ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Künneth theorem

The Künneth theorem is like a magic spell that helps us understand the properties of a special type of mathematical object called a tensor product. A tensor product is like mixing two things together, but in a fancy mathematical way.

Imagine you have two different sets of blocks, one set has red blocks, and the other set has blue blocks. Now, if you want to know how many different ways you can make a tower using both red and blue blocks, you can use the Künneth theorem to find out!

The Künneth theorem tells us that the total number of different towers we can build using both red and blue blocks is equal to the product of the number of different towers we can build using only the red blocks and the number of different towers we can build using only the blue blocks.

But here comes the tricky part. The theorem also tells us that the size of the towers matters. Let's say the size of the red tower is 4 and the size of the blue tower is 3. The Künneth theorem still holds, but it tells us that the total number of different towers we can build while using both red and blue blocks will be influenced by the sizes of the towers.

In this case, the theorem says that the total number of different towers we can build will be equal to the sum of the products of the number of different towers we can build using red blocks of every length, multiplied by the number of different towers we can build using blue blocks of a length that, when added to the length of the red tower, equals the total size of the tower.

So, in our example, to find the total number of different towers, we need to consider all the possible lengths of the red tower and the corresponding lengths of the blue tower that, when added together, equal 7 (which is the sum of 4 and 3). For each combination of lengths, we calculate the number of different towers we can build with those lengths, and then add up all these numbers.

That's how the Künneth theorem helps us understand how many different towers we can build using both red and blue blocks, taking into account the sizes of the towers. But we can apply this theorem to much more than just counting towers. It has many important applications in various branches of mathematics, such as algebraic topology and algebraic geometry, where objects are often built in a similar way using tensor products.