Instructor: Dr. Szilárd SZABÓ

Text:  Allan Hatcher: Algebraic Topology Chapters 0, 2, 3 and Appendix

Prerequisites:
Algebra: finitely presented abelian groups, subgroup, homomorphism, kernel, image, factor group. Rudiments of point-set topology: open/closed sets, continuity, connectedness, compactness.

Course description:
Course description: Homology groups give in some sense an algebraic measure of the complexity of a topological space. The aim of the course is to introduce the notion of singular homology groups and develop some intuition to working with them. We illustrate their relevance with classical applications such as fixed-point theorems and invariance of dimension. In spite of containing classical material, the course often relies on subtle topological and algebraic tools, that we develop in parallel with the core of the topic.

Topics covered:

  1. Basic constructions with topological spaces, homotopy type, retraction
  2. CW-complexes, simplicial complexes, topological properties
  3. Simplicial homology
  4. Singular homology
  5. Homotopy invariance
  6. Relative homology, excision, invariance of dimension
  7. Degree
  8. Cellular homology
  9. Mayer--Vietoris long exact sequence
  10. Applications: Borsuk--Ulam theorem, Lefschetz fixed-point theorem
  11. Cohomology, universal coefficient theorem