ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

String bordism

String bordism is like playing with a piece of string.

Let's imagine you have a piece of string and you can bend it, twist it, and tie knots in it. You can also pull it tight or loosen it up.

Now, imagine this piece of string represents something called a "string manifold." A manifold is a fancy way of saying it's a shape with certain properties.

When you manipulate the string in different ways, you are changing the "bordism" of the string manifold.

Bordism is like a way of asking if two manifolds are the same or not. You can think of it like comparing two puzzle pieces to see if they fit together.

So, if you can change the shape of the string manifold by twisting, bending, and knotting the string, you are changing its bordism.

People who study math and physics are interested in string bordism because it helps them understand the properties of certain shapes and how they relate to each other.

Overall, string bordism is a way of understanding how the shape of a string manifold can change, and how those changes relate to other shapes. Like playing with a piece of string, only more scientific and mathematical.