When Topology Meets Chemistry: A Topological Look at Molecular Chirality

ISBN-13: 9780521662543 / Angielski / Twarda / 2000 / 256 str.

California) Erica Flapan (Pomona College

Opis

The applications of topological techniques for understanding molecular structures have become increasingly important since the 1960s. In this topology text, the reader can learn about knot theory, 3-dimensional manifolds, and the topology of embedded graphs, while learning the role these play in understanding molecular structures. Most of the results that are described in the text are motivated by questions asked by chemists or molecular biologists, though the results themselves often go beyond answering the original question asked. There is no specific mathematical or chemical prerequisite; all the relevant background is provided. The text is enhanced by nearly 200 illustrations and more than 100 exercises. Reading this book, undergraduate mathematics students should be able to escape the world of pure abstract theory and enter that of real molecules, while chemists and biologists can find simple, clear but rigorous definitions of mathematical concepts they handle intuitively in their work.

Recenzje

'If you are a chemist … looking for applications of low dimensional topology in the natural sciences, this is a book you should own … serves as an excellent introduction to the field for a topologist looking for interesting applications of topology in science. The book is well produced with many useful diagrams and with exercises that range from easy to intriguing. This book is definitely on my 'buy list'.' Stuart Whittington, SIAM Review

Spis treści

1. Stereochemical topology; 2. Detecting chirality; 3. Chiral moebius ladders and related molecular graphs; 4. Different types of chirality and achirality; 5. Embeddings of complete graphs in 3-space; 6. Rigid and non-rigid symmetries of graphs in 3-space; 7. Topology of DNA.