Undergraduate Texts in Mathematics
2 total works
In this broad introduction to topology, the author searches for topological invariants of spaces, together with techniques for calculating them. Students with knowledge of real analysis, elementary group theory, and linear algebra will quickly become familiar with a wide variety of techniques and applications involving point-set, geometric, and algebraic topology. Over 139 illustrations and more than 350 problems of various difficulties will help students gain a rounded understanding of the subject.
Groups are important because they measure symmetry. This text, designed for undergraduate mathematics students, provides a gentle introduction to the highlights of elementary group theory. Written in an informal style, the material is divided into short sections each of which deals with an important result or idea. Throughout the book, the emphasis is placed on concrete examples, many of them geometrical in nature, so that finite rotation groups and the 17 wallpaper groups are treated in detail alongside theoretical results such as Lagrange's theorem, the Sylow theorems, and the classification theorem for finitely generated abelian groups. A novel feature at this level is a proof of the Nielsen-Schreier theorem, using group actions on trees. There are more than three hundred exercises to help develop the student's intuition.