PROPs and their variants are extremely general and powerful machines that encode operations with multiple inputs and multiple outputs. In this respect PROPs can be viewed as generalizations of operads that would allow only a single output. Variants of PROPs are important in several mathematical fields, including string topology, topological conformal field theory, homotopical algebra, deformation theory, Poisson geometry, and graph cohomology. The purpose of this monograph is to develop, in full technical detail, a unifying object called a generalized PROP. Then with an appropriate choice of pasting scheme, one recovers (colored versions of) dioperads, half-PROPs, (wheeled) operads, (wheeled) properads, and (wheeled) PROPs. Here the fundamental operation of graph substitution is studied in complete detail for the first time, including all exceptional edges and loops as examples of a new definition of wheeled graphs. A notion of generators and relations is proposed which allows one to build all of the graphs in a given pasting scheme from a small set of basic graphs using graph substitution. This provides information at the level of generalized PROPs, but also at the levels of algebras and of modules over them. Working in the general context of a symmetric monoidal category, the theory applies for both topological spaces and chain complexes in characteristic zero. This book is useful for all mathematicians and mathematical physicists who want to learn this new powerful technique.

The celebrated Schur-Weyl duality gives rise to effective ways of constructing invariant polynomials on the classical Lie algebras. The emergence of the theory of quantum groups in the 1980s brought up special matrix techniques which allowed one to extend these constructions beyond polynomial invariants and produce new families of Casimir elements for finite-dimensional Lie algebras. Sugawara operators are analogs of Casimir elements for the affine Kac-Moody algebras. The goal of this book is to describe algebraic structures associated with the affine Lie algebras, including affine vertex algebras, Yangians, and classical -algebras, which have numerous ties with many areas of mathematics and mathematical physics, including modular forms, conformal field theory, and soliton equations. An affine version of the matrix technique is developed and used to explain the elegant constructions of Sugawara operators, which appeared in the last decade. An affine analogue of the Harish-Chandra isomorphism connects the Sugawara operators with the classical -algebras, which play the role of the Weyl group invariants in the finite-dimensional theory.

Wiring diagrams form a kind of graphical language that describes operations or processes with multiple inputs and outputs, and shows how such operations are wired together to form a larger and more complex operation. This monograph presents a comprehensive study of the combinatorial structure of the various operads of wiring diagrams, their algebras, and the relationships between these operads. The book proves finite presentation theorems for operads of wiring diagrams as well as their algebras. These theorems describe the operad in terms of just a few operadic generators and a small number of generating relations. The author further explores recent trends in the application of operad theory to wiring diagrams and related structures, including finite presentations for the propagator algebra, the algebra of discrete systems, the algebra of open dynamical systems, and the relational algebra. A partial verification of David Spivak’s conjecture regarding the quotient-freeness of the relational algebra is also provided. In the final part, the author constructs operad maps between the various operads of wiring diagrams and identifies their images. Assuming only basic knowledge of algebra, combinatorics, and set theory, this book is aimed at advanced undergraduate and graduate students as well as researchers working in operad theory and its applications. Numerous illustrations, examples, and practice exercises are included, making this a self-contained volume suitable for self-study.

The aim of this book is to introduce and develop an arithmetic analogue of classical differential geometry. In this new geometry the ring of integers plays the role of a ring of functions on an infinite dimensional manifold. The role of coordinate functions on this manifold is played by the prime numbers. The role of partial derivatives of functions with respect to the coordinates is played by the Fermat quotients of integers with respect to the primes. The role of metrics is played by symmetric matrices with integer coefficients. The role of connections (respectively curvature) attached to metrics is played by certain adelic (respectively global) objects attached to the corresponding matrices. One of the main conclusions of the theory is that the spectrum of the integers is “intrinsically curved”; the study of this curvature is then the main task of the theory. The book follows, and builds upon, a series of recent research papers. A significant part of the material has never been published before.

Hilbert schemes, which parametrize subschemes in algebraic varieties, have been extensively studied in algebraic geometry for the last 50 years. The most interesting class of Hilbert schemes are schemes of collections of points (zero-dimensional subschemes) in a smooth algebraic surface . Schemes turn out to be closely related to many areas of mathematics, such as algebraic combinatorics, integrable systems, representation theory, and mathematical physics, among others. This book surveys recent developments of the theory of Hilbert schemes of points on complex surfaces and its interplay with infinite dimensional Lie algebras. It starts with the basics of Hilbert schemes of points and presents in detail an example of Hilbert schemes of points on the projective plane. Then the author turns to the study of cohomology of , including the construction of the action of infinite dimensional Lie algebras on this cohomology, the ring structure of cohomology, equivariant cohomology of and the Gromov–Witten correspondence. The last part of the book presents results about quantum cohomology of and related questions. The book is of interest to graduate students and researchers in algebraic geometry, representation theory, combinatorics, topology, number theory, and theoretical physics.

This monograph provides a coherent development of operads, infinity operads, and monoidal categories, equipped with equivariant structures encoded by an action operad. A group operad is a planar operad with an action operad equivariant structure. In the first three parts of this monograph, we establish a foundation for group operads and for their higher coherent analogues called infinity group operads. Examples include planar, symmetric, braided, ribbon, and cactus operads, and their infinity analogues. For example, with the tools developed here, we observe that the coherent ribbon nerve of the universal cover of the framed little 2-disc operad is an infinity ribbon operad.In Part 4 we define general monoidal categories equipped with an action operad equivariant structure and provide a unifying treatment of coherence and strictification for them. Examples of such monoidal categories include symmetric, braided, ribbon, and coboundary monoidal categories, which naturally arise in the representation theory of quantum groups and of coboundary Hopf algebras and in the theory of crystals of finite dimensional complex reductive Lie algebras.

Persistence theory emerged in the early 2000s as a new theory in the area of applied and computational topology. This book provides a broad and modern view of the subject, including its algebraic, topological, and algorithmic aspects. It also elaborates on applications in data analysis. The level of detail of the exposition has been set so as to keep a survey style, while providing sufficient insights into the proofs so the reader can understand the mechanisms at work. The book is organized into three parts. The first part is dedicated to the foundations of persistence and emphasizes its connection to quiver representation theory. The second part focuses on its connection to applications through a few selected topics. The third part provides perspectives for both the theory and its applications. The book can be used as a text for a course on applied topology or data analysis.

Knot theory is a classical area of low-dimensional topology, directly connected with the theory of three-manifolds and smooth four-manifold topology. In recent years, the subject has undergone transformative changes thanks to its connections with a number of other mathematical disciplines, including gauge theory; representation theory and categorification; contact geometry; and the theory of pseudo-holomorphic curves. Starting from the combinatorial point of view on knots using their grid diagrams, this book serves as an introduction to knot theory, specifically as it relates to some of the above developments. After a brief overview of the background material in the subject, the book gives a self-contained treatment of knot Floer homology from the point of view of grid diagrams. Applications include computations of the unknotting number and slice genus of torus knots (asked first in the 1960s and settled in the 1990s), and tools to study variants of knot theory in the presence of a contact structure. Additional topics are presented to prepare readers for further study in holomorphic methods in low-dimensional topology, especially Heegaard Floer homology. The book could serve as a textbook for an advanced undergraduate or part of a graduate course in knot theory. Standard background material is sketched in the text and the appendices.

This book gives an exposition of the principal concepts and results related to second order elliptic and parabolic equations for measures, the main examples of which are Fokker–Planck–Kolmogorov equations for stationary and transition probabilities of diffusion processes. Existence and uniqueness of solutions are studied along with existence and Sobolev regularity of their densities and upper and lower bounds for the latter. The target readership includes mathematicians and physicists whose research is related to diffusion processes as well as elliptic and parabolic equations.

Ricci flow is a powerful technique using a heat-type equation to deform Riemannian metrics on manifolds to better metrics in the search for geometric decompositions. With the fourth part of their volume on techniques and applications of the theory, the authors discuss long-time solutions of the Ricci flow and related topics. In dimension 3, Perelman completed Hamilton's program to prove Thurston's geometrization conjecture. In higher dimensions the Ricci flow has remarkable properties, which indicates its usefulness to understand relations between the geometry and topology of manifolds. This book discusses recent developments on gradient Ricci solitons, which model the singularities developing under the Ricci flow. In the shrinking case there is a surprising rigidity which suggests the likelihood of a well-developed structure theory. A broader class of solutions is ancient solutions; the authors discuss the beautiful classification in dimension 2. In higher dimensions they consider both ancient and singular Type I solutions, which must have shrinking gradient Ricci soliton models. Next, Hamilton's theory of 3-dimensional nonsingular solutions is presented, following his original work. Historically, this theory initially connected the Ricci flow to the geometrization conjecture. From a dynamical point of view, one is interested in the stability of the Ricci flow. The authors discuss what is known about this basic problem. Finally, they consider the degenerate neckpinch singularity from both the numerical and theoretical perspectives. This book makes advanced material accessible to researchers and graduate students who are interested in the Ricci flow and geometric evolution equations and who have a knowledge of the fundamentals of the Ricci flow.