No label defined (Q4946181)

The author gives an overview over the manifold influences of physics on the development of algebraic topology. After a survey of the time before the 20th century and throughout its first half -- the works of Euler, Gauss, Poincaré and others -- the largest part of the article is devoted to the impact of physical theories as gauge theory, Yang-Mills theory or field theories on low dimensional topology. The paper is organized in 10 sections, among these 1. Introduction and early happenings; 3. Topology, general relativity and singularities -- black holes and the big bang; 4. Topology and Yang-Mills theory -- the latter day explosion; 5. The Yang-Mills equations and four-manifold theory; 6. Physics and knots revisited -- the Jones polynomial; 7. Yang-Mills and four-manifolds once more; 8. Dynamics and topology since Poincaré; 9. Strings, mirrors and duals. For the entire collection see [Zbl 0922.54003].