Control and Relaxation over the Circle

This work formulates and proves a geometric version of the fundamental theorem of algebraic K-theory which relates the K-theory of the Laurent polynomial extension of a ring to the K-theory of the ring. The geometric version relates the higher simple homotopy theory of the product of a finite complex and a circle with that of the complex. By using methods of controlled topology, we also obtain a geometric version of the fundamental theorem of lower algebraic K-theory. The main new innovation is a geometrically defined nil space.