Branched coverings after Fox (Q2501485)

This article is a survey of one aspect of the theory of branched coverings. It corresponds to the period from Fox 1957 until now. The main aspect developed is the topological study of such maps \(f:X \to Y\) between two topological spaces where the singular set is ``not nice''. For example, how to define the cover on knot if it doesn't have a tubular neighborhood? The author presents the concept -- introduced by Fox -- of a map to be a spread. Several criteria for a map to be a spread are given in terms of topological properties of the spaces \(X, Y\) and the map \(f\). This is Theorem 4.5. Then he defines the notion of a complete spread and shows the existence and uniqueness of the completion of a spread. Note that the results presented here improve the original ones. Finally in the last three sections the paper focuses its attention on singular coverings, branched coverings and branched foldings. The survey is rich in historical aspects and practically self-contained. It contains many examples, exemplifying the necessity of the hypothesis of the results, making the reading very attractive.