The Seifert–van Kampen Theorem in Homotopy

Homotopy type theory is a recent research area connecting type theory with homotopy theory by interpreting types as spaces. In particular, one can prove and mechanize type-theoretic analogues of homotopy-theoretic theorems, yielding “synthetic homotopy theory”. Here we consider the Seifert–van Kampen theorem, which characterizes the loop structure of spaces obtained by gluing. This is useful in homotopy theory because many spaces are constructed by gluing, and the loop structure helps distinguish distinct spaces. The synthetic proof showcases many new characteristics of synthetic homotopy theory, such as the “encode-decode” method, enforced homotopy-invariance, and lack of underlying sets. 1998 ACM Subject Classification F.4.1 Mathematical Logic