Topology for Physicists

In recent years topology has firmly established itself as an important part of the physicist's mathematical arsenal. Topology has profound relevance to quantum field theory-for example, topological nontrivial solutions of the classical equa­ tions of motion (solitons and instantons) allow the physicist to leave the frame­ work of perturbation theory. The significance of topology has increased even further with the development of string theory, which uses very sharp topologi­ cal methods-both in