This book provides an introduction to some key subjects in algebra and topology. It consists of comprehensive texts of some hours courses on the preliminaries for several advanced theories in (categorical) algebra and topology. Often, this kind of presentations is not so easy to find in the literature, where one begins articles by assuming a lot of knowledge in the field. This volume can both help young researchers to quickly get into the subject by offering a kind of « roadmap » and also help master students to be aware of the basics of other research directions in these fields before deciding to specialize in one of them. Furthermore, it can be used by established researchers who need a particular result for their own research and do not want to go through several research papers in order to understand a single proof. Although the chapters can be read as « self-contained » chapters, the authors have tried to coordinate the texts in order to make them complementary. The seven chapters of this volume correspond to the seven courses taught in two Summer Schools that took place in Louvain-la-Neuve in the frame of the project Fonds d’Appui à l’Internationalisation of the Université catholique de Louvain to strengthen the collaborations with the universities of Coimbra, Padova and Poitiers, within the Coimbra Group.

A graduate-level textbook that presents basic topology from the perspective of category theory. This graduate-level textbook on topology takes a unique approach: it reintroduces basic, point-set topology from a more modern, categorical perspective. Many graduate students are familiar with the ideas of point-set topology and they are ready to learn something new about them. Teaching the subject using category theory--a contemporary branch of mathematics that provides a way to represent abstract concepts--both deepens students' understanding of elementary topology and lays a solid foundation for future work in advanced topics.

A short introduction ideal for students learning category theory for the first time.

Algebraic topology is a basic part of modern mathematics, and some knowledge of this area is indispensable for any advanced work relating to geometry, including topology itself, differential geometry, algebraic geometry, and Lie groups. This book provides a detailed treatment of algebraic topology both for teachers of the subject and for advanced graduate students in mathematics either specializing in this area or continuing on to other fields. J. Peter May's approach reflects the enormous internal developments within algebraic topology over the past several decades, most of which are largely unknown to mathematicians in other fields. But he also retains the classical presentations of various topics where appropriate. Most chapters end with problems that further explore and refine the concepts presented. The final four chapters provide sketches of substantial areas of algebraic topology that are normally omitted from introductory texts, and the book concludes with a list of suggested readings for those interested in delving further into the field.

This volume is the first comprehensive treatment of combinatorial algebraic topology in book form. The first part of the book constitutes a swift walk through the main tools of algebraic topology. Readers - graduate students and working mathematicians alike - will probably find particularly useful the second part, which contains an in-depth discussion of the major research techniques of combinatorial algebraic topology. Although applications are sprinkled throughout the second part, they are principal focus of the third part, which is entirely devoted to developing the topological structure theory for graph homomorphisms.

Algebra: Chapter 0 is a self-contained introduction to the main topics of algebra, suitable for a first sequence on the subject at the beginning graduate or upper undergraduate level. The primary distinguishing feature of the book, compared to standard textbooks in algebra, is the early introduction of categories, used as a unifying theme in the presentation of the main topics. A second feature consists of an emphasis on homological algebra: basic notions on complexes are presented as soon as modules have been introduced, and an extensive last chapter on homological algebra can form the basis for a follow-up introductory course on the subject. Approximately 1,000 exercises both provide adequate practice to consolidate the understanding of the main body of the text and offer the opportunity to explore many other topics, including applications to number theory and algebraic geometry. This will allow instructors to adapt the textbook to their specific choice of topics and provide the independent reader with a richer exposure to algebra. Many exercises include substantial hints, and navigation of the topics is facilitated by an extensive index and by hundreds of cross-references.