Contemporary Mathematics, Volume: 675
2016; 355 pp; Softcover
MSC: Primary 58; 32; 53; 57; 14; 37;
Print ISBN: 978-1-4704-2205-9
This volume is a collection of papers presented at the XIII International Workshop on Real and Complex Singularities, held from July 27-August 8, 2014, in Sao Carlos, Brazil, in honor of Maria del Carmen Romero Fuster's 60th birthday.
The volume contains the notes from two mini-courses taught during the workshop: on intersection homology by J.-P. Brasselet, and on non-isolated hypersurface singularities and Le cycles by D. Massey. The remaining contributions are research articles which cover topics from the foundations of singularity theory (including classification theory and invariants) to topology of singular spaces (links of singularities and semi-algebraic sets), as well as applications to topology (cobordism and Lefschetz fibrations), dynamical systems (Morse-Bott functions) and differential geometry (affine geometry, Gauss-maps, caustics, frontals and non-Euclidean geometries).
Contemporary Mathematics, Volume: 676
2016; 223 pp; Softcover
MSC: Primary 00; 46; 58; 53;
Print ISBN: 978-1-4704-2297-4
This volume contains the proceedings of the Workshop on Noncommutative Geometry and Optimal Transport, held on November 27, 2014, in Besancon, France.
The distance formula in noncommutative geometry was introduced by Connes at the end of the 1980s. It is a generalization of Riemannian geodesic distance that makes sense in a noncommutative setting, and provides an original tool to study the geometry of the space of states on an algebra. It also has an intriguing echo in physics, for it yields a metric interpretation for the Higgs field. In the 1990s, Rieffel noticed that this distance is a noncommutative version of the Wasserstein distance of order 1 in the theory of optimal transport. More exactly, this is a noncommutative generalization of Kantorovich dual formula of the Wasserstein distance. Connes distance thus offers an unexpected connection between an ancient mathematical problem and the most recent discovery in high energy physics. The meaning of this connection is far from clear. Yet, Rieffel's observation suggests that Connes distance may provide an interesting starting point for a theory of optimal transport in noncommutative geometry.
This volume contains several review papers that will give the reader an extensive introduction to the metric aspect of noncommutative geometry and its possible interpretation as a Wasserstein distance on a quantum space, as well as several topic papers.
MSRI Mathematical Circles Library, Volume: 19
2016; 124 pp; Softcover
MSC: Primary 97;
Print ISBN: 978-1-4704-3464-9
This book starts with simple arithmetic inequalities and builds to sophisticated inequality results such as the Cauchy-Schwarz and Chebyshev inequalities. Nothing beyond high school algebra is required of the student. The exposition is lean. Most of the learning occurs as the student engages in the problems posed in each chapter. And the learning is not “linear”. The central topic of inequalities is linked to others in mathematics. Often these topics relate to much more than algebraic inequalities.
There are also “secret” pathways through the book. Each chapter has a subtext, a theme which prepares the student for learning other mathematical topics, concepts, or habits of mind. For example, the early chapters on the arithmetic mean/geometric mean inequality show how very simple observations can be leveraged to yield useful and interesting results. Later chapters give examples of how one can generalize a mathematical statement. The chapter on the Cauchy-Schwarz inequality provides an introduction to vectors as mathematical objects. And there are many other secret pathways that the authors hope the reader will discover?and follow.
In the interest of fostering a greater awareness and appreciation of mathematics and its connections to other disciplines and everyday life, MSRI and the AMS are publishing books in the Mathematical Circles Library series as a service to young people, their parents and teachers, and the mathematics profession.
Courant Lecture Notes, Volume: 27
2016; 104 pp; Softcover
MSC: Primary 60;
Print ISBN: 978-0-8218-4086-3
The theory of large deviations deals with rates at which probabilities of certain events decay as a natural parameter in the problem varies. This book, which is based on a graduate course on large deviations at the Courant Institute, focuses on three concrete sets of examples: (i) diffusions with small noise and the exit problem, (ii) large time behavior of Markov processes and their connection to the Feynman-Kac formula and the related large deviation behavior of the number of distinct sites visited by a random walk, and (iii) interacting particle systems, their scaling limits, and large deviations from their expected limits. For the most part the examples are worked out in detail, and in the process the subject of large deviations is developed.
The book will give the reader a flavor of how large deviation theory can help in problems that are not posed directly in terms of large deviations. The reader is assumed to have some familiarity with probability, Markov processes, and interacting particle systems.
Graduate Studies in Mathematics, Volume: 176
2016; 154 pp; Hardcover
MSC: Primary 20; 57;
Print ISBN: 978-1-4704-3106-8
This book deals with the connections between topology and ordered groups. It begins with a self-contained introduction to orderable groups and from there explores the interactions between orderability and objects in low-dimensional topology, such as knot theory, braid groups, and 3-manifolds, as well as groups of homeomorphisms and other topological structures. The book also addresses recent applications of orderability in the studies of codimension-one foliations and Heegaard-Floer homology. The use of topological methods in proving algebraic results is another feature of the book.
The book was written to serve both as a textbook for graduate students, containing many exercises, and as a reference for researchers in topology, algebra, and dynamical systems. A basic background in group theory and topology is the only prerequisite for the reader.
Graduate Studies in Mathematics, Volume: 177
2016; 275 pp; Hardcover
MSC: Primary 12; 30; 34;
Print ISBN: 978-1-4704-3095-5
Differential Galois theory is an important, fast developing area which appears more and more in graduate courses since it mixes fundamental objects from many different areas of mathematics in a stimulating context. For a long time, the dominant approach, usually called Picard-Vessiot Theory, was purely algebraic. This approach has been extensively developed and is well covered in the literature. An alternative approach consists in tagging algebraic objects with transcendental information which enriches the understanding and brings not only new points of view but also new solutions. It is very powerful and can be applied in situations where the Picard-Vessiot approach is not easily extended. This book offers a hands-on transcendental approach to differential Galois theory, based on the Riemann-Hilbert correspondence. Along the way, it provides a smooth, down-to-earth introduction to algebraic geometry, category theory and tannakian duality.
Since the book studies only complex analytic linear differential equations, the main prerequisites are complex function theory, linear algebra, and an elementary knowledge of groups and of polynomials in many variables. A large variety of examples, exercises, and theoretical constructions, often via explicit computations, offers first-year graduate students an accessible entry into this exciting area.