Differential Topology of central importance in Mathematics and required background for every research mathematician and theoretical physicist. Differential Topology has core applications in all areas of Complex Analysis and Geometry, Differential Geometry, Geometric Analysis, Geometric Topology, Global Analysis, Mathematical Physics, Partial Differential Equations, and Theoretical Physics. This course will give a broad introduction to Differential Topology, with prerequisites that we shall try to keep to a minimum in order to introduce students to the field while also providing guidance for more advanced students. Topics may vary depending on the audience and their interests but should include:
I. Smooth manifolds and smooth maps
II. Submersions, immersions, and embeddings
III. Transversality and Sard’s theorem
IV. Intersection theory
V. Vector fields, Lie derivatives and brackets, distributions, tensor fields, and vector bundles
VI. Riemannian metrics
VII. Differential forms, orientations, integration on manifolds, and de Rham cohomology
VIII. Morse theory
IX. Symplectic manifolds
X. Banach manifolds
J. Lee, Introduction to smooth manifolds, Springer, 2013
Analysis, Linear Algebra, and Elementary Topology or permission of the instructor.