Heap (Mathematics) (Paperback)

In abstract algebra, a heap (sometimes also called a groud) is a mathematical generalisation of a group. Informally speaking, a heap is obtained from a group by "forgetting" which element is the unit, in the same way that an affine spaces can be viewed as a vector space in which which element is 0 has been "forgotten." A heap is essentially the same thing as a torsor, and the category of heaps is equivalent to the category of torsors, with morphisms given by transport of structure under group homomorphisms, but the theory of heaps emphasizes the intrinsic composition law, rather than global structures such as the geometry of bundles.