Higher Homotopy Structures in Topology and Mathematical Physics: Proceedings of an International Conference June 13-15, 1996 at Vassar College, ... of Jim Stasheff

Since the work of Stasheff and Sugawara in the 1960s on recognition of loop space structures on $H$-spaces, the notion of higher homotopies has grown to be a fundamental organizing principle in homotopy theory, differential graded homological algebra and even mathematical physics. This book presents the proceedings from a conference held on the occasion of Stasheff's 60th birthday at Vassar in June 1996. It offers a collection of very high quality papers and includes some fundamental essays on topics that open new areas. It's features include: accessible to a broad audience interested in mathematics and physics; offers a comprehensive overview of Stasheff's work; and, contains papers on very current research topics, including operads, combinatorial polyhedra and moduli spaces