Courses:

Algebraic Topology >> Content Detail



Syllabus



Syllabus

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Prerequisite


The prerequisites for the course are basic point set topology, such as Introduction to Topology (18.901 or equivalent) and algebra, such as Algebra I (18.701) or Modern Algebra (18.703) or equivalent.



Course Overview


This course is intended as a graduate-level introduction to the machinery of algebraic topology. Specifically, we will focus on singular homology and the dual theory of singular cohomology.



Text


The textbook for this course is:

Amazon logo Hatcher, Allen. Algebraic Topology. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2002. ISBN: 9780521795401.

The text is freely available online, but paperback copies are also available. We will be focusing on chapters 2 and 3.

Other texts you might find interesting or useful include the following:

Amazon logo Massey, William S. A Basic Course in Algebraic Topology. New York, NY: Springer-Verlag, 1997. ISBN: 9780387974309.

Amazon logo Rotman, Joseph J. An Introduction to Algebraic Topology. New York, NY: Springer-Verlag, 1998. ISBN: 9780387966786.

Amazon logo Munkres, James R. Elements of Algebraic Topology. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1993. ISBN: 9780201627282.



Exams and Assignments


There are no exams for this course. Your grade for this course will be based on weekly assignments due each Wednesday in-class. There are 12 assignments in all.



Grading


Your lowest assignment grade will be not be counted towards your final grade. The remaining assignments will be given equal weight.



Calendar



WEEK #TOPICS
1CW-complexes, delta-complexes, simplicial homology, exact sequences, diagram chasing
2Singular homology, homotopies and chain homotopies, categories and functors, Eilenberg-Steenrod axioms
3Excision, computations for spheres, equivalence of simplicial and singular homology
4Cellular homology, Mayer-Vietoris sequences, the Mayer-Vietoris argument, homology with coefficients
5Tensor products, Tor, universal coefficient theorem for homology, products of simplices
6The Eilenberg-Zilber shuffle "product" map, diagonal approximations, the Alexander-Whitney map, method of acyclic models, Kunneth formula
7Duality, cohomology, Ext, universal coefficients for cohomology
8Projective spaces and Grassmannians, cup products, relative cup products
9Dual Kunneth formula, field coefficients, cup products in cohomology of projective spaces
10Manifolds, local orientations, global orientations
11Cap products and choices of appropriate sign conventions, statement of Poincare duality, limits
12Compactly supported cohomology, proof of Poincare duality
13

Finish proof of Poincare duality

Intersection pairing and cup product

14Lefschetz fixed point theorem
15

Finish proof of Lefschetz theorem

Assorted further topics


 








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