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Applications of Topology in Science and Technology
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© 2018 IJRAR December 2018, Volume 5, Issue 4 www.ijrar.org (E-ISSN 2348-1269, P- ISSN 2349-5138)
Applications of Topology in Science and Technology
S.Mishra1, M.Aaliya2
Department of Mathematics, Lovely Professional University
Abstract: Topology being somehow very recent in nature but has got tremendous applications over almost all other fields.
Theoretical or fundamental topology is a bit dry but the application part is what drives crazy once we get used. In this paper
we discuss some applications in various fields of Science and Technology, like applications to Biology, Robotics, GIS,
Engineering, Computer Sciences. Topology though being a part of mathematics but it has influenced the whole world with so
strong effects and incredible applications.
Introduction
Topology is a Greek word which means the study of place. This well-defined branch of mathematics emerged in the initial
part of 20th century, but few separate results have been found back many centuries. Among all Leonhard Euler presented the
first paper in 1736 on the Seven Bridges of Koinigsberg, which is seen as the first practical application of Topology.
Additional contributions were made by Augustin-Louis Cauchy, Johann Benedict Listing, Ludwig Schläfli, Enrico Betti and
,Bernhard Riemann. Listing established the term "Topologie" in Vorstudien zur Topologie, written in German, in 1847. The
English form "topology" was used in 1883 in Listing's funerary in the journal Nature to make a distinction between
"qualitative geometry and the ordinary geometry”. Topology in general is deliberated to be one of the headstones of modern
abstract mathematics, others being algebra and analysis. Initially, the results in topology were inspired by real-life problems,
and after its official emergence, the prominence curved to its abstract growth. Nonetheless, from past few eras there has been
a momentous improvement of the applied topology to other fields also. Nowadays, mathematicians and scientists use
topology to model and comprehend the real world occurrences. Topology basically has emerged out of geometry, expanding
some notions and losing some of the erections appearing therein, where the concept of distances and angles are excluded.
Here objects are taken and treated as if they are made of rubber which one can stretch, crumble, twist and even deform but
without cutting and pasting. In topology, the objects we take are called topological spaces. From the topological perspective,
doughnut and coffee mug are same, which are totally different in other perspectives. Topologically, we can deform a coffee
mug into a doughnut and vice versa, we call them topologically equivalent. Consequently, a sphere cannot be deformed into
torus and vice versa, and hence they are not topologically equivalent. In topology, the properties that remain preserved
during deformations are taken into consideration and are called as topological invariants. Topologists cannot distinguish
between a circle and a square, sphere and a cube, because they share topological properties throughout the deformation
mathematically called Homeomorphism (topological isomorphism). The properties that remain unchanged during
homeomorphism are what we call topological properties or topological invariants. In this paper we describe some
applications of topology in other fields of Science and technology. We discuss applications to Biology, Robotics, GIS,
Computer Sciences, and Engineering. Topology has influenced the world of Science and technology with much great effects.
The backbone of Topology is the classical set theory. A topological space is a set 𝑌 along with a topology 𝜏 defined on it. A
topology on a set is the collection 𝜏 of the subsets of the set 𝑌 such that 𝜏 contains the empty set, the set itself, and which is
closed under finite intersection and arbitrary unions. The elements of this collection are called open sets. Then the ordered
pair (𝑌, 𝜏) is termed a topological space. There are many ways of defining topology on a set, as in Subspace topology,
product topology, order topology. We usually find a basis to generate topology on a set. Basis for a topology 𝜏 on a set 𝑌 is
the collection of subsets 𝔅 of subsets of 𝑌 such that (i) ∀ 𝑥 ∈ 𝑋, there exists 𝐵 ∈ 𝔅 such that 𝑥 ∈ 𝐵. (ii) If for some 𝑥 ∈ 𝑌,
we have 𝑥 ∈ 𝐵1 ∩ 𝐵2, then there exists 𝐵3 ∈ 𝔅 such that 𝑥 ∈ 𝐵 3. Like we have an example of a real line 𝑅, it becomes a
topological space under standard topology, that is the basis that generates its topology is the collection of open intervals
(𝑎, 𝑏) where 𝑎, 𝑏 are real numbers. It is then interesting to know how we can use these structures in real-world applications.
Topology has outgrown its boundaries and crossed almost every other field like Computer Sciences, Geography, Robotics,
Chemistry, Biology and Cohomology etc. Let’s now move to various applications of topology and try to understand its
influence.
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Applications to Digital Image Processing: Nowadays, digital images are becoming one of the key means of
communication while dealing with graphical information. The images in a digital camera, the demonstrations of words in a
book, artworks and graphics are the examples of digital images. The area of digital image processing deals with the
formation, storage, operation and demonstration of digital images. For every phase of digital image processing, topological
concepts and tools are involved to solve some questions or problems. The main role is played by Digital topology, where the
topological setting is the digital plane, which is the space acquired by taking the product of two digital lines, where the
digital line is the set of integers 𝑍. The basis element for each odd integer is given by 𝐵(𝑛) = {𝑛}, and the integers are
termed as pixels. Therefore, every single pixel is an open set in digital topology. Digital topology as such is the study of
topological interactions with digital image display. The digital plane in digital topology is the topological space 𝑍 × 𝑍, and
the subspace of digital plane which consists of all the open points is termed as visible screen. 𝐹𝑜𝑟 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦 (𝑚, 𝑛) ∈ 𝑍 ×
{(𝑚, 𝑛)} 𝑖𝑓 𝑚 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑛 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑜𝑑𝑑
{(𝑚 + 𝑎, 𝑛)|𝑎 = −1,0,1} 𝑖𝑓 𝑚 𝑖𝑠 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑛 𝑖𝑠 𝑜𝑑𝑑
𝑍, 𝑏𝑎𝑠𝑖𝑠 𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑖𝑠 𝑔𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑎𝑠: 𝐵(𝑚, 𝑛) =
{(𝑚, 𝑛 + 𝑏)|𝑏 = −1,1,0} 𝑖𝑓 𝑚 𝑖𝑠 𝑜𝑑𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑛 𝑖𝑠 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛
{ {(𝑚 + 𝑎, 𝑛 + 𝑏)|𝑎, 𝑏 = −1,1,0} 𝑖𝑓 𝑚, 𝑛 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛
Even though digital plane can also be formed as the quotient space of 𝑅2 with standard topology. The main thing in digital
image processing is to analyse the features of an object from its digital image. In 1979, a paper by Azriel Rosenfeld (1979)
[1] “Digital Topology” produced the first work that focussed on the digital analogue of topological concepts like
Connectedness and continuity. Well ahead, the concepts were improved and the topological spaces which model the digital
image display were introduced and which enabled the use of topological concepts directly in the digital realm. Well the real
world is regarded as connected and continuous, so to represent it digitally one requires tools to discretize images into digital
form, while all together possessing a connected structure to balance the real-world topological relations. The digital plane we
have got as in 𝑍 × 𝑍, which has the open, totally disconnected, and dense visible screen and invisible structures that bring
connectivity, affords the proper model for such processing. So the influence of topology in Digital image processing is seen
as vivid as it is in general.
Application to Robotics: Topology and physics have a very deep connection. It requires the most advanced knowledge of
topology to study the most sophisticated applications in other fields. In physics, the first or basic construction is of
Configuration space, which acts as the topological space over there. For studying configuration space, we have to have some
track of variables that are related to position and arrangement of the objects involved. Suppose we may need to keep the
track of various parts of the robot arm. So the the configuration space which acts as the topological space facilitates us to
achieve this tracking of variables. Also for the investigation of other perceptions like momentum, velocity etc. of the system,
we are left with one more space called phase space. Moreover, topology as being very influential for functions, there is good
number of maps defined in topology, one natural map is forward kinematics map, which is very valuable in motion design
for ties, robot arms and other related machineries. The forward kinematics map gives critical information about
unmanageable, obstructive, or possibly problematic arrangements of a mechanism we are considering. Generally, while
studying the robot arms or machine designs, we get to work with a particular point in the mechanism where a function comes
into picture as a tool to pick up a fragment, drill a hole, spray paint etc. This particular point is known as end effector. Here
every point of the configuration space of a mechanism is then sent to their respective end effector points of the operational
space. Therefore, a function 𝑓 is assigned, which is referred as the forward kinematics map. The continuity of 𝑓 is obvious
because the points nearby in the configuration space are mapped to the points nearby in the operational space.
Applications to Biology: Topology besides being a very different branch of mathematics, it plays a very good role in
Biology also. Since genotypes-phenotypes are of very primary importance in biology, we see how topology is even useful in
sequencing the right nucleotides in DNA strand. Genotypes are the internally veiled and inheritable information of a living
being while as phenotypes are the physical appearances of that information. Topology solves one most important problem in
DNA research. As we know that DNA is composed of four nucleotides: Adenine, Cytosine, Guanine and Thymine. These are
arranged in a manner that they resemble a sequence. The sequence of nucleotides on every single chain of DNA decides the
sequence of the other chain. The problem found in DNA research is in the comparison of distinct DNA sequences. In
topology we define something called Metric, which is basically a distance function used to measure the distance between the
elements of a set. Therefore the sets on which a metric can be defined are called metric spaces. For example, real line R has a
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usual metric defined as 𝑑: 𝑅 × 𝑅 → 𝑅 such that 𝑑(𝑥, 𝑦) = |𝑥 − 𝑦|. So using the concept of metric spaces (a special type of
topological spaces), we measure the distance between two sequences, where the distance function(metric) gives the intuition
towards the nature of evolutionary history of species. Let’s consider 𝑥 and 𝑦 to be the two sequences of letters 𝐴, 𝐶, 𝐺 and 𝑇.
To calculate the distance between 𝑥 and 𝑦, we fix the number of operations on 𝑥 to turn it into 𝑦. We can apply three
operations that is insertion, deletion and replacement for the sequence say 𝑃 to turn 𝑥 into 𝑦. Let 𝑖 P, 𝑑P and 𝑟P be the number
of insertions, deletions and replacements respectively. So the entire number of operations to turn 𝑥 into 𝑦 is 𝑖 P + 𝑑P + 𝑟P.
Since there are plenty of choices of operations to turn 𝑥 into 𝑦, thus we calculate the distance also called Levenshtein
distance between 𝑥 and 𝑦 as: 𝐷L(𝑥, 𝑦) = 𝑚𝑖𝑛{ 𝑖 P + 𝑑P + 𝑟P}, where the minimum taken is from all sequences 𝑃 that turn 𝑥
into 𝑦. This was the importance of metric spaces in DNA modelling.
We also have some biological application of Homotopy theory to Heartbeat Model. The model is taken from the paper,
“Sudden Cardiac Death: A problem in topology” by Arthur Winfree (2004) [2], who is known for his great work on
mathematical modelling of Biological systems. In his paper he examines a model for stimulating a beating heart. He uses
degree theory to explain how during a beat cycle, heart reacts to stimuli of various strengths, applied at different times.
Applications in Civil Engineering: Topology has got applications to Civil engineering also like we have one in Bridge
Design. Bridge Design is given by Topological Optimisation Technology by Zhi Hao Zuo et.al. (2018) [3]. Topology
optimisation is better to aim for locations and shapes of cavities in the design area. There are several number of topology
optimisation but the evolutionary structural optimisation (ESO) is mostly used due to its simplicity in software
implementation. In this paper this technique is executed and presented in its structural design, where the particular focus is
on the design of several bridges. In this design application, various constructional requirements are involved which includes
support types and selection of the elevation. Though the requirements are not less, and also during design problems
geometric constraints are taken into account like periodic constraint whose involvement is taken to produce a variety of
architecturally aesthetic and structurally efficient designs. This paper provides the application of this efficient technology for
bridge design and to express its capability in a wider realm of applications.
Applications to Geographic Information System (GIS): GIS is computer software which has the ability to
accumulate, store, operate and execute the geographic information. Topology in GIS is used in analysing the spatial
relationships among different regions in an area. It is used in analysing how points, lines and polygons share a boundary. As
we study the properties such as closure and interior of a set in topology, where closure of a subset say 𝐴 of a set 𝑌 is the
smallest closed set of 𝑌 containing 𝐴 and interior of 𝐴 is the largest open set of 𝑌 contained in 𝐴. So for instance, while
working on wetland protection in a state’s recreation area, a GIS user may ask for the demonstration of all wetlands that lie
in or around the state’s parklands Adams [5]. Working with GIS, we get to know about the relation among different land
areas. In mathematics we can simply use the property of intersection of sets, but GIS uses more efficient ways to do it.
Topology provides suitable models to distinguish between different regions, as sometimes the image may show the
intersection of two land areas but on zooming it, they may have no intersection, mostly when the cameras are with less
resolution. In order to get rid of those vague results, topology provides us valuable modelling tools. One such model was
published by Egenhofer [4] that practices topological concepts to differentiate the relationships among the pairs of
geographic areas. In that model, the author presents an idea of considering two closed sets say 𝐴 and 𝐵 in a topological space
𝑌, and uses the topological concepts to understand different ways of checking the relationship among 𝐴 and 𝐵 in 𝑌.
References:
[1] A. Rosenfeld, “Digital Topology”, The American Mathematical Monthly, 86 (1979), 621-630.
[2] A. T. Winfree, “Sudden Cardiac Death, A problem in Topology”, Journal of Theoretical Biology, 230 (2004) 433–439.
[3] Y. M. Xie, Z. H. Zuo, X. Huang, T. Black, P. Felecetti, “Application of Topological Optimisation Technology to Bridge
Design”, Structural Engineering International, 24 (2018) 185-191.
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[4] M. J. Egenhofer, R. D. Franzosa, “Point-set topological spatial relations”, International journal of Geographical
Information System, 5(1991) 161-174.
[5] C. Adams and R. Franzosa, “Introduction to Topology, Pure and Applied (book)”.
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