English

From Singularities to Graphs

History and Overview 2022-06-22 v2 Algebraic Geometry Geometric Topology

Abstract

In this text I present some problems which led to the introduction of special kinds of graphs as tools for studying singular points of algebraic surfaces. I explain how such graphs were first described using words, and how several classification problems made it necessary to draw them, leading to the elaboration of a special kind of calculus with graphs. This non-technical paper is intended to be readable both by mathematicians and philosophers or historians of mathematics.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1808.00378,
  title  = {From Singularities to Graphs},
  author = {Patrick Popescu-Pampu},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1808.00378},
  year   = {2022}
}

Comments

24 pages, 27 figures. A few corrections were performed. Figure 6 is new. Figure 20 is a combination of Figures 19 and 20 of version 1. The paper will appear as a chapter of the volume "When Form Becomes Substance", edited by Luciano Boi and Carlos Lobo (Birkh\"auser, 2022)

R2 v1 2026-06-23T03:21:43.582Z