Stretching shapes and building tools: topology at Cornell
November 21, 2024
November 21, 2024
ITHACA, New York, Nov. 21 -- Cornell University issued the following news:
Imagine a coffee mug and a cinnamon donut on the table before you. They appear as completely different objects but to a mathematician, the mug and the donut are topologically equivalent, "homeomorphic," because (at least conceptually) you can bend and mold one shape into the other without cutting, tearing, passing it through itself or glueing.
Topologists study geometric objects and how . . .
Imagine a coffee mug and a cinnamon donut on the table before you. They appear as completely different objects but to a mathematician, the mug and the donut are topologically equivalent, "homeomorphic," because (at least conceptually) you can bend and mold one shape into the other without cutting, tearing, passing it through itself or glueing.
Topologists study geometric objects and how . . .