Simply Connected Space
In topology, a topological space is called simply connected (or 1-connected) if it is path-connected and every path between two points can be continuously transformed, staying within the space, into any other path while preserving the two endpoints in question (see below for an informal discussion).
If a space is not simply connected, it is convenient to measure the extent to which it fails to be simply connected; this is done by the fundamental group. Intuitively, the fundamental group measures how the holes behave on a space; if there are no holes, the fundamental group is trivial — equivalently, the space is simply connected.
Read more about Simply Connected Space: Informal Discussion, Formal Definition and Equivalent Formulations, Examples, Properties
Famous quotes containing the words simply, connected and/or space:
“The idea of the sacred is quite simply one of the most conservative notions in any culture, because it seeks to turn other ideasuncertainty, progress, changeinto crimes.”
—Salman Rushdie (b. 1947)
“Before I had my first child, I never really looked forward in anticipation to the future. As I watched my son grow and learn, I began to imagine the world this generation of children would live in. I thought of the children they would have, and of their children. I felt connected to life both before my time and beyond it. Children are our link to future generations that we will never see.”
—Louise Hart (20th century)
“The secret ones around a stone
Their lips withdrawn in meet surprise
Lie still, being naught but bone
With naught but space within their eyes....”
—Allen Tate (18991979)