Title: What Is Directed Algebraic Topology And Why Should I Care?
Speaker: Scott Newton - The Ohio State University
Abstract: Algebraic topology supplies a rich toolbox with which to study nice topological spaces. However, in many applications of spaces there is a notion of directionality or time (e.g. spacetimes, states spaces with irreversible state transitions, etc) which the traditional tools of algebraic topology ignore. Directed algebraic topology grew out of the study of concurrent programs in computer science and attempts to refine the tools of algebraic topology to be sensitive to a notion of direction on spaces. In this talk I will introduce some basic definitions, talk about what tools extend or don’t extend to the directed setting, and discuss some applications.
