Ends of Complexes

The book makes the topology of non-compact spaces accessible to both geometric and algebraic topologists, and algebraists. Recent developments are explained, and tools for further research are provided. In short, this book provides a systematic exposition of the theory and practice of ends of manifolds and CW complexes, along with their algebraic analogues for chain complexes.

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The ends of a topological space are the directions in which it becomes non-compact by tending to infinity. The tame ends of manifolds are particularly interesting, both for their own sake, and for their use in the classification of high-dimensional compact manifolds. The book is devoted to the related theory and practice of ends, dealing with manifolds and CW complexes in topology and chain complexes in algebra. The first part develops a homotopy model of the behaviour at infinity of a non-compact space. The second part studies tame ends in topology. Tame ends are shown to have a uniform structure, with a periodic shift map. Approximate fibrations are used to prove that tame manifold ends are the infinite cyclic covers of compact manifolds. The third part translates these topological considerations into an appropriate algebraic context, relating tameness to homological properties and algebraic K- and L-theory.