From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 X-Msuck: nntp://news.gmane.io/gmane.science.mathematics.categories/5151 Path: news.gmane.org!not-for-mail From: Marco Grandis Newsgroups: gmane.science.mathematics.categories Subject: 'Directed Algebraic Topology' Date: Fri, 18 Sep 2009 17:23:52 +0200 Message-ID: Reply-To: Marco Grandis NNTP-Posting-Host: lo.gmane.org Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Trace: ger.gmane.org 1253366961 6796 80.91.229.12 (19 Sep 2009 13:29:21 GMT) X-Complaints-To: usenet@ger.gmane.org NNTP-Posting-Date: Sat, 19 Sep 2009 13:29:21 +0000 (UTC) To: categories@mta.ca Original-X-From: categories@mta.ca Sat Sep 19 15:29:14 2009 Return-path: Envelope-to: gsmc-categories@m.gmane.org Original-Received: from mailserv.mta.ca ([138.73.1.1]) by lo.gmane.org with esmtp (Exim 4.50) id 1Mp001-00026N-Ma for gsmc-categories@m.gmane.org; Sat, 19 Sep 2009 15:29:13 +0200 Original-Received: from Majordom by mailserv.mta.ca with local (Exim 4.61) (envelope-from ) id 1MozS0-0002S8-MA for categories-list@mta.ca; Sat, 19 Sep 2009 09:54:04 -0300 Original-Sender: categories@mta.ca Precedence: bulk Xref: news.gmane.org gmane.science.mathematics.categories:5151 Archived-At: Dear categorists, My book 'Directed Algebraic Topology' Models of non-reversible worlds has appeared, at Cambridge University Press. Its aims are mentioned below. It is likely well known that the policy of Cambridge UP, with respect to publication, is open and liberal. But I must say I was pleased and surprised, during the preparation of this volume, by their way of handling things, which was at the same time effective and informal, precise and very flexible. For the many people in this list that are concerned with the problems of our libraries, because of the high prices of scientific books and journals, I will add that royalties for this volume have been converted into CUP books for the library of my Departement. Marco Grandis ________ FROM THE BEGINNING OF THE INTRODUCTION Aims Directed Algebraic Topology is a recent subject which arose in the 1990's, on the one hand in abstract settings for homotopy theory, and on the other hand in investigations in the theory of concurrent processes. Its general aim should be stated as `modelling non-reversible phenomena'. The subject has a deep relationship with category theory. The domain of Directed Algebraic Topology should be distinguished from the domain of classical Algebraic Topology by the principle that {\it directed spaces have privileged directions and directed paths therein need not be reversible}. While the classical domain of Topology and Algebraic Topology is a reversible world, where a path in a space can always be travelled backwards, the study of non-reversible phenomena requires broader worlds, where a directed space can have non-reversible paths. The homotopical tools of Directed Algebraic Topology, corresponding in the classical case to ordinary homotopies, the fundamental group and fundamental $n$- groupoids, should be similarly `non-reversible': {\it directed homotopies}, the {\it fundamental monoid} and {\it fundamental $n$-categories}. Similarly, its homological theories will take values in `directed' algebraic structures, like {\it preordered} abelian groups or abelian {\it monoids}. Homotopy constructions like mapping cone, cone and suspension, occur here in a directed version; this gives rise to new `shapes', like (lower and upper) directed cones and directed spheres, whose elegance is strengthened by the fact that such constructions are determined by universal properties. Applications will deal with domains where privileged directions appear, such as concurrent processes, rewrite systems, traffic networks, space-time models, biological systems, etc. At the time of writing, the most developed ones are concerned with concurrency. [For admin and other information see: http://www.mta.ca/~cat-dist/ ]