Combinatorial foundation of homology and homotopy : applications to spaces, diagrams, transformation groups, compactifications, differential algebras, algebraic theories, simplicial objects, and resolutions

A new combinatorial foundation of the two concepts, based on a consideration of deep and classical results of homotopy theory, and an axiomatic characterization of the assumptions under which results in this field hold. Includes numerous explicit examples and applications in various fields of topology and algebra. This book considers deep and classical results of homotopy theory like the homological Whitehead theorem, the Hurewicz theorem, the finiteness obstruction theorem of Wall, the theorems on Whitehead torsion and simple homotopy equivalences, and characterizes axiomatically the assumptions under which such results hold. This leads to a new combinatorial foundation of homology and homotopy. Numerous explicit examples and applications in various fields of topology and algebra are given.