Bordered Heegaard Floer Homology


Book Description

The authors construct Heegaard Floer theory for 3-manifolds with connected boundary. The theory associates to an oriented, parametrized two-manifold a differential graded algebra. For a three-manifold with parametrized boundary, the invariant comes in two different versions, one of which (type D) is a module over the algebra and the other of which (type A) is an A∞ module. Both are well-defined up to chain homotopy equivalence. For a decomposition of a 3-manifold into two pieces, the A∞ tensor product of the type D module of one piece and the type A module from the other piece is ^HF of the glued manifold. As a special case of the construction, the authors specialize to the case of three-manifolds with torus boundary. This case can be used to give another proof of the surgery exact triangle for ^HF. The authors relate the bordered Floer homology of a three-manifold with torus boundary with the knot Floer homology of a filling.




Floer Homology, Gauge Theory, and Low-Dimensional Topology


Book Description

Mathematical gauge theory studies connections on principal bundles, or, more precisely, the solution spaces of certain partial differential equations for such connections. Historically, these equations have come from mathematical physics, and play an important role in the description of the electro-weak and strong nuclear forces. The use of gauge theory as a tool for studying topological properties of four-manifolds was pioneered by the fundamental work of Simon Donaldson in theearly 1980s, and was revolutionized by the introduction of the Seiberg-Witten equations in the mid-1990s. Since the birth of the subject, it has retained its close connection with symplectic topology. The analogy between these two fields of study was further underscored by Andreas Floer's constructionof an infinite-dimensional variant of Morse theory that applies in two a priori different contexts: either to define symplectic invariants for pairs of Lagrangian submanifolds of a symplectic manifold, or to define topological This volume is based on lecture courses and advanced seminars given at the 2004 Clay Mathematics Institute Summer School at the Alfred Renyi Institute of Mathematics in Budapest, Hungary. Several of the authors have added a considerable amount of additional material tothat presented at the school, and the resulting volume provides a state-of-the-art introduction to current research, covering material from Heegaard Floer homology, contact geometry, smooth four-manifold topology, and symplectic four-manifolds. Information for our distributors: Titles in this seriesare copublished with the Clay Mathematics Institute (Cambridge, MA).




Grid Homology for Knots and Links


Book Description

Knot theory is a classical area of low-dimensional topology, directly connected with the theory of three-manifolds and smooth four-manifold topology. In recent years, the subject has undergone transformative changes thanks to its connections with a number of other mathematical disciplines, including gauge theory; representation theory and categorification; contact geometry; and the theory of pseudo-holomorphic curves. Starting from the combinatorial point of view on knots using their grid diagrams, this book serves as an introduction to knot theory, specifically as it relates to some of the above developments. After a brief overview of the background material in the subject, the book gives a self-contained treatment of knot Floer homology from the point of view of grid diagrams. Applications include computations of the unknotting number and slice genus of torus knots (asked first in the 1960s and settled in the 1990s), and tools to study variants of knot theory in the presence of a contact structure. Additional topics are presented to prepare readers for further study in holomorphic methods in low-dimensional topology, especially Heegaard Floer homology. The book could serve as a textbook for an advanced undergraduate or part of a graduate course in knot theory. Standard background material is sketched in the text and the appendices.




Cornered Heegaard Floer Homology


Book Description

Bordered Floer homology assigns invariants to 3-manifolds with boundary, such that the Heegaard Floer homology of a closed 3-manifold, split into two pieces, can be recovered as a tensor product of the bordered invariants of the pieces. The authors construct cornered Floer homology invariants of 3-manifolds with codimension-2 corners and prove that the bordered Floer homology of a 3-manifold with boundary, split into two pieces with corners, can be recovered as a tensor product of the cornered invariants of the pieces.




Knots and Links


Book Description

Rolfsen's beautiful book on knots and links can be read by anyone, from beginner to expert, who wants to learn about knot theory. Beginners find an inviting introduction to the elements of topology, emphasizing the tools needed for understanding knots, the fundamental group and van Kampen's theorem, for example, which are then applied to concrete problems, such as computing knot groups. For experts, Rolfsen explains advanced topics, such as the connections between knot theory and surgery and how they are useful to understanding three-manifolds. Besides providing a guide to understanding knot theory, the book offers 'practical' training. After reading it, you will be able to do many things: compute presentations of knot groups, Alexander polynomials, and other invariants; perform surgery on three-manifolds; and visualize knots and their complements.It is characterized by its hands-on approach and emphasis on a visual, geometric understanding. Rolfsen offers invaluable insight and strikes a perfect balance between giving technical details and offering informal explanations. The illustrations are superb, and a wealth of examples are included. Now back in print by the AMS, the book is still a standard reference in knot theory. It is written in a remarkable style that makes it useful for both beginners and researchers. Particularly noteworthy is the table of knots and links at the end. This volume is an excellent introduction to the topic and is suitable as a textbook for a course in knot theory or 3-manifolds. Other key books of interest on this topic available from the AMS are ""The Shoelace Book: A Mathematical Guide to the Best (and Worst) Ways to Lace your Shoes"" and ""The Knot Book.""







Floer Homology, Gauge Theory, and Low-Dimensional Topology


Book Description

Mathematical gauge theory studies connections on principal bundles, or, more precisely, the solution spaces of certain partial differential equations for such connections. Historically, these equations have come from mathematical physics, and play an important role in the description of the electro-weak and strong nuclear forces. The use of gauge theory as a tool for studying topological properties of four-manifolds was pioneered by the fundamental work of Simon Donaldson in theearly 1980s, and was revolutionized by the introduction of the Seiberg-Witten equations in the mid-1990s. Since the birth of the subject, it has retained its close connection with symplectic topology. The analogy between these two fields of study was further underscored by Andreas Floer's constructionof an infinite-dimensional variant of Morse theory that applies in two a priori different contexts: either to define symplectic invariants for pairs of Lagrangian submanifolds of a symplectic manifold, or to define topological This volume is based on lecture courses and advanced seminars given at the 2004 Clay Mathematics Institute Summer School at the Alfred Renyi Institute of Mathematics in Budapest, Hungary. Several of the authors have added a considerable amount of additional material tothat presented at the school, and the resulting volume provides a state-of-the-art introduction to current research, covering material from Heegaard Floer homology, contact geometry, smooth four-manifold topology, and symplectic four-manifolds. Information for our distributors: Titles in this seriesare copublished with the Clay Mathematics Institute (Cambridge, MA).




An Introduction to Contact Topology


Book Description

This text on contact topology is a comprehensive introduction to the subject, including recent striking applications in geometric and differential topology: Eliashberg's proof of Cerf's theorem via the classification of tight contact structures on the 3-sphere, and the Kronheimer-Mrowka proof of property P for knots via symplectic fillings of contact 3-manifolds. Starting with the basic differential topology of contact manifolds, all aspects of 3-dimensional contact manifolds are treated in this book. One notable feature is a detailed exposition of Eliashberg's classification of overtwisted contact structures. Later chapters also deal with higher-dimensional contact topology. Here the focus is on contact surgery, but other constructions of contact manifolds are described, such as open books or fibre connected sums. This book serves both as a self-contained introduction to the subject for advanced graduate students and as a reference for researchers.




Lectures on Symplectic Geometry


Book Description

The goal of these notes is to provide a fast introduction to symplectic geometry for graduate students with some knowledge of differential geometry, de Rham theory and classical Lie groups. This text addresses symplectomorphisms, local forms, contact manifolds, compatible almost complex structures, Kaehler manifolds, hamiltonian mechanics, moment maps, symplectic reduction and symplectic toric manifolds. It contains guided problems, called homework, designed to complement the exposition or extend the reader's understanding. There are by now excellent references on symplectic geometry, a subset of which is in the bibliography of this book. However, the most efficient introduction to a subject is often a short elementary treatment, and these notes attempt to serve that purpose. This text provides a taste of areas of current research and will prepare the reader to explore recent papers and extensive books on symplectic geometry where the pace is much faster. For this reprint numerous corrections and clarifications have been made, and the layout has been improved.




The Floer Memorial Volume


Book Description

Andreas Floer died on May 15, 1991 an untimely and tragic death. His visions and far-reaching contributions have significantly influenced the developments of mathematics. His main interests centered on the fields of dynamical systems, symplectic geometry, Yang-Mills theory and low dimensional topology. Motivated by the global existence problem of periodic solutions for Hamiltonian systems and starting from ideas of Conley, Gromov and Witten, he developed his Floer homology, providing new, powerful methods which can be applied to problems inaccessible only a few years ago. This volume opens with a short biography and three hitherto unpublished papers of Andreas Floer. It then presents a collection of invited contributions, and survey articles as well as research papers on his fields of interest, bearing testimony of the high esteem and appreciation this brilliant mathematician enjoyed among his colleagues. Authors include: A. Floer, V.I. Arnold, M. Atiyah, M. Audin, D.M. Austin, S.M. Bates, P.J. Braam, M. Chaperon, R.L. Cohen, G. Dell' Antonio, S.K. Donaldson, B. D'Onofrio, I. Ekeland, Y. Eliashberg, K.D. Ernst, R. Finthushel, A.B. Givental, H. Hofer, J.D.S. Jones, I. McAllister, D. McDuff, Y.-G. Oh, L. Polterovich, D.A. Salamon, G.B. Segal, R. Stern, C.H. Taubes, C. Viterbo, A. Weinstein, E. Witten, E. Zehnder.