Crosscap Number

In the mathematical field of knot theory, the crosscap number of a knot K is the minimum of

taken over all compact, connected, non-orientable surfaces S bounding K; here is the Euler characteristic. The crosscap number of the unknot is zero, as the Euler characteristic of the disk is one.

Read more about Crosscap Number:  Examples

Famous quotes containing the word number:

    [The] elderly and timid single gentleman in Paris ... never drove down the Champs Elysees without expecting an accident, and commonly witnessing one; or found himself in the neighborhood of an official without calculating the chances of a bomb. So long as the rates of progress held good, these bombs would double in force and number every ten years.
    Henry Brooks Adams (1838–1918)