THE REAL DEFINITION OF A SMOOTH MANIFOLD

1. Topological manifolds A topological space X is called sigma-compact if X is equal to a countable union of compact subsets. In other words, there are compact subsets Ki of X for i = 1, 2, 3, . . . so that

X=
i=1

Ki .

Recall a topological space X is Hausdor if for every x, y X, x = y, there are open neighborhoods Ox x, Oy y so that Ox Oy = . A topological manifold of dimension k is a sigma-compact, Hausdor topological space X which is locally homeomorphic to Rk . In other words, around every x X, there is a neighborhood W which is homeomorphic to an open set U Rk . The homeomorphism : U W is as usual called a parametrization of the neighborhood W of x. 1 is called a local coordinate system on the neighborhood X near x. Proposition 1. Any submanifold X of RN is Hausdor and sigmacompact. Proof. That X is Hausdor follows from the fact that X is a metric space with the induced metric from RN . To prove that X is sigma-compact, dene bX = X \ X. (We can think of bX as the boundary of the manifold X.) Then if bX = , let
1 Kn = {x X : |x| n, dist(x, bX) n }.

Here dist(x, bX) = inf{|x y| : y bX}. In the case bX = , then dene Kn = {x X : |x| n}. It is an exercise to show that X = Kn , and that each Kn is closed n=1 and bounded in RN (and is thus compact). 2. Smooth manifolds So far we cannot do any calculus on our manifold X, since it is just a topological space (and not necessarily a subset of RN , as weve considered before). So we cannot talk about tangent spaces, immersions, transversal intersections, etc., yet.
1

THE REAL DEFINITION OF A SMOOTH MANIFOLD

For starters, lets consider real valued functions on X. So f : X R. What should it mean for such a function to be smooth? Certainly we want the corresponding function to be smooth in each coordinate chart U . In other words, if : U X is a local parametrization, then we want f : U R to be smooth. Note that this makes sense because U is an open subset of Rk . There is a potential problem, however. A given point x X is typically contained in more than one coordinate chart (U ) X. We must make sure that our notion of smoothness is independent of the coordinate chart we choose. So consider the case when x 1 (U1 ) 2 (U2 ), where for = 1, 2, U is an open subset of Rk and : U X is a coordinate parametrization. Then a given f : X R is smooth if each of the f is smooth. Note each is a homeomorphism onto its image. Now let W = (U ). Each W is a neighborhood of x, and let W12 = W1 W2 be the intersection. Then, on the restricted domains 1 (W12 ) (i.e. were shrinking each U ) : 1 (W12 ) W12 is a homeomorphism. Now lets assume f 1 is smooth. Then on restricted domain at least, f 2 = (f 1 ) (1 2 ). 1 Then it is possible to dierentiate f 2 , as long as 1 2 is dif1 ferentiable (by the chain rule). And if we want to compute higher derivatives, well need all the higher derivatives of 1 2 as well. The 1 condition we require is that 1 2 : 1 (W12 ) 1 (W12 ) 1 2 1 be a dieomorphism. Note that since the domain and range of this function are open subsets of Rk , it makes sense to talk about 1 2 1 being dierentiable. Also, our function is already a homeomorphism by the fact X is a topological manifold: what we need in addition is smoothness and smoothness of the inverse. Before we dene smooth manifolds, one more denition is useful: an atlas of a manifold X of dimension k is a collection of parametrizations {(U , )}i.e. U Rk is an open subset and : U X is a homeomorphism onto its image W so that X=

(U ).

In other words, the coordinate charts W = (U ) form an open cover of X.

THE REAL DEFINITION OF A SMOOTH MANIFOLD

A smooth manifold X is a topological manifold together with an atlas (U , ) so that each 1 is a dieomorphism. Each such function 1 is called a gluing map. If the two coordinate charts W W = , then this condition is vacuous. (As above, W = (U ).) In general, as above, the domain and range of 1 are open subsets of Rk . The domain is 1 (W ), and the range is 1 (W ), where W = W W . In this case when each gluing map 1 is a dieomorphism, the atlas (U , ) is called a smooth atlas of X. A useful way of thinking of a manifold with an atlas is as a union of the coordinate charts glued, or patched, together according to the functions 1 . Our manifold X can be identied as a set with the union of the coordinate neighborhoods U modulo patching together. More specically, for our atlas (U , ), consider the disjoint union U=

U .

Then the patching together is performed by an equivalence relation. Two points x U , y U are equivalent if they map to the same point in our manifold X. In terms of the atlas, this just means that xy x = (1 )(y). Then as a set at least X is equal to the quotient U/ . If X and Y are smooth manifolds of respective dimensions k and , then a map f : X Y is smooth if it is smooth on every coordinate chart. In other words, for all x X, if y = f (x), then we can nd coordinate charts in our smooth atlases so that f is a smooth function in these coordinates. More explicitly, if x (U ), y (V ), for smooth parametrizations and , then we require 1 f to be smooth. Note the domain of this function is U 1 ((V )) (so weve had to shrink U a little). This denition of f smooth is independent of the coordinates chosen by the fact that the atlases are smooth. 3. Tangent vectors For a nice description of tangent vectors and the tangent bundle for manifolds, see the book by Warner, Foundations of Dierentiable Manifolds and Lie Groups.

THE REAL DEFINITION OF A SMOOTH MANIFOLD

In particular, the tangent space Tx X of a smooth manifold at a point x can be dened independently of any inclusion of X RN as a submanifold. 4. An exhaustion of any manifold Let X be a topological space. A countable collection of open subsets {Oi } is an exhaustion of X if i=1

X=
i=1

Oi , and

Oi is compact and Oi Oi+1 . (The last pair of conditions is denoted Oi Oi+1 .) Proposition 2. Any manifold X has an exhaustion by open subsets. Proof. Since X is sigma-compact,

X=
i=1

Ki ,

Ki compact.

An easy lemma we will use repeatedly is this: Lemma 3. A nite union of compact subsets of a topological space is compact. The proof is left as an exercise. Let O0 = . We prove the Proposition by induction on the following statement for n > 0: There are open sets Oi for i = 1, . . . , n so that Oi Ki Oi1 . Oi is compact. To complete the initial n = 1 step of the induction, we need only construct O1 . Dene K1 = K1 . For all x K1 , there is a coordinate k neighborhood W = (U ), U R open. We may assume (0) = x. Then let Nx be a neighborhood of x, so that Nx W . (This is possible since we can always nd a small ball (B (0)) W . Then take Nx = (B /2 (0)). That Nx W follows from Proposition 4 below.) Now {Nx }xK1 is an open cover of K1 , and thus has a nite M subcover {Nxi }i=1 . We let
M

O1 =
i=1

N xi .

Then by the lemma above, O1 = M Nxi is compact. i=1 Now assume by induction, we have open sets O1 , . . . , On satisfying the inductive criteria: So in particular, On is compact and On

THE REAL DEFINITION OF A SMOOTH MANIFOLD

Kn On1 . Now let Kn+1 = Kn+1 On . By the lemma above and the induction hypothesis, Kn+1 is compact. Now we can apply the argument of the previous paragraph to dene
M

On+1 =
i=1

N xi ,

for {Nxi }M a nite open cover of Kn+1 so that each Nxi is compact. i=1 It is easy to check the induction step now. Since each On Kn , X = On . Also, by induction, On n=1 On+1 . 5. The Hausdorff property and manifolds In this section, we drop temporarily the assumption that manifolds are Hausdor in order to discuss a useful property which is equivalent to the Hausdor property for manifolds. Proposition 4. Let X be a manifold of dimension n. The following property is equivalent to X being Hausdor: For every local parametrization given by (U, )in other words, U Rn is open and : U X is a homeomorphism onto its imageand for every open V U so that V U is compact, then (V ) = (V ). Proof. First of all, let us assume this property and show X is Hausdor. Let x = y be points in X. If x and y are in a single coordinate chart (U ), then since U is open, there are small open balls Bx and By centered at 1 (x) and 1 (y) contained in U Rn . Then choose the radii of these balls to be strictly less than 1 |1 (x) 1 (y)| to 2 guarantee they are disjoint (by the triangle inequality). Then (Bx ) and (By ) are the required disjoint open sets in X. If x = y are not in a single coordinate chart, then let x (U ), y (U ). Then choose a small open ball V centered at 1 (x) in / U Rn so that V U . Then since (V ) = (V ) (U ), y X\(V ), which is an open set disjoint from the open neighborhood (V ) of x. Therefore X is Hausdor. Now assume X is Hausdor. Let U Rn be a coordinate chart with parametrization and an open subset V U so that V U is compact. We want to show that (V ) = (V ). First we show (V ) (V ). This just uses the fact is continuous: If W is an open subset of X which does not intersect (V ), then 1 (W ) is an open subset of U which does not intersect V . Thus 1 (W )V = by the denition of V . Therefore, W (V ) = . Since W is contained in the complement of (V ), then (V ) (V ).

THE REAL DEFINITION OF A SMOOTH MANIFOLD

To show (V ) = (V ), it suces to show (V ) is closed. Since V is compact and is continuous, (V ) is compact. And since X is Hausdor, (V ) is closed. Remark. Notice that the Hausdor property of manifolds then implies that they are locally compact. In other words, every x X has a neighborhood W with compact closure. 6. An example Real projective space RPn is an n-dimensional smooth manifold which is not be naturally dened as a subset of RN . Instead, the denition is in terms of the quotient topology. Consider the set S = Rn+1 \ {0}. We dene an equivalence relation on S. If p, q S, we say p q if there is a nonzero real number such that p = q. Notice that p q if and only if p and q are on the same line through the origin. Form the quotient space RPn = S/ , and give RPn the quotient topology. Thus RPn is a naturally the set of lines through the origin in Rn+1 . The quotient projection from S to RPn is denoted by : p [p]. We claim that RPn is naturally a smooth manifold. First we check the topological properties. Lemma 5. RPn is Hausdor. Proof. A set U RPn is open if 1 (U ) is open in Rn+1 \ {0}. The set 1 (U ) is a collection of lines, in other words a cone with the origin deleted. If [p] = [q], then the two lines 1 (p) and 1 (q) are distinct lines through the origin. Notice that they dont meet in S. Let be the angle between these two lines. Then let Cp =
( , 1 (p))</2

\ {0}

Here represents any line through the origin in Rn+1 which meets 1 (p) with angle less than /2. Similarly dene Cq . Then since Cp Cq = , and both are open cones in S, the sets Up = (Cp ) and Uq = (Cp ) are disjoint neighborhoods of [p], [q]. Lemma 6. RPn is compact (and is therefore sigma-compact). Proof. RPn = (S n ), where S n is the unit sphere in Rn+1 , which is compact. Then since is continuous, RPn is compact. To order to prove RPn is a manifold, then we need to nd a smooth atlas. There is a standard choice of n + 1 coordinate parametrizations which make up an atlas of RPn . Dene for each i = 1, . . . , n + 1, Pi = {x = (x1 , . . . , xn+1 ) Rn+1 : xi = 1}.

THE REAL DEFINITION OF A SMOOTH MANIFOLD

It is obvious that each Pi is dieomorphic to Rn (the functions {xj }j=i are n coordinate functions). If p = (p1 , . . . , pn+1 ) Rn+1 \ {0}, then at 1 1 least one coordinate pi = 0. Then [p] = [ pi p], and pi Pi . This shows that every [p] RPn is contained in (Pi ) for at least one Pi . In other words,
n+1

RP =
i=1

(Pi )

This is an open cover of RPn since each 1 ((Pi )) = {x Rn+1 : xi = 0} is open. Let Ui = (Pi ). Note that Ui = {[p] : pi = 0}. It is straightforward to check that : Pi Ui is a homeomorphism. Now we must check that the for these coordinates, the gluing maps are dieomorphisms. For each i {1, . . . , n + 1}, let xi = (x1 , . . . , xi1 , xi+1 , . . . , xn+1 ) i i i i be coordinates in Rn . Also dene a dieomorphism i : Rn Pi by i (xi ) = (x1 , . . . , xi1 , 1, xi+1 , . . . , xn+1 ). i i i i Then let i = i : Rn Ui . These are the coordinate parametrizations. We need to check that on 1 (Ui Uk ), 1 i is smooth. Now i k for [p] Ui Uk , pi = 0, pk = 0. Therefore, i (xi ) Ui Uk xk = 0. i Compute 1 (i (xi )) = 1 ([x1 , . . . , xi1 , 1, xi+1 , . . . , xk , . . . , xn+1 ]) i i i i i k k xi1 1 xi+1 xn+1 x1 i , . . . , i k , k , i k , . . . , 1, . . . , i k = 1 k xk xi xi xi xi i x1 xi1 1 xi+1 xk1 xk+1 xn+1 i = ,..., ik , k, ik ,..., i k , i k ,..., i k . xk xi xi xi xi xi xi i Since xk = 0, then its clear this function is smooth. The inverse is i smooth since (1 i )1 = 1 k and we may repeat the argument i k with i and k interchanged.