Math Knuckers Topology PhD Exam Guide Topology

Contents

0. Classical Spaces 2
0.1. Euclidean Spaces, Spheres and Balls 2
0.2. Real Projective Spaces 2
0.3. Complex and Quaternionic Projective Spaces 2

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 Topology
0. Classical Spaces

0.1. Euclidean Spaces, Spheres and Balls.

Example 0.1.
(1) Rn
(2) Cn
(3) The spaces Cn and R2n are identified by the correspondence
(x1 + iy1 , ..., xn + iyn ) ↔ (x1 , y1 , ..., xn , yn )
(4) S n is the unit sphere centered at the origin in Rn+1 , i.e. S n = {x ∈ Rn+1 ||x| = 1}
(5) Dn is the unit ball centered at the origin in Rn , i.e. Dn = {x ∈ Rn ||x| ≤ 1}
(6) ∂Dn = {x ∈ Rn ||x| = 1} = S n−1
(7) R∞ always means the union (inductive limit) of the chain R1 ⊂ R2 ⊂ ...
(8) R∞ can also be seen as the set of sequences (x1 , x2 , · · · ) of real numbers with only
finitely many nonzero terms an . The topology on R∞ is given be the following
rule: A set F ⊂ R∞ is closed if and only iff all the intersections F ∩ Rn are closed
in repesctive spaces Rn
(9) C ∞ , S ∞ , D∞ are defined similarly to R∞
0.2. Real Projective Spaces.
Definition 0.2.1 (Quotient Construction). Define RPn as being the quotient of the
space Rn+1 /{0} under the equivalence relation x ∼ λx for all real numbers λ 6= 0.
Let Ui = {[x0 : · · · : xn ] ∈ RPn |xi 6= 0}, now take the chart ϕi : Ui → Rn where
the map ϕi is given by [x0 : x1 : · · · : xn ] 7→ ( xx0i , ..., xxi−1
i
, xxi+1
i
, ..., xxni ), The Ui necessarily
cover RPn since there is no point in it having all projective coordinates 0. Each of the
open charts ϕi gives us a diffeomorphism from Ui to Rn . This shows that RPn is an
n−dimensional manifold.

0.3. Complex and Quaternionic Projective Spaces.

Definition 0.3.1 (Complex Quotient Construction). Define CPn as being the quotient
of the space Cn+1 /{0} under the equivalence relation z ∼ λz for all non-zero complex
scalars λ.
The point set CPn is covered by the patches Ui = {[z0 : · · · : zn ] ∈ CPn |zi 6=
0} and charts given by γi : Ui → Cn where the map γi is given by [z0 : z1 : · · · :
zn ] 7→ ( zz0i , ..., zi−1
zi
, zi+1
zi
, ..., zzni ). Hence CPn carries the structure of a complex manifold of
complex dimension n, and the structure of a real differentiable manifold of real dimension
2n.
Definition 0.3.2 (Quaternionic Quotient Construction). Construction of the quater-
nionic projective space HPn proceeds similarly as above, with the caveat that you need
to choose either left or right lines, i.e. fix the equivalence relationship to be that of left
multiplication by a quaternionic scalar, since the field is not commutative.
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