Differential geometry and topology have become essential tools for many theoretical physicists. In particular, they are indispensable in theoretical studies of condensed matter physics, gravity, and particle physics. Geometry, Topology and Physics, Second Edition introduces the ideas and techniques of differential geometry and topology at a level suitable for postgraduate students and researchers in these fields. The second edition of this popular and established text incorporates a number of changes designed to meet the needs of the reader and reflect the development of the subject. The book features a considerably expanded first chapter, reviewing aspects of path integral quantization and gauge theories. Chapter 2 introduces the mathematical concepts of maps, vector spaces, and topology. The following chapters focus on more elaborate concepts in geometry and topology and discuss the application of these concepts to liquid crystals, superfluid helium, general relativity, and bosonic string theory. Later chapters unify geometry and topology, exploring fiber bundles, characteristic classes, and index theorems. New to this second edition is the proof of the index theorem in terms of supersymmetric quantum mechanics. The final two chapters are devoted to the most fascinating applications of geometry and topology in contemporary physics, namely the study of anomalies in gauge field theories and the analysis of Polakov's bosonic string theory from the geometrical point of view. Geometry, Topology and Physics, Second Edition is an ideal introduction to differential geometry and topology for postgraduate students and researchers in theoretical and mathematical physics.

Written by physicists for physics students, this text assumes no detailed background in topology or geometry. Topics include differential forms, homotopy, homology, cohomology, fiber bundles, connection and covariant derivatives, and Morse theory. 1983 edition.

This book provides a working knowledge of those parts of exterior differential forms, differential geometry, algebraic and differential topology, Lie groups, vector bundles and Chern forms that are essential for a deeper understanding of both classical and modern physics and engineering. Included are discussions of analytical and fluid dynamics, electromagnetism (in flat and curved space), thermodynamics, the Dirac operator and spinors, and gauge fields, including Yang–Mills, the Aharonov–Bohm effect, Berry phase and instanton winding numbers, quarks and quark model for mesons. Before discussing abstract notions of differential geometry, geometric intuition is developed through a rather extensive introduction to the study of surfaces in ordinary space. The book is ideal for graduate and advanced undergraduate students of physics, engineering or mathematics as a course text or for self study. This third edition includes an overview of Cartan's exterior differential forms, which previews many of the geometric concepts developed in the text.

This textbook, first published in 2004, provides an introduction to the major mathematical structures used in physics today.

A concise but self-contained introduction of the central concepts of modern topology and differential geometry on a mathematical level is given specifically with applications in physics in mind. All basic concepts are systematically provided including sketches of the proofs of most statements. Smooth finite-dimensional manifolds, tensor and exterior calculus operating on them, homotopy, (co)homology theory including Morse theory of critical points, as well as the theory of fiber bundles and Riemannian geometry, are treated. Examples from physics comprise topological charges, the topology of periodic boundary conditions for solids, gauge fields, geometric phases in quantum physics and gravitation.

In recent years the methods of modern differential geometry have become of considerable importance in theoretical physics and have found application in relativity and cosmology, high-energy physics and field theory, thermodynamics, fluid dynamics and mechanics. This textbook provides an introduction to these methods - in particular Lie derivatives, Lie groups and differential forms - and covers their extensive applications to theoretical physics. The reader is assumed to have some familiarity with advanced calculus, linear algebra and a little elementary operator theory. The advanced physics undergraduate should therefore find the presentation quite accessible. This account will prove valuable for those with backgrounds in physics and applied mathematics who desire an introduction to the subject. Having studied the book, the reader will be able to comprehend research papers that use this mathematics and follow more advanced pure-mathematical expositions.

This book discusses the computational geometry, topology and physics of digital images and video frame sequences. This trio of computational approaches encompasses the study of shape complexes, optical vortex nerves and proximities embedded in triangulated video frames and single images, while computational geometry focuses on the geometric structures that infuse triangulated visual scenes. The book first addresses the topology of cellular complexes to provide a basis for an introductory study of the computational topology of visual scenes, exploring the fabric, shapes and structures typically found in visual scenes. The book then examines the inherent geometry and topology of visual scenes, and the fine structure of light and light caustics of visual scenes, which bring into play catastrophe theory and the appearance of light caustic folds and cusps. Following on from this, the book introduces optical vortex nerves in triangulated digital images. In this context, computational physics is synonymous with the study of the fine structure of light choreographed in video frames. This choreography appears as a sequence of snapshots of light reflected and refracted from surface shapes, providing a solid foundation for detecting, analyzing and classifying visual scene shapes.