This volume is based on the lecture notes of six courses delivered at a Cimpa Summer School in Temuco, Chile, in January 2001. Leading experts contribute with introductory articles covering a broad area in probability and its applications, such as mathematical physics and mathematics of finance. Written at graduate level, the lectures touch the latest advances on each subject, ranging from classical probability theory to modern developments. Thus the book will appeal to students, teachers and researchers working in probability theory or related fields.

Constructible and perverse sheaves are the algebraic counterpart of the decomposition of a singular space into smooth manifolds. This introduction to the subject can be regarded as a textbook on modern algebraic topology, treating the cohomology of spaces with sheaf (as opposed to constant) coefficients. The author helps readers progress quickly from the basic theory to current research questions, thoroughly supported along the way by examples and exercises.

This textbook provides a gentle introduction to intersection homology and perverse sheaves, where concrete examples and geometric applications motivate concepts throughout. By giving a taste of the main ideas in the field, the author welcomes new readers to this exciting area at the crossroads of topology, algebraic geometry, analysis, and differential equations. Those looking to delve further into the abstract theory will find ample references to facilitate navigation of both classic and recent literature. Beginning with an introduction to intersection homology from a geometric and topological viewpoint, the text goes on to develop the sheaf-theoretical perspective. Then algebraic geometry comes to the fore: a brief discussion of constructibility opens onto an in-depth exploration of perverse sheaves. Highlights from the following chapters include a detailed account of the proof of the Beilinson–Bernstein–Deligne–Gabber (BBDG) decomposition theorem, applications of perverse sheaves to hypersurface singularities, and a discussion of Hodge-theoretic aspects of intersection homology via Saito’s deep theory of mixed Hodge modules. An epilogue offers a succinct summary of the literature surrounding some recent applications. Intersection Homology & Perverse Sheaves is suitable for graduate students with a basic background in topology and algebraic geometry. By building context and familiarity with examples, the text offers an ideal starting point for those entering the field. This classroom-tested approach opens the door to further study and to current research.

This book deals with the dynamics of general systems such as foliations, groups and pseudogroups, systems which are closely related via the notion of holonomy. It concentrates on notions and results related to different ways of measuring complexity of systems under consideration. More precisely, it deals with different types of growth, entropies and dimensions of limiting objects. Problems related to the topics covered are provided throughout the book.

The first expository book-length introduction to intersection homology from the viewpoint of singular and piecewise linear chains.

This book explores the study of singular spaces using techniques from areas within geometry and topology and the interactions among them.

This volume consists of ten articles which provide an in-depth and reader-friendly survey of some of the foundational aspects of singularity theory. Authored by world experts, the various contributions deal with both classical material and modern developments, covering a wide range of topics which are linked to each other in fundamental ways. Singularities are ubiquitous in mathematics and science in general. Singularity theory interacts energetically with the rest of mathematics, acting as a crucible where different types of mathematical problems interact, surprising connections are born and simple questions lead to ideas which resonate in other parts of the subject. This is the first volume in a series which aims to provide an accessible account of the state-of-the-art of the subject, its frontiers, and its interactions with other areas of research. The book is addressed to graduate students and newcomers to the theory, as well as to specialists who can use it as a guidebook.

The aim of this monograph is to introduce the reader to modern methods of projective geometry involving certain techniques of formal geometry. Some of these methods are illustrated in the first part through the proofs of a number of results of a rather classical flavor, involving in a crucial way the first infinitesimal neighbourhood of a given subvariety in an ambient variety. Motivated by the first part, in the second formal functions on the formal completion X/Y of X along a closed subvariety Y are studied, particularly the extension problem of formal functions to rational functions. The formal scheme X/Y, introduced to algebraic geometry by Zariski and Grothendieck in the 1950s, is an analogue of the concept of a tubular neighbourhood of a submanifold of a complex manifold. It is very well suited to study the given embedding Y\subset X. The deep relationship of formal geometry with the most important connectivity theorems in algebraic geometry, or with complex geometry, is also studied. Some of the formal methods are illustrated and applied to homogeneous spaces. The book contains a lot of results obtained over the last thirty years, many of which never appeared in a monograph or textbook. It addresses to algebraic geometers as well as to those interested in using methods of algebraic geometry.

These lecture notes contain a guided tour to the Novikov Conjecture and related conjectures due to Baum-Connes, Borel and Farrell-Jones. They begin with basics about higher signatures, Whitehead torsion and the s-Cobordism Theorem. Then an introduction to surgery theory and a version of the assembly map is presented. Using the solution of the Novikov conjecture for special groups some applications to the classification of low dimensional manifolds are given.

This is the fourth volume of the Handbook of Geometry and Topology of Singularities, a series that aims to provide an accessible account of the state of the art of the subject, its frontiers, and its interactions with other areas of research. This volume consists of twelve chapters which provide an in-depth and reader-friendly survey of various important aspects of singularity theory. Some of these complement topics previously explored in volumes I to III. Amongst the topics studied in this volume are the Nash blow up, the space of arcs in algebraic varieties, determinantal singularities, Lipschitz geometry, indices of vector fields and 1-forms, motivic characteristic classes, the Hilbert-Samuel multiplicity and comparison theorems that spring from the classical De Rham complex. Singularities are ubiquitous in mathematics and science in general. Singularity theory is a crucible where different types of mathematical problems interact, surprising connections are born and simple questions lead to ideas which resonate in other subjects. Authored by world experts, the various contributions deal with both classical material and modern developments, covering a wide range of topics which are linked to each other in fundamental ways. The book is addressed to graduate students and newcomers to the theory, as well as to specialists who can use it as a guidebook.