In mathematics, the winding number of a closed curve in the plane around a given point is an integer representing the total number of times that curve travels counterclockwise around the point. The winding number depends on the orientation of the curve, and is negative if the curve travels around the point clockwise.
Winding numbers are fundamental objects of study in algebraic topology, and they play an important role in vector calculus, complex analysis, geometric topology, differential geometry, and physics, including string theory.
Read more about Winding Number: Intuitive Description, Formal Definition, Alternative Definitions, Turning Number, Winding Number and Heisenberg Ferromagnet Equations
Famous quotes containing the words winding and/or number:
“Few, few shall part, where many meet!
The snow shall be their winding sheet,
And every turf, beneath their feet,
Shall be a soldier’s sepulchre.”
—Thomas Campbell (1774–1844)
“It seems to me that there must be an ecological limit to the number of paper pushers the earth can sustain, and that human civilization will collapse when the number of, say, tax lawyers exceeds the world’s total population of farmers, weavers, fisherpersons, and pediatric nurses.”
—Barbara Ehrenreich (b. 1941)