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Fakultät für Mathematik Universität Regensburg
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Morse theory and the h-cobordism theorem
Semester
WiSe 2024 / 25

Lecturer
Stefan Friedl

Type of course (Veranstaltungsart)
Vorlesung

German title
Morsetheorie und der h-Kobordismussatz

Contents
I will teach a topology course in the winter term and the summer term. The following topics will be
covered throughout the year: In Morse theory we will see that every closed smooth manifolds can
be equipped with a handle decomposition. This can be used to give a proof of the classification of
surfaces. The h-cobordism theorem shows that certain manifolds are products. The main application is
the proof that every smooth homotopy sphere of dimension >5 is homeomorphic to the standard
sphere. Afterwards we will develop the theory of vector bundles and characteristic classes. We
will outline a proof of the Hirzebruch signature theorem and show, following Milnor, that there
exist 7-dimensional homotopy spheres that are not diffeomorphic to the standard sphere.

Literature
lecture notes will be provided, some of the content will be inspired by the classical books of
Milnor on Morse theory, characteristic classes and the h-cobordism theorem.

Recommended previous knowledge
basic knowledge of fundamental groups and homology, in the summer term I will require some knowledge
of cohomology theory.

Time/Date
Tuesday+Thursday 10-12

Location
M101

Registration
  • Registration for course work/examination/ECTS: FlexNow
Course work (Studienleistungen)
  • Successful participation in the exercise classes:
Examination (Prüfungsleistungen)
  • Oral exam: Duration: 25 minutes, Date: by appointment, re-exam: Date:
Additional comments
the time of the exercise class will be picked in the first lecture

Modules
BV, MV, MGAGeo

ECTS
9
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