What exactly is topology ?? [on hold]Real life applications of TopologyWhat exactly is the topology generated by the union of a family of topologies?what exactly is weak* topology?What exactly are the properties of Topology?What path to get to topology?What exactly is integration?What are the suggested prerequisites for topology?What subbase generates metric topology?Question to what I exactly need to show(inverse limit and discrete topology)What is the need of topology?What is the basic idea of Topology

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What exactly is topology ?? [on hold]


Real life applications of TopologyWhat exactly is the topology generated by the union of a family of topologies?what exactly is weak* topology?What exactly are the properties of Topology?What path to get to topology?What exactly is integration?What are the suggested prerequisites for topology?What subbase generates metric topology?Question to what I exactly need to show(inverse limit and discrete topology)What is the need of topology?What is the basic idea of Topology






.everyoneloves__top-leaderboard:empty,.everyoneloves__mid-leaderboard:empty,.everyoneloves__bot-mid-leaderboard:empty margin-bottom:0;








5












$begingroup$


So I was reading this, about the practical application of topology.



I wanted to ask what exactly is in it---as a subject what is studied in this field.



I have seen videos wherein they oversimplify tell us that in topology, you squeeze and stretch but don't cut, or how a donut and a mug is equivalent. (I think it must be like simplifying calculus and saying that it's just fancy addition.)



How does it help in mathematics, because it is studied as a full fledged course, it must have its perks and used too.... [ Also considering that there are so many tags under this topic on SE ] ??



(I am still in high school so I don't have a lot of information, but I consider myself to be a curious math enthusiast)










share|cite|improve this question











$endgroup$



put on hold as too broad by Cameron Williams, Shogun, YuiTo Cheng, Nosrati, J.-E. Pin 18 mins ago


Please edit the question to limit it to a specific problem with enough detail to identify an adequate answer. Avoid asking multiple distinct questions at once. See the How to Ask page for help clarifying this question. If this question can be reworded to fit the rules in the help center, please edit the question.

















  • $begingroup$
    It's directly related to concepts such as convergence. It's very important, especially in mathematical analysis. But not only that, all over mathematics. Also in probability and stuff like measure theory. If you did dive deep enough into math, it would seem obvious to you that it's extremely important
    $endgroup$
    – Jakobian
    8 hours ago







  • 5




    $begingroup$
    This is definitely a good question to be asking yourself; the downvotes are perhaps because some people don't think the question is a good fit for this forum. One point is that a topological space has the minimum structure necessary in order to define and study continuous functions. Omitting unnecessary assumptions often leads to a deeper or simpler understanding, and also avoids the need to repeat the same proofs in all the different contexts where continuous functions are encountered.
    $endgroup$
    – littleO
    8 hours ago











  • $begingroup$
    @littleO: This guy is in high school. Do you think he knows what is a continuous function? Do you think he knows what is a function?
    $endgroup$
    – GEdgar
    5 hours ago











  • $begingroup$
    When I was your age I read a book called "Experiments in topology" by Stephen Barr and I was hooked for life.
    $endgroup$
    – Cheerful Parsnip
    5 hours ago






  • 3




    $begingroup$
    OP appears to know something about calculus, so they might know what continuous functions are. A lot of high school students who like math know about continuous functions. In any case, hopefully OP will just ignore any answers that aren't written at a level that is helpful for OP.
    $endgroup$
    – littleO
    5 hours ago

















5












$begingroup$


So I was reading this, about the practical application of topology.



I wanted to ask what exactly is in it---as a subject what is studied in this field.



I have seen videos wherein they oversimplify tell us that in topology, you squeeze and stretch but don't cut, or how a donut and a mug is equivalent. (I think it must be like simplifying calculus and saying that it's just fancy addition.)



How does it help in mathematics, because it is studied as a full fledged course, it must have its perks and used too.... [ Also considering that there are so many tags under this topic on SE ] ??



(I am still in high school so I don't have a lot of information, but I consider myself to be a curious math enthusiast)










share|cite|improve this question











$endgroup$



put on hold as too broad by Cameron Williams, Shogun, YuiTo Cheng, Nosrati, J.-E. Pin 18 mins ago


Please edit the question to limit it to a specific problem with enough detail to identify an adequate answer. Avoid asking multiple distinct questions at once. See the How to Ask page for help clarifying this question. If this question can be reworded to fit the rules in the help center, please edit the question.

















  • $begingroup$
    It's directly related to concepts such as convergence. It's very important, especially in mathematical analysis. But not only that, all over mathematics. Also in probability and stuff like measure theory. If you did dive deep enough into math, it would seem obvious to you that it's extremely important
    $endgroup$
    – Jakobian
    8 hours ago







  • 5




    $begingroup$
    This is definitely a good question to be asking yourself; the downvotes are perhaps because some people don't think the question is a good fit for this forum. One point is that a topological space has the minimum structure necessary in order to define and study continuous functions. Omitting unnecessary assumptions often leads to a deeper or simpler understanding, and also avoids the need to repeat the same proofs in all the different contexts where continuous functions are encountered.
    $endgroup$
    – littleO
    8 hours ago











  • $begingroup$
    @littleO: This guy is in high school. Do you think he knows what is a continuous function? Do you think he knows what is a function?
    $endgroup$
    – GEdgar
    5 hours ago











  • $begingroup$
    When I was your age I read a book called "Experiments in topology" by Stephen Barr and I was hooked for life.
    $endgroup$
    – Cheerful Parsnip
    5 hours ago






  • 3




    $begingroup$
    OP appears to know something about calculus, so they might know what continuous functions are. A lot of high school students who like math know about continuous functions. In any case, hopefully OP will just ignore any answers that aren't written at a level that is helpful for OP.
    $endgroup$
    – littleO
    5 hours ago













5












5








5


2



$begingroup$


So I was reading this, about the practical application of topology.



I wanted to ask what exactly is in it---as a subject what is studied in this field.



I have seen videos wherein they oversimplify tell us that in topology, you squeeze and stretch but don't cut, or how a donut and a mug is equivalent. (I think it must be like simplifying calculus and saying that it's just fancy addition.)



How does it help in mathematics, because it is studied as a full fledged course, it must have its perks and used too.... [ Also considering that there are so many tags under this topic on SE ] ??



(I am still in high school so I don't have a lot of information, but I consider myself to be a curious math enthusiast)










share|cite|improve this question











$endgroup$




So I was reading this, about the practical application of topology.



I wanted to ask what exactly is in it---as a subject what is studied in this field.



I have seen videos wherein they oversimplify tell us that in topology, you squeeze and stretch but don't cut, or how a donut and a mug is equivalent. (I think it must be like simplifying calculus and saying that it's just fancy addition.)



How does it help in mathematics, because it is studied as a full fledged course, it must have its perks and used too.... [ Also considering that there are so many tags under this topic on SE ] ??



(I am still in high school so I don't have a lot of information, but I consider myself to be a curious math enthusiast)







general-topology soft-question






share|cite|improve this question















share|cite|improve this question













share|cite|improve this question




share|cite|improve this question








edited 5 hours ago









samuelbowditch

524 bronze badges




524 bronze badges










asked 8 hours ago









user232243user232243

3811 silver badge9 bronze badges




3811 silver badge9 bronze badges




put on hold as too broad by Cameron Williams, Shogun, YuiTo Cheng, Nosrati, J.-E. Pin 18 mins ago


Please edit the question to limit it to a specific problem with enough detail to identify an adequate answer. Avoid asking multiple distinct questions at once. See the How to Ask page for help clarifying this question. If this question can be reworded to fit the rules in the help center, please edit the question.









put on hold as too broad by Cameron Williams, Shogun, YuiTo Cheng, Nosrati, J.-E. Pin 18 mins ago


Please edit the question to limit it to a specific problem with enough detail to identify an adequate answer. Avoid asking multiple distinct questions at once. See the How to Ask page for help clarifying this question. If this question can be reworded to fit the rules in the help center, please edit the question.













  • $begingroup$
    It's directly related to concepts such as convergence. It's very important, especially in mathematical analysis. But not only that, all over mathematics. Also in probability and stuff like measure theory. If you did dive deep enough into math, it would seem obvious to you that it's extremely important
    $endgroup$
    – Jakobian
    8 hours ago







  • 5




    $begingroup$
    This is definitely a good question to be asking yourself; the downvotes are perhaps because some people don't think the question is a good fit for this forum. One point is that a topological space has the minimum structure necessary in order to define and study continuous functions. Omitting unnecessary assumptions often leads to a deeper or simpler understanding, and also avoids the need to repeat the same proofs in all the different contexts where continuous functions are encountered.
    $endgroup$
    – littleO
    8 hours ago











  • $begingroup$
    @littleO: This guy is in high school. Do you think he knows what is a continuous function? Do you think he knows what is a function?
    $endgroup$
    – GEdgar
    5 hours ago











  • $begingroup$
    When I was your age I read a book called "Experiments in topology" by Stephen Barr and I was hooked for life.
    $endgroup$
    – Cheerful Parsnip
    5 hours ago






  • 3




    $begingroup$
    OP appears to know something about calculus, so they might know what continuous functions are. A lot of high school students who like math know about continuous functions. In any case, hopefully OP will just ignore any answers that aren't written at a level that is helpful for OP.
    $endgroup$
    – littleO
    5 hours ago
















  • $begingroup$
    It's directly related to concepts such as convergence. It's very important, especially in mathematical analysis. But not only that, all over mathematics. Also in probability and stuff like measure theory. If you did dive deep enough into math, it would seem obvious to you that it's extremely important
    $endgroup$
    – Jakobian
    8 hours ago







  • 5




    $begingroup$
    This is definitely a good question to be asking yourself; the downvotes are perhaps because some people don't think the question is a good fit for this forum. One point is that a topological space has the minimum structure necessary in order to define and study continuous functions. Omitting unnecessary assumptions often leads to a deeper or simpler understanding, and also avoids the need to repeat the same proofs in all the different contexts where continuous functions are encountered.
    $endgroup$
    – littleO
    8 hours ago











  • $begingroup$
    @littleO: This guy is in high school. Do you think he knows what is a continuous function? Do you think he knows what is a function?
    $endgroup$
    – GEdgar
    5 hours ago











  • $begingroup$
    When I was your age I read a book called "Experiments in topology" by Stephen Barr and I was hooked for life.
    $endgroup$
    – Cheerful Parsnip
    5 hours ago






  • 3




    $begingroup$
    OP appears to know something about calculus, so they might know what continuous functions are. A lot of high school students who like math know about continuous functions. In any case, hopefully OP will just ignore any answers that aren't written at a level that is helpful for OP.
    $endgroup$
    – littleO
    5 hours ago















$begingroup$
It's directly related to concepts such as convergence. It's very important, especially in mathematical analysis. But not only that, all over mathematics. Also in probability and stuff like measure theory. If you did dive deep enough into math, it would seem obvious to you that it's extremely important
$endgroup$
– Jakobian
8 hours ago





$begingroup$
It's directly related to concepts such as convergence. It's very important, especially in mathematical analysis. But not only that, all over mathematics. Also in probability and stuff like measure theory. If you did dive deep enough into math, it would seem obvious to you that it's extremely important
$endgroup$
– Jakobian
8 hours ago





5




5




$begingroup$
This is definitely a good question to be asking yourself; the downvotes are perhaps because some people don't think the question is a good fit for this forum. One point is that a topological space has the minimum structure necessary in order to define and study continuous functions. Omitting unnecessary assumptions often leads to a deeper or simpler understanding, and also avoids the need to repeat the same proofs in all the different contexts where continuous functions are encountered.
$endgroup$
– littleO
8 hours ago





$begingroup$
This is definitely a good question to be asking yourself; the downvotes are perhaps because some people don't think the question is a good fit for this forum. One point is that a topological space has the minimum structure necessary in order to define and study continuous functions. Omitting unnecessary assumptions often leads to a deeper or simpler understanding, and also avoids the need to repeat the same proofs in all the different contexts where continuous functions are encountered.
$endgroup$
– littleO
8 hours ago













$begingroup$
@littleO: This guy is in high school. Do you think he knows what is a continuous function? Do you think he knows what is a function?
$endgroup$
– GEdgar
5 hours ago





$begingroup$
@littleO: This guy is in high school. Do you think he knows what is a continuous function? Do you think he knows what is a function?
$endgroup$
– GEdgar
5 hours ago













$begingroup$
When I was your age I read a book called "Experiments in topology" by Stephen Barr and I was hooked for life.
$endgroup$
– Cheerful Parsnip
5 hours ago




$begingroup$
When I was your age I read a book called "Experiments in topology" by Stephen Barr and I was hooked for life.
$endgroup$
– Cheerful Parsnip
5 hours ago




3




3




$begingroup$
OP appears to know something about calculus, so they might know what continuous functions are. A lot of high school students who like math know about continuous functions. In any case, hopefully OP will just ignore any answers that aren't written at a level that is helpful for OP.
$endgroup$
– littleO
5 hours ago




$begingroup$
OP appears to know something about calculus, so they might know what continuous functions are. A lot of high school students who like math know about continuous functions. In any case, hopefully OP will just ignore any answers that aren't written at a level that is helpful for OP.
$endgroup$
– littleO
5 hours ago










3 Answers
3






active

oldest

votes


















3












$begingroup$

Most basically, topology is about open sets.



It may sound silly, but, as it turns out, for instance, point-set-topology is considered an indispensable tool for any working mathematician.



While every mathematician should know the basics, general topology is a fascinating subject in its own right. It goes up and up, just like the homotopy groups I consider one of its neatest topics. There are algebraic topology and differential topology, to name a couple advanced variants.



Sometimes topology is referred to as "rubber sheet geometry". Two spaces that can be bent or stretched, without tearing, into one another are considered the same, or "isomorphic" (actually "homeomorphic").



Geometry and topology have various connections and overlaps. For instance, Thurston's Geometrization Conjecture, for which he was awarded the Fields medal in 1982.



Or, the Poincaré conjecture, which Perelman got the same award for more recently (Smale did it in lower dimensions, I think, in the late $60$'s, and also got the award. But a story going around Berkeley was that there was an error in Smale's solution, and that Stallings had done it correctly.



In a nutshell, it was one of the biggest unsolved problems for a long time, and said that "there are no homology spheres". Homology is another important notion in topology/geometry.






share|cite|improve this answer











$endgroup$




















    2












    $begingroup$

    Topology, in the sense and meaning you are referring to, can be thought of as study of some continuous processes and what is and what is not changed by them.



    For example, the cube and the ball are in some senses equivalent and in some of them are not. They can be thought of as equivalent with respect to dimension (you can turn some ball into any cube and some cube into any ball continuously and the dimension is not changed by that process).



    However, you can stretch some small cube into as big as you want cube so volume is changed with some continuous processes.



    The "what is changed" by continuous processes and "what is not" is important in topology.



    Also, the continuous processes are also important themselves.



    As an easy example, it is not possible to continuously turn one ball into two balls that do not touch and do not intersect each other, and discontinuous processes are, largely, not the part of standard topology.






    share|cite|improve this answer











    $endgroup$




















      1












      $begingroup$

      As a topologist and knot theorist, I want to give a more picture oriented answer. I think of a good classic problem in geometric topology is the classification of surfaces. It tells you exactly what every 2-dimensional manifold (or surface) is, and how to tell them apart. You don't really need to know what that is, the pictures are better at relaying the idea. All these images come from this page on wikipedia about genus $g$ surfaces. Of the four pictures, there are only three surfaces. Just count the "holes."



      enter image description hereenter image description hereenter image description hereenter image description here



      In some sense, it is easier to tell what surface you have by something called the Euler Characteristic. I will let you look through that at your leisure.



      The next thing I wanted to share, was the idea of knot theory, which falls under the umbrella of topology. Unlike with the surfaces, it is in general very hard to tell if two knots are the same or not. Think about an extension cord plugged, tied up and then plugged into itself. Can you untangle it without unplugging it? Here is a table of the first few knots.
      enter image description here



      A really nice program by Robert Scharein is called KnotPlot and it lets you see how knots can be deformed and wiggled about to change how they look and (hopefully) simplified. You can download it for free and play around. One little demo they have is to guess the knot they present, unknot or trefoil. This isn't easy! In this case, it happens to be the trefoil, which is $3_1$ in the table. Then try to imagine if we had a knot with 100 crossings. It is basically impossible to be sure what you are looking at! Knot theory is all about finding ways of helping us answer these questions, without actually having to let KnotPlot wiggle them around and simplify them for us. I hope this helps give you an idea of what some topologists think about.
      enter image description here






      share|cite|improve this answer









      $endgroup$





















        3 Answers
        3






        active

        oldest

        votes








        3 Answers
        3






        active

        oldest

        votes









        active

        oldest

        votes






        active

        oldest

        votes









        3












        $begingroup$

        Most basically, topology is about open sets.



        It may sound silly, but, as it turns out, for instance, point-set-topology is considered an indispensable tool for any working mathematician.



        While every mathematician should know the basics, general topology is a fascinating subject in its own right. It goes up and up, just like the homotopy groups I consider one of its neatest topics. There are algebraic topology and differential topology, to name a couple advanced variants.



        Sometimes topology is referred to as "rubber sheet geometry". Two spaces that can be bent or stretched, without tearing, into one another are considered the same, or "isomorphic" (actually "homeomorphic").



        Geometry and topology have various connections and overlaps. For instance, Thurston's Geometrization Conjecture, for which he was awarded the Fields medal in 1982.



        Or, the Poincaré conjecture, which Perelman got the same award for more recently (Smale did it in lower dimensions, I think, in the late $60$'s, and also got the award. But a story going around Berkeley was that there was an error in Smale's solution, and that Stallings had done it correctly.



        In a nutshell, it was one of the biggest unsolved problems for a long time, and said that "there are no homology spheres". Homology is another important notion in topology/geometry.






        share|cite|improve this answer











        $endgroup$

















          3












          $begingroup$

          Most basically, topology is about open sets.



          It may sound silly, but, as it turns out, for instance, point-set-topology is considered an indispensable tool for any working mathematician.



          While every mathematician should know the basics, general topology is a fascinating subject in its own right. It goes up and up, just like the homotopy groups I consider one of its neatest topics. There are algebraic topology and differential topology, to name a couple advanced variants.



          Sometimes topology is referred to as "rubber sheet geometry". Two spaces that can be bent or stretched, without tearing, into one another are considered the same, or "isomorphic" (actually "homeomorphic").



          Geometry and topology have various connections and overlaps. For instance, Thurston's Geometrization Conjecture, for which he was awarded the Fields medal in 1982.



          Or, the Poincaré conjecture, which Perelman got the same award for more recently (Smale did it in lower dimensions, I think, in the late $60$'s, and also got the award. But a story going around Berkeley was that there was an error in Smale's solution, and that Stallings had done it correctly.



          In a nutshell, it was one of the biggest unsolved problems for a long time, and said that "there are no homology spheres". Homology is another important notion in topology/geometry.






          share|cite|improve this answer











          $endgroup$















            3












            3








            3





            $begingroup$

            Most basically, topology is about open sets.



            It may sound silly, but, as it turns out, for instance, point-set-topology is considered an indispensable tool for any working mathematician.



            While every mathematician should know the basics, general topology is a fascinating subject in its own right. It goes up and up, just like the homotopy groups I consider one of its neatest topics. There are algebraic topology and differential topology, to name a couple advanced variants.



            Sometimes topology is referred to as "rubber sheet geometry". Two spaces that can be bent or stretched, without tearing, into one another are considered the same, or "isomorphic" (actually "homeomorphic").



            Geometry and topology have various connections and overlaps. For instance, Thurston's Geometrization Conjecture, for which he was awarded the Fields medal in 1982.



            Or, the Poincaré conjecture, which Perelman got the same award for more recently (Smale did it in lower dimensions, I think, in the late $60$'s, and also got the award. But a story going around Berkeley was that there was an error in Smale's solution, and that Stallings had done it correctly.



            In a nutshell, it was one of the biggest unsolved problems for a long time, and said that "there are no homology spheres". Homology is another important notion in topology/geometry.






            share|cite|improve this answer











            $endgroup$



            Most basically, topology is about open sets.



            It may sound silly, but, as it turns out, for instance, point-set-topology is considered an indispensable tool for any working mathematician.



            While every mathematician should know the basics, general topology is a fascinating subject in its own right. It goes up and up, just like the homotopy groups I consider one of its neatest topics. There are algebraic topology and differential topology, to name a couple advanced variants.



            Sometimes topology is referred to as "rubber sheet geometry". Two spaces that can be bent or stretched, without tearing, into one another are considered the same, or "isomorphic" (actually "homeomorphic").



            Geometry and topology have various connections and overlaps. For instance, Thurston's Geometrization Conjecture, for which he was awarded the Fields medal in 1982.



            Or, the Poincaré conjecture, which Perelman got the same award for more recently (Smale did it in lower dimensions, I think, in the late $60$'s, and also got the award. But a story going around Berkeley was that there was an error in Smale's solution, and that Stallings had done it correctly.



            In a nutshell, it was one of the biggest unsolved problems for a long time, and said that "there are no homology spheres". Homology is another important notion in topology/geometry.







            share|cite|improve this answer














            share|cite|improve this answer



            share|cite|improve this answer








            edited 2 hours ago

























            answered 2 hours ago









            Chris CusterChris Custer

            17k3 gold badges8 silver badges30 bronze badges




            17k3 gold badges8 silver badges30 bronze badges























                2












                $begingroup$

                Topology, in the sense and meaning you are referring to, can be thought of as study of some continuous processes and what is and what is not changed by them.



                For example, the cube and the ball are in some senses equivalent and in some of them are not. They can be thought of as equivalent with respect to dimension (you can turn some ball into any cube and some cube into any ball continuously and the dimension is not changed by that process).



                However, you can stretch some small cube into as big as you want cube so volume is changed with some continuous processes.



                The "what is changed" by continuous processes and "what is not" is important in topology.



                Also, the continuous processes are also important themselves.



                As an easy example, it is not possible to continuously turn one ball into two balls that do not touch and do not intersect each other, and discontinuous processes are, largely, not the part of standard topology.






                share|cite|improve this answer











                $endgroup$

















                  2












                  $begingroup$

                  Topology, in the sense and meaning you are referring to, can be thought of as study of some continuous processes and what is and what is not changed by them.



                  For example, the cube and the ball are in some senses equivalent and in some of them are not. They can be thought of as equivalent with respect to dimension (you can turn some ball into any cube and some cube into any ball continuously and the dimension is not changed by that process).



                  However, you can stretch some small cube into as big as you want cube so volume is changed with some continuous processes.



                  The "what is changed" by continuous processes and "what is not" is important in topology.



                  Also, the continuous processes are also important themselves.



                  As an easy example, it is not possible to continuously turn one ball into two balls that do not touch and do not intersect each other, and discontinuous processes are, largely, not the part of standard topology.






                  share|cite|improve this answer











                  $endgroup$















                    2












                    2








                    2





                    $begingroup$

                    Topology, in the sense and meaning you are referring to, can be thought of as study of some continuous processes and what is and what is not changed by them.



                    For example, the cube and the ball are in some senses equivalent and in some of them are not. They can be thought of as equivalent with respect to dimension (you can turn some ball into any cube and some cube into any ball continuously and the dimension is not changed by that process).



                    However, you can stretch some small cube into as big as you want cube so volume is changed with some continuous processes.



                    The "what is changed" by continuous processes and "what is not" is important in topology.



                    Also, the continuous processes are also important themselves.



                    As an easy example, it is not possible to continuously turn one ball into two balls that do not touch and do not intersect each other, and discontinuous processes are, largely, not the part of standard topology.






                    share|cite|improve this answer











                    $endgroup$



                    Topology, in the sense and meaning you are referring to, can be thought of as study of some continuous processes and what is and what is not changed by them.



                    For example, the cube and the ball are in some senses equivalent and in some of them are not. They can be thought of as equivalent with respect to dimension (you can turn some ball into any cube and some cube into any ball continuously and the dimension is not changed by that process).



                    However, you can stretch some small cube into as big as you want cube so volume is changed with some continuous processes.



                    The "what is changed" by continuous processes and "what is not" is important in topology.



                    Also, the continuous processes are also important themselves.



                    As an easy example, it is not possible to continuously turn one ball into two balls that do not touch and do not intersect each other, and discontinuous processes are, largely, not the part of standard topology.







                    share|cite|improve this answer














                    share|cite|improve this answer



                    share|cite|improve this answer








                    edited 5 hours ago

























                    answered 5 hours ago









                    GrešnikGrešnik

                    6832 silver badges13 bronze badges




                    6832 silver badges13 bronze badges





















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                        $begingroup$

                        As a topologist and knot theorist, I want to give a more picture oriented answer. I think of a good classic problem in geometric topology is the classification of surfaces. It tells you exactly what every 2-dimensional manifold (or surface) is, and how to tell them apart. You don't really need to know what that is, the pictures are better at relaying the idea. All these images come from this page on wikipedia about genus $g$ surfaces. Of the four pictures, there are only three surfaces. Just count the "holes."



                        enter image description hereenter image description hereenter image description hereenter image description here



                        In some sense, it is easier to tell what surface you have by something called the Euler Characteristic. I will let you look through that at your leisure.



                        The next thing I wanted to share, was the idea of knot theory, which falls under the umbrella of topology. Unlike with the surfaces, it is in general very hard to tell if two knots are the same or not. Think about an extension cord plugged, tied up and then plugged into itself. Can you untangle it without unplugging it? Here is a table of the first few knots.
                        enter image description here



                        A really nice program by Robert Scharein is called KnotPlot and it lets you see how knots can be deformed and wiggled about to change how they look and (hopefully) simplified. You can download it for free and play around. One little demo they have is to guess the knot they present, unknot or trefoil. This isn't easy! In this case, it happens to be the trefoil, which is $3_1$ in the table. Then try to imagine if we had a knot with 100 crossings. It is basically impossible to be sure what you are looking at! Knot theory is all about finding ways of helping us answer these questions, without actually having to let KnotPlot wiggle them around and simplify them for us. I hope this helps give you an idea of what some topologists think about.
                        enter image description here






                        share|cite|improve this answer









                        $endgroup$

















                          1












                          $begingroup$

                          As a topologist and knot theorist, I want to give a more picture oriented answer. I think of a good classic problem in geometric topology is the classification of surfaces. It tells you exactly what every 2-dimensional manifold (or surface) is, and how to tell them apart. You don't really need to know what that is, the pictures are better at relaying the idea. All these images come from this page on wikipedia about genus $g$ surfaces. Of the four pictures, there are only three surfaces. Just count the "holes."



                          enter image description hereenter image description hereenter image description hereenter image description here



                          In some sense, it is easier to tell what surface you have by something called the Euler Characteristic. I will let you look through that at your leisure.



                          The next thing I wanted to share, was the idea of knot theory, which falls under the umbrella of topology. Unlike with the surfaces, it is in general very hard to tell if two knots are the same or not. Think about an extension cord plugged, tied up and then plugged into itself. Can you untangle it without unplugging it? Here is a table of the first few knots.
                          enter image description here



                          A really nice program by Robert Scharein is called KnotPlot and it lets you see how knots can be deformed and wiggled about to change how they look and (hopefully) simplified. You can download it for free and play around. One little demo they have is to guess the knot they present, unknot or trefoil. This isn't easy! In this case, it happens to be the trefoil, which is $3_1$ in the table. Then try to imagine if we had a knot with 100 crossings. It is basically impossible to be sure what you are looking at! Knot theory is all about finding ways of helping us answer these questions, without actually having to let KnotPlot wiggle them around and simplify them for us. I hope this helps give you an idea of what some topologists think about.
                          enter image description here






                          share|cite|improve this answer









                          $endgroup$















                            1












                            1








                            1





                            $begingroup$

                            As a topologist and knot theorist, I want to give a more picture oriented answer. I think of a good classic problem in geometric topology is the classification of surfaces. It tells you exactly what every 2-dimensional manifold (or surface) is, and how to tell them apart. You don't really need to know what that is, the pictures are better at relaying the idea. All these images come from this page on wikipedia about genus $g$ surfaces. Of the four pictures, there are only three surfaces. Just count the "holes."



                            enter image description hereenter image description hereenter image description hereenter image description here



                            In some sense, it is easier to tell what surface you have by something called the Euler Characteristic. I will let you look through that at your leisure.



                            The next thing I wanted to share, was the idea of knot theory, which falls under the umbrella of topology. Unlike with the surfaces, it is in general very hard to tell if two knots are the same or not. Think about an extension cord plugged, tied up and then plugged into itself. Can you untangle it without unplugging it? Here is a table of the first few knots.
                            enter image description here



                            A really nice program by Robert Scharein is called KnotPlot and it lets you see how knots can be deformed and wiggled about to change how they look and (hopefully) simplified. You can download it for free and play around. One little demo they have is to guess the knot they present, unknot or trefoil. This isn't easy! In this case, it happens to be the trefoil, which is $3_1$ in the table. Then try to imagine if we had a knot with 100 crossings. It is basically impossible to be sure what you are looking at! Knot theory is all about finding ways of helping us answer these questions, without actually having to let KnotPlot wiggle them around and simplify them for us. I hope this helps give you an idea of what some topologists think about.
                            enter image description here






                            share|cite|improve this answer









                            $endgroup$



                            As a topologist and knot theorist, I want to give a more picture oriented answer. I think of a good classic problem in geometric topology is the classification of surfaces. It tells you exactly what every 2-dimensional manifold (or surface) is, and how to tell them apart. You don't really need to know what that is, the pictures are better at relaying the idea. All these images come from this page on wikipedia about genus $g$ surfaces. Of the four pictures, there are only three surfaces. Just count the "holes."



                            enter image description hereenter image description hereenter image description hereenter image description here



                            In some sense, it is easier to tell what surface you have by something called the Euler Characteristic. I will let you look through that at your leisure.



                            The next thing I wanted to share, was the idea of knot theory, which falls under the umbrella of topology. Unlike with the surfaces, it is in general very hard to tell if two knots are the same or not. Think about an extension cord plugged, tied up and then plugged into itself. Can you untangle it without unplugging it? Here is a table of the first few knots.
                            enter image description here



                            A really nice program by Robert Scharein is called KnotPlot and it lets you see how knots can be deformed and wiggled about to change how they look and (hopefully) simplified. You can download it for free and play around. One little demo they have is to guess the knot they present, unknot or trefoil. This isn't easy! In this case, it happens to be the trefoil, which is $3_1$ in the table. Then try to imagine if we had a knot with 100 crossings. It is basically impossible to be sure what you are looking at! Knot theory is all about finding ways of helping us answer these questions, without actually having to let KnotPlot wiggle them around and simplify them for us. I hope this helps give you an idea of what some topologists think about.
                            enter image description here







                            share|cite|improve this answer












                            share|cite|improve this answer



                            share|cite|improve this answer










                            answered 2 hours ago









                            N. OwadN. Owad

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