December 28, 2009

A course in introductory algebraic topology

Filed under: computer vision/machine vision/AI, mathematics, news, updates — Peter @ 2:28 pm

This fall I have been teaching Topology I (Topology II next spring). I decided to emphasize algebraic topology and in fact started with it rather than point set topology which alone can take two semesters.

Outline
This is an introductory, two semester course on algebraic topology and its applications. It is intended for advanced undergraduate and beginning graduate students.

Part 1. Introduction to algebraic topology
Starts with topological issues in digital image analysis, informal introduction of homology

Part 2. Homology theory
Cubical complexes, their homology, and maps

Part 3. Overview of point-set topology
Minimized to the extreme (still could have cut even more)

Part 4. Homology groups
A more formal, group theory based, exposition

Part 5. Homology and uncertainty
Applications in computer vision, image analysis and data analysis

Part 6. Beyond homology
The fundamental group and cohomology

Also, I ran across this white paper from Hewlett-Packard: Algebraic topology for computer vision. Good review and an honest attempt to convince the practitioners to that this is something that they might need to know (good luck with that!).

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