Shigeyuki (Tokyo Institute Of Technology, Japan) Morita
Characteristic classes are central to the modern study of the topology and geometry of manifolds. They were first introduced in topology, where, for instance, they could be used to define obstructions to the existence of certain fibre bundles. Characteristic classes were later defined (via the Chern-Weil theory) using connections on vector bundles, thus revealing their geometric side.
Characteristic classes are central to the modern study of the topology and geometry of manifolds. They were first introduced in topology, where, for i...