Syllabus for the Algebraic Topology Exam

A typical syllabus includes items such as:

  • Cell complexes, simplicial complexes, manifolds
  • Homotopy, homotopy equivalence, retracts, homotopy extension property
  • Fundamental group:  Seifert-Van Kampen, covering spaces and groups, lifting
  • Fundamental groups and topological classification of 2d manifolds
  • Homology: simplicial, singular, and cellular homology with coefficients, relative homology, long exact sequence
  • Mayer-Vietoris sequence, excision, Euler characteristic, axioms for homology
  • Applications: Brouwer fixed point theorem, Borsuk-Ulam theorem, Lefschetz fixed point theorem
  • Cohomology: Simplicial, singular, and cellular cohomology with coefficients, universal coefficient theorem, ring structure, Kunneth formulae
  • Cohomology rings of surfaces, real and complex projective spaces
  • Orientations, degrees of maps.  Poincare duality simplicial

Recommended Book

Algebraic Topology, Hatcher

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