Ordered Groups and Topology

Description:

"This book deals with the connections between topology and ordered groups. It begins with a self-contained introduction to orderable groups and from there explores the interactions between orderability and objects in low-dimensional topology, such as knot theory, braid groups, and 3-manifolds, as well as groups of homeomorphisms and other topological structures. The book also addresses recent applications of orderability in the studies of codimension-one foliations and Heegaard-Floer homology. The use of topological methods in proving algebraic results is another feature of the book. The book was written to serve both as a textbook for graduate students, containing many exercises, and as a reference for researchers in topology, algebra, and dynamical systems. A basic background in group theory and topology is the only prerequisite for the reader" -- From the publisher.

subjects: Topology,  Knot theory,  Manifolds (mathematics),  Ordered groups,  Low-dimensional topology,  Manifolds and cell complexes -- Research exposition (monographs, survey articles),  Group theory and generalizations -- Special aspects of infinite or finite groups -- Ordered groups,  Manifolds and cell complexes -- Low-dimensional topology -- Topological methods in group theory