Topology for Physicists by Albert S Schwarz

Topology for Physicists by Albert S Schwarz

In recent years topology has firmly established itself as an important part of the physicist's mathematical arsenal. Topology has profound relevance to quantum field theory-for example, topological nontrivial solutions of the classical equa- tions of motion (solitons and instantons) allow the physicist to leave the frame- work of perturbation theory. The significance of topology has increased even further with the development of string theory, which uses very sharp topologi- cal methods-both in the study of strings, and in the pursuit of the transition to four-dimensional field theories by means of spontaneous compactification. Im- portant applications of topology also occur in other areas of physics: the study of defects in condensed media, of singularities in the excitation spectrum of crystals, of the quantum Hall effect, and so on. Nowadays, a working knowledge of the basic concepts of topology is essential to quantum field theorists; there is no doubt that tomorrow this will also be true for specialists in many other areas of theoretical physics. The amount of topological information used in the physics literature is very large. Most common is homotopy theory. But other subjects also play an important role: homology theory, fibration theory (and characteristic classes in particular), and also branches of mathematics that are not directly a part of topology, but which use topological methods in an essential way: for example, the theory of indices of elliptic operators and the theory of complex manifolds.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9783642081316
ISBN 10	3642081312
Title	Topology for Physicists
Author	Albert S Schwarz
Series	Grundlehren Der Mathematischen Wissenschaften
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Springer
Year published	2010-12-01
Number of pages	296
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.