Mathematics 262, Fall 2011

Algebraic Topology II

Tuesdays, Thursdays 11:40 am - 12:55 pm, Physics 227
Office hours: Tuesdays 1:30-2:30 and Wednesdays 3-4

Homework assignments

Course information

Textbook: Differential Forms in Algebraic Topology, by R. Bott and L. Tu. Another text that will be useful for the first portion of the course, when we discuss singular cohomology, is Algebraic Topology by A. Hatcher. I also recommend Characteristic Classes by J. Milnor and J. Stasheff as a great reference, but we won't cover much of the material from it.

Prerequisites: Math 261 or familiarity with equivalent material (fundamental group, simplicial/singular homology, CW complexes; essentially the first two chapters of Hatcher). Math 267 or familiarity with basic differential topology (smooth manifolds, tangent/cotangent bundle, differential forms) will also be helpful.

There will be weekly homework assignments and a take-home final exam for this course.

Here are topics that I plan to cover in the course. Topics near the end of this list (principally the last two bullet points) are probably wishful thinking, but we should be able to cover the rest.