Springer Monographs in Mathematics M. Banagl Topological Invariants of Stratified Spaces M. Banagl Mathematisches Institut Universität Heidelberg Im Neuenheimer Feld 288 69120 Heidelberg, Germany e-mail:
[email protected] Library of Congress Control Number: 2006693517 Mathematics Subject Classification (2000): 55N33 ISSN 1439-7382 ISBN-10 3-540-38585-1 Springer Berlin Heidelberg New York ISBN-13 978-3-540-38585-1 Springer Berlin Heidelberg New York This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilm or in any other way, and storage in data banks. Duplication of this publication or parts thereof is permitted only under the provisions of the German Copyright Law of September 9, 1965, in its current version, and permission for use must always be obtained from Springer. Violations are liable for prosecution under the German Copyright Law. Springer is a part of Springer Science+Business Media springer.com c Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2007 The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. Typesetting by the author and VTEX using a Springer LATEXmacropackage Cover design: Erich Kirchner, Heidelberg, Germany Printed on acid-free paper SPIN: 11839545 VA 44/3100/VTEX - 543210 Preface The homology of manifolds enjoys a remarkable symmetry: Poincaré duality. If the manifold is triangulated, then this duality can be established by associating to a sim- plex its dual block in the barycentric subdivision.