An Introduction to Contact Topology
Author | : Hansjörg Geiges |
Publisher | : Cambridge University Press |
Total Pages | : 458 |
Release | : 2008-03-13 |
ISBN-10 | : 0521865859 |
ISBN-13 | : 9780521865852 |
Rating | : 4/5 (59 Downloads) |
Download or read book An Introduction to Contact Topology written by Hansjörg Geiges and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2008-03-13 with total page 458 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This text on contact topology is the first 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 where the focus mainly on contact surgery, but other constructions of contact manifolds are described, such as open books or fibre connected sums.