Seifert

Seifert is a German surname. It is associated with a number of individuals across various fields, notably in mathematics, where several concepts bear the name of a Seifert.

The most prominent figure is Herbert Seifert, a German mathematician whose work helped establish key ideas in topology and 3-manifold theory. In mathematics, several concepts are named after Seifert or associated with his ideas. Seifert fiber spaces describe a class of 3-manifolds that decompose into circles in a structured way. Seifert surfaces are orientable surfaces bounded by knots, constructed using Seifert's algorithm. The Seifert–van Kampen theorem provides a method for computing the fundamental group of a space from the fundamental groups of two overlapping subspaces. Seifert invariants give a concise description of Seifert fibered spaces in terms of a base orbifold and a collection of exceptional fibers.

Beyond mathematics, the surname Seifert appears in various biographical and historical contexts, reflecting its Germanic origin and distribution. In encyclopedic references, Seifert may refer to multiple individuals or topics that carry the name, depending on the subject matter. Overall, Seifert is primarily recognized in scholarly circles for its association with foundational concepts in topology and knot theory, named after the mathematician and his contributions to the field.