NEW CALCULUS

PAUL BRESSLER

1. Local calculus
Let a ∈ U ⊆ A be an open neighborhood of a point a in a finite dimensional vector space A.
Associated to the point a are
∞ eva
• The local ring of germs of C ∞ functions CU,a
∞
with the unique maximal ideal ma := ker(CU,a −−→
R.
• The finite dimensional vector space ma /m2a .
• The derivation
∞
d(·)a : CU,a → ma /m2a
given by f 7→ (df )a := (f − f (a)) + m2a .
∞
• The finite dimensional space Der(CU,a , R).
∨
• The canonical isomorphism Der(CU,a , R) ∼
∞
= (ma /m2a ) given by mutually inverse maps
∞ ∨
(1) Der(CU,a , R) → (ma /m2a )
given by D 7→ (f + m2a 7→ D(f )) and
∨ ∞
(2) (ma /m2a ) → Der(CU,a , R).
given by φ 7→ (f 7→ φ((df )a )).
Note that all of the items listed above do not make use of the the fact that U is a subset of a finite
dimensional vector space.
On the other hand, using the structure of a vector space on A we defined the maps
• The “total derivative at a” map
∞
D(·)a : CU,a → A∨
given by f (x) = f (a) + (Df )a (x − a) + small error. The map D(·)a is a derivation and,
therefore, gives rise to the map
(3) D(·)a : ma /m2a → A∨
defined by (D(f + m2a ))a = (Df )a .
• The “directional derivative” map
∞
dd : A → Der(CU,a , R)
 
d
given by v 7→ Dv : f 7→ f (a + tv) .
dt t=0

Lema 1.1. The map dd is injective.

∞
Proof. It is enough to show that for 0 6= v ∈ A there exists f ∈ CU,a such that Dv f 6= 0. If
∨ ∞
φ ∈ A ⊂ CU,a , then Dv φ = φ(v). The claim follows from the fact that the duality pairing is
non-degenerate. 
∞dd (1) ∨
Lema 1.2. The map (3) is dual to the composition A −
→ Der(CU,a , R) −→ (ma /m2a ) .
Proof. Exercise. 
1
2 P.BRESSLER

2. Differentiable maps and their derivatives

2.1. A criterion for differentiablility. Let A and B be finite dimensional vector spaces, let
U ⊆ A and V ⊆ B be open subsets. Suppose that F : U → V is a continuous map.
As we have seen earlier, for a ∈ U the map F induces the map of algebras

F ∗ : CV,F
0 0
(a) → CU,a .

Lema 2.1. The map F is differentiable if and only if for all a ∈ U the map F ∗ satisfies F ∗ (CV,F
∞
(a) ) ⊆
∞ 0
CU,a ⊂ CU,a .

Proof. Exercise. 

Note that it follows immediately from Lemma 2.1 that

• the identity map is differentiable;
• the composition of differentiable maps is differentiable.

2.2. The derivative of a differentiable map. Suppose that the map F : U → V is differentiable.
Thus, for all a ∈ U , the map F induces maps

F ∗ : CV,F
∞ ∞
(a) → CU,a

of algebras. For g ∈ mV,F (a) , 0 = g(F (a)) = F ∗ (g)(a). Therefore, F ∗ (mV,F (a) ) ⊆ mU,a , hence
F ∗ (m2V,F (a) ) ⊆ m2U,a . It follows that the map F ∗ induces the map of vector spaces

(4) F ∗ : mV,F (a) /m2V,F (a) → mU,a /m2U,a : g + m2V,F (a) 7→ F ∗ (g) + m2U,a .

On the other hand, the derivative of F at a, i.e. the linear map (DF )a : A → B gives rise to the
dual map (DF )∨a : B ∨ → A∨ .

Lema 2.2. The diagram

F∗
mV,F (a) /m2V,F (a) −−−→ mU,a /m2U,a
 
D(·)F (a) y
 D(·)
y a
(DF )∨
B∨ a
−−−−→ A∨
is commutative.

Proof. Exercise. 

Let
∨ ∨
F∗ := (F ∗ )∨ : (mU,a /m2U,a ) → (mV,F (a) /m2V,F (a) ) .
It follows from Lemma 2.2 that the diagram
(DF )a
A −−−−→ B
 
 
y y
∨ F
∗ ∨
(mU,a /m2U,a ) −−−→ (mV,F (a) /m2V,F (a) )

is commutative. Here we identified A with its double dual A∨ ∨ using the canonical biduality map
A → A∨ ∨ defined by v 7→ evv = (φ 7→ φ(v)) which is an isomorphism if and only if A is finite
dimensional.
 NEW CALCULUS 3

2.3. The chain rule. Let C be a finite dimensional vector space and let W ⊆ C be an open subset.
Suppose that G : V → W is a differentiable map. Since the composition
∞ G∗ ∞ F∗∞
CW,G(F (a)) −→ CV,F (a) −→ CU,a

coincides with the map

(G ◦ F )∗ : CW,G(F
∞ ∞
(a)) → CU,a ,

it follows that the composition

∨ F ∨ G ∨
(mU,a /m2U,a ) −→
∗
(mV,F (a) /m2V,F (a) ) −→
∗
(mW,G(F (a)) /m2W,G(F (a)) )
coincides with the map
∨ ∨
(G ◦ F )∗ : (mU,a /m2U,a ) → (mW,G(F (a)) /m2W,G(F (a)) ) .
Clearly, Id∗ = Id. As a consequence, we obtain the following result.
Lema 2.3. Suppose that the map F : U → V is local diffeomorphism in a neighborhood of a ∈ U .
Then, the maps F ∗ and F∗ are isomorphisms.
Proof. Exercise. 

2.4. Local (curvilinear) coordinate systems. Let x1 , . . . , xn ∈ (Rn )∨ denote the basis dual to
the standard basis ~e1 , . . . , ~en ∈ Rn . Hadamard’s lemma says that for any p = (p1 , . . . , pn ) ∈ Rn the
“covectors” dxi |p := (xi − pi ) + m2Rn ,p , i = 1, . . . , n, form a basis of mRn ,p /m2Rn ,p and the map (3),
namely,
!
∂f ∂f
mRn ,p /m2Rn ,p → (Rn )∨ : f 7→ (Df )p = ,...,
∂x1 p ∂xn p
is an isomorphism with the inverse given by
(Rn )∨ → mRn ,p /m2Rn ,p : xi 7→ dxi |p .
In particular, mRn ,p /m2Rn ,p is finite dimensional and dim mRn ,p /m2Rn ,p = n.
Suppose that A is a finite dimensional vector space, U ⊂ A is an open subset and Φ : U → Rn is a
(differentiable) open embedding, i.e. a diffeomorphism onto its image, an open subset Φ(U ) ⊂ Rn .
For i = 1, . . . , n let φi := Φ∗ (xi ) ∈ C ∞ (U ). Note that the existence of Φ implies that dim A = n.
Then, for any a ∈ U
• the induced map Φ∗ : CR∞n ,Φ(a) → CU,a
∞
is an isomorphism of algebras,
∗
• the map Φ : mR ,Φ(a) /mRn ,Φ(a) → mU,a /m2U,a is an isomorphism of vector spaces
n
2

• the “covectors” dφi |a = Φ∗ (dxi |Φ(a) , i = 1, . . . , n, form a basis of mU,a /m2U,a .

It follows that the vector space mU,a /m2U,a is finite dimensional, dim mU,a /m2U,a = n = dim A and,
∨
hence, the maps dd : A → Der(CU,a ∞
; R) ∼
= (mU,a /m2U,a ) and D(·)a : mU,a /m2U,a → A∨ are isomor-
phisms.
∞
Conversely, suppose that φ1 , . . . , φn ∈ CU,a . Then, there exists a ∈ V ⊂ U such that φ1 , . . . , φn ∈
∞ n
C (V ). Let Φ : V → R denote the map defined by xi ◦ Φ = φi , i.e. Φ = (φ1 , . . . , φn ). Then,
(DΦ)a = ((Dφ1 )a , . . . , (Dφn )a ) is an isomorphism if and only if the “covectors” dφi |a , i = 1, . . . , n,
form a basis of mU,a /m2U,a .
Therefore, by the inverse function theorem there exists an open neighborhood a ∈ V 0 ⊂ U such
that Φ : V 0 → Rn is a (differentiable) open embedding (i.e. a diffeomorphism onto its image) if
and only if dφi |a , i = 1, . . . , n, form a basis of mU,a /m2U,a . If this is the case we shall refer to the
∞
collection of functions φ1 , . . . , φn ∈ CU,a as a local coordinate system near a.
4 P.BRESSLER

Example 2.4. Let H := R>0 × R with the projections denoted r : H → R>0 and θ : H → R. Let x
and y denote the standard coordinate projections on R2 .
The formulas x = r ·cos(θ), y = r ·sin(θ) define a differenciable map H → R2 . The map is neither
injective (because the functions cos and sin are periodic) nor surjective (it is onto R2 \ {(0, 0)}).
In view of this, r and θ cannot be regarded as functions on R2 \ {(0, 0)}, let alone on R2 . On the
other hand, in the standard terminology r and θ are the “polar coordinates”, despite the fact that
they only serve as a parametrization of R2 \ {(0, 0)} by H.
However, it is easily seen by direct calculation that the derivative of the map (r, θ) 7→ (r · cos(θ), r ·
sin(θ)) is an isomorphism for all (r, θ) ∈ H. The inverse function theorem implies that for any
(a, b) ∈ R2 \ {(0, 0)}, given (r0 , θ0 ) such that a = r0 · cos(θ0 ), b = r0 · sin(θ0 ) there is an open
neighborhood (a, b) ∈ U ⊂ R2 \ {(0, 0)} on which the equations x = x(r, θ), y = y(r, θ) have a unique
differentiable solution r = r(x, y), θ = θ(x, y) such that r0 = r(a, b) and θ0 = θ(a, b). Thus, r and
θ form a local coordinate system near (a, b).
∞
Suppose that φ1 , . . . , φn ∈ CU,a is a local coordinate system near a. Thus, the “covectors” dφi |a ,
∨ ∂ ∂
i = 1, . . . , n, form a basis of mU,a /m2U,a . The dual basis of (mU,a /m2U,a ) is denoted ,..., .
∂φ1 a ∂φn a
Departamento de Matemáticas, Universidad de Los Andes
Email address: [email protected]