Lusternik–Schnirelmann theorem

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In mathematics, the Lusternik–Schnirelmann theorem, aka Lusternik–Schnirelmann–Borsuk theorem or LSB theorem, says as follows.

If the sphere Sn is covered by n + 1 closed sets, then one of these sets contains a pair (x, −x) of antipodal points.

It is named after Lazar Lyusternik and Lev Schnirelmann, who published it in 1930.[1][2][3]

Equivalent results[edit]

There are several fixed-point theorems which come in three equivalent variants: an algebraic topology variant, a combinatorial variant and a set-covering variant. Each variant can be proved separately using totally different arguments, but each variant can also be reduced to the other variants in its row. Additionally, each result in the top row can be deduced from the one below it in the same column.[4]

Algebraic topology Combinatorics Set covering
Brouwer fixed-point theorem Sperner's lemma Knaster–Kuratowski–Mazurkiewicz lemma
Borsuk–Ulam theorem Tucker's lemma Lusternik–Schnirelmann theorem

References[edit]

  1. ^ Bollobás, Béla (2006), The art of mathematics: Coffee time in Memphis, New York: Cambridge University Press, pp. 118–119, doi:10.1017/CBO9780511816574, ISBN 978-0-521-69395-0, MR 2285090.
  2. ^ Lusternik, Lazar; Schnirelmann, Lev (1930), Méthodes topologiques dans les problèmes variationnels, Moscow: Gosudarstvennoe Izdat.. Bollobás (2006) cites pp. 26–31 of this 68-page pamphlet for the theorem.
  3. ^ "Applications of Lusternik–Schnirelmann theorem Category and its Generalizations, John Oprea, Communicated by Vasil V. Tsanov, on Journal of Geometry and Symmetry in Physics ISSN 1312-5192".
  4. ^ Nyman, Kathryn L.; Su, Francis Edward (2013), "A Borsuk–Ulam equivalent that directly implies Sperner's lemma", The American Mathematical Monthly, 120 (4): 346–354, doi:10.4169/amer.math.monthly.120.04.346, JSTOR 10.4169/amer.math.monthly.120.04.346, MR 3035127