Based on lectures presented at Pennsylvania State University in February 1987, this work begins with the notions of manifold and smooth structures and the Gauss-Bonnet theorem, and proceeds to the topology and geometry of foliated 3-manifolds. It also explains why four-dimensional space has special attributes.

This volume contains the conference on quantum topology, held at Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, 24 - 28 March 1993.Quantum topology is a rapidly growing field of mathematics dealing with the recently discovered interactions between low-dimensional topology, the theory of quantum groups, category theory, C∗-algebra theory, gauge theory, conformal and topological field theory and statistical mechanics. The conference, attended by over 60 mathematicians and theoretical physicists from Canada, Denmark, England, France, Japan, Poland and the United States, was highlighted by lecture series given by Louis Kauffman, Univ. of Illinois at Chicago and Nicholai Reshetikhin, Univ. of Califonia, Berkeley.

This mathematically rigorous treatment examines Zeeman's characterization of the causal automorphisms of Minkowski spacetime and the Penrose theorem concerning the apparent shape of a relativistically moving sphere. Other topics include the construction of a geometric theory of the electromagnetic field; an in-depth introduction to the theory of spinors; and a classification of electromagnetic fields in both tensor and spinor form. Appendixes introduce a topology for Minkowski spacetime and discuss Dirac's famous "Scissors Problem." Appropriate for graduate-level courses, this text presumes only a knowledge of linear algebra and elementary point-set topology. 1992 edition. 43 figures.

Conformal dimension measures the extent to which the Hausdorff dimension of a metric space can be lowered by quasisymmetric deformations. Introduced by Pansu in 1989, this concept has proved extremely fruitful in a diverse range of areas, including geometric function theory, conformal dynamics, and geometric group theory. This survey leads the reader from the definitions and basic theory through to active research applications in geometric function theory, Gromov hyperbolic geometry, and the dynamics of rational maps, amongst other areas. It reviews the theory of dimension in metric spaces and of deformations of metric spaces. It summarizes the basic tools for estimating conformal dimension and illustrates their application to concrete problems of independent interest. Numerous examples and proofs are provided. Working from basic definitions through to current research areas, this book can be used as a guide for graduate students interested in this field, or as a helpful survey for experts. Background needed for a potential reader of the book consists of a working knowledge of real and complex analysis on the level of first- and second-year graduate courses.

This book combines the classical and contemporary approaches to differential geometry. An introduction to the Riemannian geometry of manifolds is preceded by a detailed discussion of properties of curves and surfaces. The chapter on the differential geometry of plane curves considers local and global properties of curves, evolutes and involutes, and affine and projective differential geometry. Various approaches to Gaussian curvature for surfaces are discussed. The curvature tensor, conjugate points, and the Laplace-Beltrami operator are first considered in detail for two-dimensional surfaces, which facilitates studying them in the many-dimensional case. A separate chapter is devoted to the differential geometry of Lie groups.

"Starting from classical arithmetical questions on quadratic forms, this book takes the reader step by step through the connections with lattice sphere packing and covering problems. As a model for polyhedral reduction theories of positive definite quadratic forms, Minkowski's classical theory is presented, including an application to multidimensional continued fraction expansions. The reduction theories of Voronoi are described in great detail, including full proofs, new views, and generalizations that cannot be found elsewhere. Based on Voronoi's second reduction theory, the local analysis of sphere coverings and several of its applications are presented. These include the classification of totally real thin number fields, connections to the Minkowski conjecture, and the discovery of new, sometimes surprising, properties of exceptional structures such as the Leech lattice or the root lattices." "Throughout this book, special attention is paid to algorithms and computability, allowing computer-assisted treatments. Although dealing with relatively classical topics that have been worked on extensively by numerous authors, this book is exemplary in showing how computers may help to gain new insights."--BOOK JACKET.

The theory of generalized analytic continuation studies continuations of meromorphic functions in situations where traditional theory says there is a natural boundary. This broader theory touches on a remarkable array of topics in classical analysis, as described in the book. The authors use the strong analogy with the summability of divergent series to motivate the subject. They are careful to cover the various types of continuations, attempting to unify them and suggesting some open questions. The book also addresses the role of such continuations in approximation theory and operator theory. The introductory overview provides a useful look at the history and context of the theory.