Differential Topology and Geometry with Applications to Physics

Differential geometry has encountered numerous applications in physics. More and more physical concepts considered as fundamental can be understood as a direct consequence of geometric principles. The mathematical structure of Maxwell's electrodynamics, general theory of relativity, string theory and gauge theories, to name but a few, are of a geometric nature. All of these disciplines require a curved space for the description of a system, and we require a mathematical formalism that can handle the dynamics in such spaces if we wish to go beyond a simple and superficial discussion of physical relationships. This formalism is differential geometry. Even areas like thermodynamics and fluid mechanics greatly benefit from a differential geometric treatment. Not only in physics, but in important branches of mathematics, has differential geometry effected important changes. Aimed at graduate students, and requiring only linear algebra and differential and integral calculus, this book presents, in a concise and direct manner, the appropriate mathematical formalism and fundamentals of differential topology and differential geometry, together with essential applications in many branches of physics.