Handle decomposition
In mathematics, a handle decomposition of an m-manifold M is a union ∅ = M − 1 ⊂ M 0 ⊂ M 1 ⊂ M 2 ⊂ ⋯ ⊂ M m − 1 ⊂ M m = M {\displaystyle \emptyset =M_{-1}\subset M_{0}\subset M_{1}\subset M_{2}\subset \dots \subset M_{m-1}\subset M_{m}=M} where each M i {\displaystyle M_{i}} is obtained from M i − 1 {\displaystyle M_{i-1}} by the attaching of i {\displaystyle i} -handles. A handle decomposition is to a manifold what a CW-decomposition is to a topological space—in many regards the purpose of a handle decomposition is to have a language analogous to CW-complexes, but adapted to the world of smooth manifolds.