ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Quillen's lemma

Quillen's Lemma is like a treasure map for mathematicians. It helps them find a way to solve really tricky problems that involve shapes called "complexes."

Imagine you have a bunch of building blocks that can fit together in different ways to make a structure. You notice that some of these structures have really interesting properties, but you can't figure out exactly how to describe them. Quillen's Lemma is like a tool that tells you how to take apart these structures and put them back together in a different way, so that you can understand them better.

Now, imagine that you are trying to draw pictures of these structures, but it's really hard because they have a lot of weird angles and corners. Quillen's Lemma is like a magic wand that helps straighten out all those angles and make the pictures easier to draw.

In short, Quillen's Lemma is a powerful tool that mathematicians use to help them understand and solve complex problems involving shapes and structures. It's like a treasure map and a magic wand all rolled into one! So, Quillen's Lemma makes everything easier and helps make sense of complex structures in mathematics.