Geometry of Principal Sheaves: 578 (Mathematics and Its Applications, 578) - Hardcover

Vassiliou, Efstathios

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1402034156 ISBN 13: 9781402034152

Publisher: Springer, 2005

Synopsis

L' inj' ' enuit' ' m eme d' un regard neuf (celui de la science l'est toujours) peut parfois ' 'clairer d' un jour nouveau d' anciens probl' emes. J.Monod [77, p. 13] his book is intended as a comprehensive introduction to the theory of T principalsheaves andtheirconnections inthesettingofAbstractDi?- ential Geometry (ADG), the latter being initiated by A. Mallios'sGeometry of Vector Sheaves [62]. Based on sheaf-theoretic methods and sheaf - homology, the presentGeometry of Principal Sheaves embodies the classical theory of connections on principal and vector bundles, and connections on vector sheaves, thus paving the way towards a uni?ed (abstract) gauge t- ory and other potential applications to theoretical physics. We elaborate on the aforementioned brief description in the sequel. Abstract (ADG) vs. Classical Di?erential Geometry (CDG). M- ern di?erential geometry is built upon the fundamental notions of di?er- tial (smooth) manifolds and ?ber bundles, based,intheir turn, on ordinary di?erential calculus. However, the theory of smooth manifolds is inadequate to cope, for - stance, with spaces like orbifolds, spaces with corners, or other spaces with more complicated singularities. This is a rather unfortunate situation, since one cannot apply the powerful methods of di?erential geometry to them or to any spaces that do not admit an ordinary method of di?erentiation. The ix x Preface same inadequacy manifests in physics, where many geometrical models of physical phenomena are non-smooth.

About this title

Review

From the reviews of the first edition:

"The book provides an accessible, well-written monograph devoted to the theory of principal sheaves and their connections in the setting initiated by, Geometry of vector sheaves. ... It is designed also as a reference book with detailed expositions and complete and self-contained proofs." (Witold Mozgawa, Zentralblatt MATH, Vol. 1082, 2006)

Synopsis

The book provides a detailed introduction to the theory of connections on principal sheaves in the framework of Abstract Differential Geometry (ADG). This is a new approach to differential geometry based on sheaf theoretic methods, without use of ordinary calculus. This point of view complies with the demand of contemporary physics to cope with non-smooth models of physical phenomena and spaces with singularities. Starting with a brief survey of the required sheaf theory and cohomology, the exposition then moves on to differential triads (the abstraction of smooth manifolds) and Lie sheaves of groups (the abstraction of Lie groups). Having laid the groundwork, the main part of the book is devoted to the theory of connections on principal sheaves, incorporating connections on vector and associated sheaves. Topics such as the moduli sheaf of connections, classification of principal sheaves, curvature, flat connections and flat sheaves, Chern-Weil theory, are also treated.

The study brings to light fundamental notions and tools of the standard differential geometry which are susceptible of the present abstraction, and whose role remains unexploited in the classical context, because of the abundance of means therein. However, most of the latter are nonsensical in ADG.

Edition details

• Publisher: Springer
• Publication date: 2005
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1402034156
• ISBN 13: 9781402034152
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 460