Tangent Spaces

Exercise 1: True or false?

These basic questions are designed to spark discussion and as a self-test.

Tick the correct statements, but not the incorrect ones!

a) A tangent vector to a differentiable manifold

O has a length and a direction.
O must not be zero.
O maps a function on the manifold to the real numbers.
O is of the same dimension as the manifold.
O arises as the velocity to some curve through the vector’s base point.

b) The tangent space Tp M to a d-dimensional differentiable manifold

O is of the dimension 2 · dim M .
O can be defined at every point p of M .
O is no real vector space, because its elements are only tangent vectors.
O admits a linear bijection to the vector space (Rd , ⊕, ).
O has no tangent vectors in common with a tangent space Tq M for q 6= p.

c) If (U, x) is a chart for a d-dimensional differentiable manifold, then

O the coordinate maps xi : U → R with i = 1, . . . , d are only continuous, not differentiable.
O (dx1 )p , . . . , (dxd )p constitute a basis of Tp∗ M .
   
∂ ∂
O for the basis ∂x1 p
,..., ∂xd p
of Tp M , there is no dual basis in the dual space.

O the components of the vector X with respect to the chart-induced basis are (dxi )p (X).
 
∂
O the expression (dxa )p ( ∂xa p ) yields the dimension of the manifold.
 Tangent Spaces

∂

Exercise 2: Virtuoso use of the symbol i
∂x p

Translating the symbol into undergraduate analysis symbols and vice versa.

Question: For a smooth function f and a chart (U, x), provide the definition of the expression
∂f
 
.
∂xi p

Solution: a

Question: Show that, for overlapping charts (U, x) and (V, y), one has
∂xa ∂y m
   
= δba
∂y m p ∂xb p

for any p ∈ U ∩ V .

Solution: a

Question: After inserting y −1 ◦ y, where y is another chart map on the same chart domain U , at an
appropriate position in the definition of the left hand side of
∂f ∂y m ∂f
     
= ,
∂xi p ∂xi p ∂y m p

use the undergraduate multi-dimensional chain rule to show that it equals the right hand side.

Solution: a

Question: Do the dim M many quantities defined by the left hand side of the above expression
constitute the components of a tensor? If so, what are the valence and the rank of the tensor?

Solution:
 Tangent Spaces

Exercise 3: Transformation of vector components

Understanding the vector component transformation law the pedestrian way.

Let the topological manifold (R2 , Ost. ) be equipped with the atlas A = {(R2 , x), (R2 , y)}, where

x : R2 → R2 , y : R2 → R2
(a, b) 7→ (a, b) (a, b) 7→ (a, b + a3 ).
 
∂xi
Question: Calculate the objects ∂y j p
!

Solution: a

In the lectures, the velocity vγ,p of the curve at a point p = γ(λ0 ) has been defined by its action on a
smooth function f
vγ,p (f ) := (f ◦ γ)0 (λ0 ).
By choosing a chart (U, x), inserting x−1 ◦ x at the appropriate place in this definition and employing
the chain rule, you found the components of the velocity with respect to the chart
0
γ̇xi (λ0 ) := (x ◦ γ)i (λ0 ).

Now consider the curve

γ : R → R2 ; λ 7→ (λ, −λ).

Question: Calculate the components γ̇xi (λ0 ) and γ̇yi (λ0 )!

Solution:
Question: With the result of the first question, how could you have obtained the components γ̇xi (λ0 )
from the γ̇yi (λ0 )?

Solution:
 Tangent Spaces

Exercise 4: The gradient

Not the only covector undergoing an identity crisis.

Given a function f on a manifold M , the level sets of f for a constant c ∈ R are defined as

Nc (f ) := {p ∈ M | f (p) = c}.

Question: Formulate the condition for a curve γ : R → M to take values solely in one of the level
sets of a function f !

Solution: a

Question: Now show that the gradient of a function annihilates the velocity vector vγ,p for any such
curve γ through a point p in Nc (f ). In other words, show that

(df )p (vγ,p ) = 0.

Solution: a
 Tangent Spaces

Exercise 5: Is there a well-defined sum of curves?

On the dangers of defining concepts by use of charts.

Let the topological manifold (R2 , Ost. ) be equipped with the atlas A = {(R2 , x), (R2 , y)}, where

x : R2 → R2 , y : R2 → R2
(a, b) 7→ (a, b) (a, b) 7→ (a, b · ea ).

Question: Is A a C ∞ -atlas?

Solution: a

Question: On M consider the curves γ : R → M and δ : R → M , mapping

γ : λ 7→ (λ, 1) and
δ : λ 7→ (1, λ).

Without referring to any chart, can you give the sum γ + δ of these curves?

Solution: a

Question: Calculate the representatives of both curves with respect to both charts! Illustrate the
results! Where do the curves in the charts intersect?

Solution:
Recall the definition of the sum of curves with respect to a chart (U, x) from the lectures. There, for
curves γ and δ meeting in the common point γ(λ0 ) = δ(λ1 ), we defined

σx : R → U, λ 7→ x−1 (x(γ(λ + λ0 )) + x(δ(λ + λ1 )) − x(γ(λ0 )))

as the sum of γ and δ in the real world.

Question: Implement this construction with our chart (R2 , x) in order to determine the sum σx of
our curves γ and δ! Draw the result in the real world.

Solution: a

Question: Repeat the construction, but now using the chart (R2 , y) to obtain the curve σy . Do you
get the same curve in the real world?

Solution: a

Question: Show that—despite the above result—the velocity of σx equals the velocity of σy at the
intersection point.

Solution: a