Graphs drawn on two-dimensional surfaces have always attracted researchers by their beauty and by the variety of difficult questions to which they give rise. The theory of such embedded graphs, which long seemed rather isolated, has witnessed the appearance of entirely unexpected new applications in recent decades, ranging from Galois theory to quantum gravity models, and has become a kind of a focus of a vast field of research. The book provides an accessible introduction to this new domain, including such topics as ...
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Graphs drawn on two-dimensional surfaces have always attracted researchers by their beauty and by the variety of difficult questions to which they give rise. The theory of such embedded graphs, which long seemed rather isolated, has witnessed the appearance of entirely unexpected new applications in recent decades, ranging from Galois theory to quantum gravity models, and has become a kind of a focus of a vast field of research. The book provides an accessible introduction to this new domain, including such topics as coverings of Riemann surfaces, the Galois group action on embedded graphs (Grothendieck's theory of "dessins d'enfants"), the matrix integral method, moduli spaces of curves, the topology of meromorphic functions, and combinatorial aspects of Vassiliev's knot invariants and, in an appendix by Don Zagier, the use of finite group representation theory. The presentation is concrete throughout, with numerous figures, examples (including computer calculations) and exercises, and should appeal to both graduate students and researchers.
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Publisher:
Springer-Verlag Berlin and Heidelberg GmbH & Co. K
Published:
2010
Language:
English
Alibris ID:
17383463573
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Seller's Description:
New. 455 p. Encyclopaedia of Mathematical Sciences , 141. 3 Illustrations, black and white; XV, 455 p. 3 illus.; 3 Illustrations, black and white; XV, 455 p. 3 illus. Intended for professional and scholarly audience.
Publisher:
Springer-Verlag Berlin and Heidelberg GmbH & Co. K
Published:
2010
Language:
English
Alibris ID:
17980834291
Shipping Options:
Standard Shipping: $4.61
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
New. Contains: Illustrations, black & white. Encyclopaedia of Mathematical Sciences . XV, 455 p. 3 illus. Intended for professional and scholarly audience.
Publisher:
Springer-Verlag Berlin and Heidelberg GmbH & Co. K
Published:
2010
Language:
English
Alibris ID:
11475549771
Shipping Options:
Standard Shipping: $4.61
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
New. Contains: Illustrations, black & white. Encyclopaedia of Mathematical Sciences . XV, 455 p. 3 illus. Intended for professional and scholarly audience.