^{k+i}(X,\mathbb{Z}/2\mathbb{Z})$. (Coefficient group suppressed from ...
- 6,069
12
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4
answers
2k
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Elements of infinite order in a profinite group
Say G is a profinite group with elements of arbitrarily large order. Do elements of infinite order exist (A) if we assume G is abelian? (B) in general?
A start for (A): we can ask the same question ...
- 11.3k
17
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10
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3k
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References for homotopy colimit
(1) What are some good references for homotopy colimits?
(2) Where can I find a reference for the following concrete construction of a homotopy colimit? Start with a partial ordering, which I will ...
- 12.8k
27
votes
13
answers
4k
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Homological algebra for commutative monoids?
Homological algebra for abelian groups is a standard tool in many fields of mathematics. How much carries over to the setting of commutative monoids (with unit)? It seems like there is a notion of ...
- 27.5k
66
votes
5
answers
8k
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Does homology have a coproduct?
Standard algebraic topology defines the cup product which defines a ring structure on the cohomology of a topological space. This ring structure arises because cohomology is a contravariant functor ...
- 661
22
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3
answers
2k
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What is a TMF in topology?
What is a topological modular form? How are they related to 'normal' (number-theoretic) modular forms?
- 15.1k
10
votes
2
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924
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Has anyone tabulated 2-knots? Would anyone like to try?
I'd love to have a list of 'small' $2$-knots, for some sense of small. It's not clear what one should filter by, but there are two obvious candidates
Write a movie presentation, and count the frames.
...
- 7,800
14
votes
5
answers
4k
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Is the long line paracompact?
A manifold is usually defined as a second-countable hausdorff topological space which is locally homeomorphic to Rn. My understanding is that the reason "second-countable" is part of the definition is ...
44
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7
answers
22k
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How do you show that $S^{\infty}$ is contractible?
Here I mean the version with all but finitely many components zero.
- 10.5k
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3
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4k
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5
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3
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1k
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Does the "continuous locus" of a function have any nice properties?
Suppose $f:\mathbf{R}\to\mathbf{R}$ is a function. Let $S=\{x\in \mathbf{R}|f\text{ is continuous at }x\}$. Does $S$ have any nice properties?
Here are some observations about what $S$ could be:
$S$ ...
22
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4
answers
6k
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Can you explicitly write $\mathbb{R}^2$ as a disjoint union of two totally path disconnected sets?
An anonymous question from the 20-questions seminar:
Can you explicitly write $\mathbb{R}^2$ as a disjoint union of two totally path disconnected sets?
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