Elementary differential geometry

Hacen Zelaci

Mathematical department, University of El Oued.

Current address: El Oued - Algeria
E-mail address: [email protected]
 Abstract
Differential geometry is a very interesting branch of mathematics. Roughly
speaking, is the mathematical apparatus that uses generalizations of calculus in
order to understand geometric shapes, sizes and curvature of a space. Maybe one
of the most interesting things in this theory is the notion of curvature. It turns out
that we can talk about the curvature of a space from a purely intrinsic point of view,
i.e. without reference to an ambient space. This was one of Gausss many great
breakthroughs a few centuries ago. Subsequently, Bernhard Riemann generalized
Gauss curvature of a surface to spaces of higher dimensions. So, one can actually
talk about the curvature of a higher dimensional space, which is incredibly useful.
As one may suspect, these mathematical things are absolutely crucial from a
physical point of view. If we think about the great work that Einstein did, one of the
things that he needed was a mathematical framework which described the curvature
of four-dimensional spacetime, because gravitation manifests itself as curvature of
space and time. This is the language of differential geometry.
Mainly it studies geometric problems using analytic tools such as differential
calculus, integrals...

Historically, differential geometry arose and developed as a result of and in

connection to the mathematical analysis of curves and surfaces. Mathematical
analysis of curves and surfaces had been developed to answer some of the nagging
and unanswered questions that appeared in calculus, like the reasons for relation-
ships between complex shapes and curves, series and analytic functions. These
unanswered questions indicated greater, hidden relationships. The general idea of
natural equations for obtaining curves from local curvature appears to have been
first considered by Leonhard Euler in 1736, and many examples with fairly simple
behavior were studied in the 1800s. When curves, surfaces enclosed by curves, and
points on curves were found to be quantitatively, and generally, related by mathe-
matical forms, the formal study of the nature of curves and surfaces became a field
of study in its own right, with Monge’s paper in 1795, and especially, with Gauss’s
publication of his article, titled ”Disquisitiones Generales Circa Superficies Curvas”,
in Commentationes Societatis Regiae Scientiarum Gottingesis Recentiores in 1827.
Initially applied to the Euclidean space, further explorations led to non-Euclidean
space, and metric and topological spaces.

This course gives an introduction to this domain, it doesn’t requires any back-
ground in this mathematical discipline. This course is written for L3 students.

Our main references are [Spi99], [RS18],[Oan18], [Sch08], [Gua18].

 Contents

Abstract 2
Chapter 1. Differential calculus 5
1. Inverse function theorem 6
2. Implicit function theorem 6
3. Constant rank theorem 7

Chapter 2. Submanifolds of Rn 9
1. Tangent bundle 10
2. Vector fields and flows 13
3. Parallel transport 18
Chapter 3. Differential forms 21
1. Tensors 21
2. Differential forms 22
Chapter 4. Differential manifolds 27
1. Abstract manifolds 27
2. Tangent space 29
3. Orientability 30
Chapter 5. Exercises 33
Chapter 6. Solutions 37
Bibliography 39

3
4 CONTENTS

notations: Through out this work, we use the following general notations:
• N, Z, Q, R, C for the set of nonnegative integers, integers, the fields of
rational numbers, real numbers, complex numbers respectively.
• Maps are generally denoted by f, g, h....
• Integers are denoted by k, n, m....
• We say that a function f is C k if it is k−times differentiable and its
k th −differential is continuous.
• The differential of a function f at p is denoted dp f .
• The Jacobian of a function f at p is denoted Jp (f ).
 CHAPTER 1

Differential calculus

Let U, V ⊂ Rn open subsets, k ∈ N. Recall that a function f : U → Rm is said

to be of class C k if f is k−times differentiable and its k th differential is continuous.
A function f : U → V is said C k −diffeomorphism if f is bijective of class C k and
its inverse is again of class C k . U and V are said to be C k −diffeomorphic, denoted
U ∼= V , if there is a C k −diffeomorphism f : U → V . A function of class C ∞ is
called smooth.
A function f : U → Rn is called a local C k −diffeomorphism at x0 ∈ U if there exist
neighborhoods V and W of x0 and f (x0 ) respectively such that f |V : V → W is a
C k −diffeomorphism. The function f is said a local C k −diffeomorphism on U if it
is a local C k −diffeomorphism at x0 for any x0 ∈ U .

Let U ⊂ Rn , V ⊂ Rm be two open subsets. If f : U → V is a diffeomorphism,

then the Jacobian matrix dp f ∈ Rm×n is invertible for every p ∈ U , in particular
m = n. This can be seen using the chain rule for differential operator.
Remark 0.1. A differentiable bijection is not necessarily a diffeomorphism.
f (x) = x3 , for example, is not a diffeomorphism from R to itself because its de-
rivative vanishes at 0 (and hence its inverse is not differentiable at 0). This is an
example of a homeomorphism that is not a diffeomorphism.
Proposition 0.2. Let U, V ⊂ Rn and f : U → V be a C 1 −diffeomorphism,
then for any x0 ∈ U , we have dx0 f : Rn → Rn is an isomorphism and
(dx0 f )−1 = df (x0 ) (f −1 )
Proof. Use f ◦ f −1 = id. 
Proposition 0.3. A local C k −diffeomorphism f : Rn → Rn that is bijective
is a global C k −diffeomorphism.
Proof. We need just to proof that f −1 is C k . Let y ∈ Rn such that y = f (x).
Since f is local C k −diffeomorphism then by definition f −1 is C k near y. 
Definition 0.4. Let f : U ⊂ Rn → Rm be a differentiable function.
(1) f is called immersion if for each x ∈ U, the function dx f is injective.
(2) f is called submersion if for each x ∈ U, the function dx f is surjective.
(3) f is called embedding if f is immersion and if f is homeomorphism from
U to f (U ).
Recall now some general facts.
Theorem 0.5 (Young’s Theorem). If f : U → Rm is defined on the open set
U ⊂ Rn and is of class C 2 , then ∂i ∂j f = ∂j ∂i f for any 1 6 i, j 6 n.
5
6 1. DIFFERENTIAL CALCULUS

We recall the following important result from topology.

Theorem 0.6 (Invariance of domain). Let U be an open subset of Rn , and
f : U → Rn a continuous and injective map. Then f (U ) is open, and f : U → f (U )
is a homeomorphism.

1. Inverse function theorem

Now, we come to the inverse function theorem.
Theorem 1.1. Let U ⊂ Rn open and p ∈ U . Let f : U → Rn a function of
class C k and assume that dp f is invertible. Then there exist open sets V and W
containing p and f (p) respectively such that the restriction of f on V is a bijection
onto W with a C k −inverse. Moreover, we have
dy (f −1 ) = [df −1 (y)) f ]−1 .
Proof. See [Ma09, Théorème 33.9] 
Remark 1.2. The inverse function theorem states that a function f is a dif-
feomorphism if and only if it is invertible, and for all p ∈ U , the Jacobian matrix
Jp f is invertible. (That is, one does not actually have to check smoothness of the
inverse map).
Example 1.3. The easiest case is in dimension one, we learned that if a function
f is continuously differentiable on ]a, b[ with non-vanishing f 0 , it is either strictly
increasing or decreasing so that its global inverse exists and is again continuously
differentiable.

2. Implicit function theorem

We consider now a relation between two variables in the form f (x, y) = 0. In
the best cases we can express explicitly one variable in a function of the other. This
is obviously not always possible. The implicit function theorem tells us when this
formula does exist without giving it explicitly.
So let f : U → Rm be a C k function, where U ⊂ Rn × Rm .
Theorem 2.1. Let (p, q) ∈ U such that f (p, q) = 0 and d2(p,q) f is invertible,
where d2(p,q) f is the differential of f with respect to the second term Rm . Then there
exist an open set V1 × V2 in U containing (p, q) and a C k −map φ : V1 → V2 with
φ(p) = q, such that f (x, φ(x)) = 0 ∀x ∈ V1 . Moreover, if ψ is another C k −map in
some open set containing p to V2 satisfying f (x, ψ(x)) = 0 and ψ(p) = q, then ψ
coincides with φ in their common set of definition.
Proof. We will use the inverse function theorem for the function
g : U → Rn × Rm
(x, y) 7→ (x, f (x, y)).
We have g = (p|U , f ), where p : Rn × Rm → Rn is the first projection. So g is
C k −function.
Step 1: We show that d(p,q) g : Rn × Rm → Rn × Rm is an isomorphism, i.e.
injective. So let (x, y) be in the kernel, then we have
d(p,q) g(x, y) = (x, d(p,q) f (x, y)) = (0, 0),
 3. CONSTANT RANK THEOREM 7

so x = 0, and d(p,q) f (0, y) = d1(p,q) f (0) + d2(p,q) f (0, y) = d2(p,q) f (0, y) = 0, since by
hypothesis d2(p,q) f is invertible we deduce that y = 0.
Step 2: Since d(p,q) g is invertible, we can use the inverse function theorem for
g, there exists an open neighborhood U of (p, q) and a neighborhood V 0 of g(p, q)
such that g : U → V 0 is a C k −diffeomorphism. There exist neighborhoods U1 ⊂ Rn
of x0 and U2 ⊂ Rm of q such that U1 × U2 ⊂ U . So g is a C k −diffeomorphism
U1 × U2 → V := g(U1 × U2 ) ⊂ V 0 . Note that V is open in Rn × Rm . And we have
g −1 = (h1 , h2 ) : V → U1 × U2 such that hi : V → Ui are C k and h1 (α, β) = α.
Indeed
(α, β) = g(g −1 (α, β)) = g(h1 (α, β), h2 (α, β)) = (h1 (α, β), f (h1 (α, β), h2 (α, β))).

Step 3: Let ϕ given by

ϕ = h2 ◦ ι,
n n m
where ι : R → R × R ; x 7→ (x, 0)..
Now let Vp = ι−1 (V ) and Vq = U2 . So Vp and Vq are neighborhood of p and q
respectively and ϕ : Vp → Vq is a C k −function. Moreover, for any (x, y) ∈ Vp × Vq
f (x, y) = 0 ⇔ g(x, y) = (x, 0)
⇔ (x, y) = g −1 (x, 0) = (h1 (x, 0), h2 (x, 0)) = (x, h2 (x, 0))
⇔ y = h2 (x, 0)
⇔ y = ϕ(x)
which ends the proof. 
The following proposition gives explicitly the differential of the implicit func-
tion.
Proposition 2.2. Under the same hypothesis of the implicit function theorem
we have
dp φ = −(d2(p,q) f )−1 ◦ d1(p,q) f,
where d1 (resp. d2 ) is the differential with respect to the first variable p (resp.
second variable q).
Proof. Just differentiate the formula f (x, φ(x)) = 0. 

3. Constant rank theorem

Let x0 ∈ Rn and f : Rn → Rm be a differentiable function at x0 . The rank of
f at x0 is by definition the rank of the linear morphism dx0 f : Rn → Rm , which is
by definition the dimension of dx0 f (Rn ), we denote it rankx0 f . We give now the
notion of conjugation.
Definition 3.1. We say that two functions f, g : Rn → Rm are C k −conjugated
if there exist two C k −diffeomorphisms φ, ψ : Rn → Rm such that ψ ◦ f = g ◦ φ.
That’s the following diagram commutes

Rn
f
/ Rm

φ ψ
 
Rn
g
/ Rm .
8 1. DIFFERENTIAL CALCULUS

Theorem 3.2. Let f : Rn → Rm be a C k −function, and x0 ∈ Rn . Then the

following are equivalent
• There exists a neighborhood U of x0 on which f has a constant rank.
• f is C k −conjugated to a linear map from Rn to Rm .
For the proof we refer to [Ma09, Théorème 33.34].
 CHAPTER 2

Submanifolds of Rn

The first example, and the one to keep in mind, of a submanifold of an Euclidean
space is a vector subspace, for example Rp × {0} contained in Rn . We will define a
general submanifold as obtained by local diffeomorphisms from such example, and
give equivalent characterizations. recall that the graph of an application f : U → V
is the subset of U × V formed of pairs (x, f (x)) for x ∈ U .
Definition 0.1. Let M ⊂ Rn be a subset. We say that M is a submanifold of
dimension d (6 n) and of class C k if for all x in M , there is a neighborhood U of
x in Rn , a neighborhood V of 0 in Rn and a C k -diffeomorphism φ : U → V such
that φ(U ∩ M ) = V ∩ (Rd × {0}).
There are several equivalent definitions, the above one called definition by local
covering. The diffeomorphism φ is called a coordinate chart. It is inverse φ−1 is
called a parametrization.
If the dimension d = 1, 2, the submanifold M is called curve, surface respectively.
If d = n − 1, M is called hypersurface in Rn . Note also that M inherits a topology
from the ambient space Rn .
Example 0.2. Any vector subspace of Rn is a submanifold. Any open subset
is a submanifold.
Example 0.3. Consider the 2-sphere
M := S 2 = {(x, y, z) ∈ R3 |x2 + y 2 + z 2 = 1}.
Let U ⊂ R3 and V ⊂ R2 be the open sets
U := {(x, y, z) ∈ R3 |z > 0}, V := {(x, y) ∈ R2 |x2 + y 2 < 1}.
The map φ : U ∩ M → V given p by (x, y, z) 7→ (x, y) is bijective and its inverse is
given by φ−1 : (x, y) 7→ (x, y, 1 − x2 − y 2 ). Since both φ and φ−1 are smooth, the
map is a coordinate chart on S 2 . Similarly, we can use the open sets z < 0, y > 0,
y < 0, x > 0, x < 0 to cover S 2 by six coordinate charts. Hence S 2 is a manifold.
A similar argument shows that the unit sphere S m ⊂ Rm+1 is a manifold for every
integer m > 0.
If M1 and M2 are two submanifold of Rn and Rm of dimension d1 and d2 re-
spectively. Then one can see that M1 × M2 is a submanifold of Rn+m of dimension
d1 + d2 .

Example 0.4. A particular case is given by

S1 × · · · × S1
| {z }
n times

called the n−torus. It is a manifold of dimension n inside Rn+1 .

9
10 2. SUBMANIFOLDS OF Rn

Recall the following definition

Definition 0.5. Let U ⊂ Rn be an open set and f : U → Rm be a smooth
function. An element c ∈ Rm is called a regular value of f if, for all p ∈ U , we have
f (p) = c =⇒ dp f : Rn → Rm is surjective.
We have
Proposition 0.6. If c is a regular value of f : U → Rm , then f −1 (c) is a
n − m dimensional smooth submanifold of Rn .
Proof. See Exercise 0.7. 

1. Tangent bundle
Let M ⊂ Rn be a smooth d−dimensional manifold and fix a point p ∈ M .
Definition 1.1. A vector v ∈ Rn is called a tangent vector of M at p if there
exists a smooth curve γ :] − 1, 1[→ M such that
γ(0) = p, γ 0 (0) = v.
The set of tangent vectors to M at p is called the linear tangent space of M at p
and it is denoted Tp M . The affine tangent space of M at p is the translate of Tp M
−
→
with the vector 0p.
Proposition 1.2. Tp M is actually a linear subspace of Rn . The dimension of
Tp M equals the dimension of M .
Proof. Let U ⊂ Rn be an open set containing p and let φ : U → V ⊂ Rn be
a coordinate chart. Let q := φ(p) and let ψ := φ−1 be the inverse map. We claim
the following which induces the proposition
Tp M = dq ψ(Rd ).
The first inclusion dq ψ(Rd ) ⊂ Tp M . Let r > 0, such that the ball Br (q) ⊂ V . Let
v ∈ Rd and let ε > 0 such that εkvk < r. Hence for all t 6 ε we have
q + tv ∈ V ∩ Rd .
Consider the curve γ : (−ε, ε) → M defined by
γ(t) = ψ(q + tv) ∈ U ∩ M.
Since ψ is a diffeomorphism, γ is a smooth curve and we have
γ(0) = p, γ 0 (0) = dq ψ(v).
This gives the first inclusion.
For the inverse inclusion. Let v ∈ Tp M , by definition there exists a smooth curve
γ as above such that γ(0) = p and γ 0 (0) = v. By shrinking the domain of γ, we
may assume that the image of γ is contained in U . Let γ̃ = φ ◦ γ. Then γ̃ is a
smooth curve in V and by using the chain rule, one can get that dq ψ(γ̃ 0 (0)) = v.
This proves the claim. 
S
The collection T M := p∈M Tp M is more than a set, it is actually a submani-
fold of M × Rn , and that is what we call a vector bundle. We call T M the tangent
bundle of M , this what allows us to transport the theory of differential equations
to the level of manifolds (see Section 2)
 1. TANGENT BUNDLE 11

Example 1.3. • The tangent bundle to M = Rn is the trivial one,

n
namely M × R .
• The tangent bundle to 2−sphere S 2 ∈ R3 is given at the point p =
(a, b, c) ∈ S 2 by
Tp S 2 = {(x, y, z) ∈ R3 |ax + by + cz = 0}.
−→
Namely it is the plane in R3 whose normal vector is Op. The bundle T S 2
is not trivial (see eg. hairy ball theorem).
• If M = U ⊂ Rn is an open set. Then T M = M × Rn .
Proposition 1.4. Let p ∈ M , U ⊂ Rn an open neighborhood of p and let
f : U → Rm a smooth map such that 0 ∈ Rm is regular value for f and U ∩ M =
f −1 (0). Then
Tp M = Ker(dp f ) = {v ∈ Rn |dp f (v) = 0}.
Proof. If v ∈ Tp M , then there is a smooth curve γ :] − ε, ε[→ M such that
γ(0) = p and γ(0) = v. For t sufficiently small we have γ(t) ∈ U , where f (γ(t)) = 0.
Hence
dp f (v) = dγ(0) (f (γ 0 (0))) = (f ◦ γ)0 (0) = 0.
and this implies Tp M ⊂ Ker(dp f ). Since Tp M and the kernel of dp f are both d =
(n − m)−dimensional linear subspaces of Rn we deduce that Tp M = Ker(dp f ). 

Remark 1.5. The definition we have given of Tp M has some disadvantages.

In particular, it is not clear at all how to organize Tp M as a linear space. In some
literature, the tangent space is defined using derivative, i.e. a tangent element at p
is considered as a class of equivalence (equality on neighborhood of p) of derivation
D : Cp∞ (M ) → R, where Cp∞ (M ) is the space of germs of smooth functions at p.
Recall that a derivation on Cp∞ (M ) is a linear map D : Cp∞ (M ) → R, such that
for any f, g ∈ Cp∞ (M ):
D(f g) = D(f )g(p) + f (p)D(g).
The correspondence between the two is given by associating to a tangent vector v
the directional derivative operators Dv (see below) with respect to the vector v.
Derivative. Let M ⊂ Rk , N ⊂ Rl be two submanifolds and let f : M → N be
a map. Then we can define the differential of f (if it exists) generalizing the classi-
cal case. The differential of f at p ∈ M is then a linear map dp f : Tp M → Tf (p) N ,
defined by associating to a vector v = γ 0 (0) (for some γ) the vector w = (f ◦ γ)0 (0).
One can show that this is well defined (i.e. independent from γ) and it gives a
linear map. The expression (f ◦ γ)0 (0) is called the directional derivative of f in
the direction of v, and it is denoted Dv f .

The differential operator dp satisfies the chain rule, namely

dp (g ◦ f ) = df (p) g ◦ dp f.
In particular, if f is a diffeomorphism, then dp f is an isomorphism.
Proposition 1.6. Let f : M → Rl be a smooth map.
(i) The differential dp f is well defined linear function.
(ii) The differential satisfies the chain rule.
12 2. SUBMANIFOLDS OF Rn

Proof. (i) By taking a neighborhood U ⊂ Rk , we can find a smooth

function g : U → Rl such that g|U ∩M = fU ∩M . Then , for v ∈ Tp M , we
have
dp g(v) = dγ(0) g(γ 0 (0))
= (g ◦ γ)0 (0)
= (f ◦ γ)0 (0).
Since the LHS is independent of γ, we get the result. The linearity also
follows.
(ii) If g : N → L for some submanifold L, then we have
dp (g ◦ f )(v) = (g ◦ f ◦ γ)0 (0)
= df (p) g(dp f (v)).

Assume that N = R. The directional derivative operator Dv : Cp∞ (M ) → R in
direction of v determine uniquely the vector v. Indeed, by taking the coordinate
functions ei (x) = xi , we find Dv ei = vi . Hence, we can define the tangent space as
the space of derivations D : Cp∞ (M ) → R.
∂
Note that for M = Rk , we have Dv f = dp f (v). In particular, we have Dxi = .
∂xi
Definition 1.7. A smooth map f : M → N is called an immersion (resp.
submersion) if its differential dp f : Tp M → Tf (p) N is injective (resp. surjective)
for every p ∈ M . It is called proper if, for every compact subset K ⊂ f (M ), the
preimage f −1 (K) is compact. The map f is called an embedding if it is a proper
injective immersion.
A subset S ⊂ M is called a submanifold of M if S itself is a submanifold of Rk .
Proposition 1.8. (i) If f : S → M is an embedding then f (S) is a
submanifold of M .
(ii) If f : M → N is a submersion then f −1 (c) is a submanifold of M , for
every c ∈ f (M ).
Proof. (i) We use the Lemma 1.9. Let q ∈ S, denote p := f (q) ∈ P ,
where P := f (S), and choose a diffeomorphism F : V × W → U as in
Lemma 1.9. Then set V ⊂ S is diffeomorphic to an open subset of Rn
(after schrinking V if necessry), the set U ∩ P is P −open because U ⊂ M
is M −open, and we have U ∩P = {F (q, 0)|q ∈ V } = f (V ) by the formulas
in Lemma 1.9. Hence the map f : V → U ∩ P is a diffeomorphism whose
inverse is the composition of the smooth maps F −1 : U ∩ P → V × W
and V × W → V : (q, z) 7→ q. Hence a P −open neighborhood of p is
diffeomorphic to an open subset of Rn . Since p ∈ P was chosen arbitrary,
this shows that P is an n−dimensional submanifold of M .
(ii) It is a consequence of Proposition 0.6.

Lemma 1.9. Let M ⊂ Rk and N ⊂ Rl be two submanifolds of dimensions m
and n respectively and let f : M → N be an embedding. Let q0 ∈ M , and define
P := f (M ), p0 := f (q0 ) ∈ P.
 2. VECTOR FIELDS AND FLOWS 13

Then there exists an N −open neighborhood U ⊂ N of p0 , an M −open neighborhood

V ⊂ M of q0 , an open neighborhood W ⊂ Rn−m of the origin, and a diffeomorphism
F : V × W → U such that, for all q ∈ V and all z ∈ W
F (q, 0) = f (q),
F (q, z) ∈ P ⇔ z = 0.
For its proof, see [RS18, Lemma 2.3.5].

2. Vector fields and flows

A vector field on a smooth manifold M is a smooth map
X : M → T M,
such that for any p ∈ M , X(p) ∈ Tp M . In other words, X is a section for the
canonical projection T M → M . We denote by Γ(M ) the space of vector fields.
Definition 2.1. Let X be a vector field on M and I ⊂ R an interval. A
smooth map γ : I → M is called an integral curve for X if for any t ∈ I we have
(1) γ 0 (t) = X(γ(t)).
Example 2.2. Let M = R. Then any smooth map X : R → R is a vector
field on M . In particular, integral curves for X are the solutions on I ⊂ R of the
differential equation
f 0 = X(f ).
Theorem 2.3. Let p ∈ M and X ∈ Γ(M ). Then we have
(i) There is an open interval I ⊂ R containing 0 and an integral curve γ :
I → M for X satisfying γ(0) = p.
(ii) If γ1 : I1 → M and γ2 : I2 → M are two integral curves for X with
γ1 (0) = γ2 (0) = p, then γ1 (t) = γ2 (t) for every t ∈ I1 ∩ I2 .
Proof. (i) Let φ : U → Rd be a coordinate chart on M , where U ⊂ M
is an open neighborhood of p. Let V its image (which is open) and ψ =
φ−1 : V → M . By the proof of Proposition 1.2, we have Tp M = dq ψ(Rd ),
where q = φ(p). Define f : V → Rd by
f (x) = dx ψ −1 X(ψ(x)), x ∈ V.
This map is smooth and hence, by the basic existence and uniqueness
theorem for ordinary differential equations in Rd the equation
(2) y 0 = f (y), y(0) = q = φ(p),
has a solution x : I → R in some open interval I ⊂ R containing 0. So
the function
γ := ψ ◦ x : I → U ⊂ M
is an integral curve as desired.
(ii) The local uniqueness theorem asserts that two solutions γi : Ii → M of
(i) for i = 1, 2 agree on the interval (−ε, ε) ⊂ I1 ∩ I2 for ε > 0 sufficiently
small. This follows immediately from the standard uniqueness theorem
for the solutions of (i) in [17] and the fact that x : I → V is a solution of
(2) if and only if γ := ψ ◦ x : I → U is a solution of (i).
We observe that the set I := I1 ∩ I2 is an open interval containing zero
14 2. SUBMANIFOLDS OF Rn

and hence is connected. Now consider the set A := {t ∈ I|γ1 (t) = γ2 (t)}.
This set is nonempty, because 0 ∈ A. It is closed, relative to I, because
the maps γi : Ii → M are continuous. Namely, if ti ∈ I is a sequence
converging to t ∈ I then γ1 (ti ) = γ2 (ti ) for every i and, taking the limit
i → ∞, we obtain γ1 (t) = γ2 (t) and hence t ∈ A. The set A is also
open by the local uniqueness theorem. Since I is connected it follows that
A = I. This proves (ii).


The real vector space structure of the tangent space at any point makes it
possible to give Γ(M ) the structure of a real vector space where the addition is
defined point by point (X + Y )(p) = X(p) + Y (p) and the scaler multiplication
(λ · X)(p) = λX(p). In particular, we denote by 0 the zero section. Moreover, the
space Γ(M ) has also the structure of C ∞ (M )−module. The multiplication with a
function is also defined point by point (f · X)(p) = f (p)X(p).
Now, let ϕ : M → N be a diffeomorphism, the pullback of a vector field
Y ∈ Γ(N ) under ϕ is the vector field on M defined by
ϕ∗ Y (p) = dp ϕ−1 (Y (ϕ(p))),
for p ∈ M . If X ∈ Γ(M ), then the pushforward of X under ϕ is the vector field on
N defined by
ϕ∗ X(q) := dϕ−1 (q) (X(ϕ−1 (q))),
for q ∈ N .
Definition 2.4. A vector field X on M is called complete if, for each p ∈ M ,
there is an integral curve γ : R → M of X with γ(0) = p.
Lemma 2.5. Let M ⊂ Rn is a compact manifold. Then every vector field on
M is complete.
Proof. See Exercise 0.13. 

Example 2.6. Let M ⊂ Rn be an open subset. We know that at each point

p ∈ M the tangent space Tp M can be identified with Rn , and a smooth vector field
on M is nothing but a smooth map X : M → Rn . If we regard tangent vectors
to Rn as directional differentiation operators (see Remark 1.5), the standard basis
∂
vectors are the partial derivative operators , for i = 1, . . . , n. The operator
∂xi
corresponding to X is the partial differential operator
n
X ∂
ai ,
i=1
∂xi
∞
where the coefficients a1 , . . . , an ∈ C (M ) are the components of X. In other words,
we can think of a smooth vector field on Rn as a first order partial differential
operator with smooth coefficients.
So a vector field X is seen as a linear operator DX : C ∞ (M ) → C ∞ (M ), which
associates to function f the function DX f : p 7→ DX(p) f . This point of view allows
as to define an action of Γ(M ) on C ∞ (M ) by letting X(f ) := DX f . It also allows
us to define a Lie algebra structure on Γ(M ).
 2. VECTOR FIELDS AND FLOWS 15

Lie structure. Using this second point of view, we define a Lie brackets on
Γ(M ) by
[DX , DY ] := DX ◦ DY − DY ◦ DX .
None of the operators DX ◦ DY and DY ◦ DX are vector fields, since they are
second order operators, whereas vector fields are first order operators. However, it
turns out that their difference [DX , DY ] is again a vector field, this is given in the
following theorem

Theorem 2.7. The Lie bracket [DX , DY ] is a smooth vector field on M. That
is, there exists a vector field Z ∈ Γ(M ) such that [DX , DY ] = DZ .

Proof. Let p ∈ M , and let (U, φ) a coordinate chart around p. Write

X ∂ X ∂
DX = ai , DY = bi .
i
∂xi i
∂xi

Then, we have for any smooth map f

  !
X ∂  X ∂f  X ∂ X ∂f
[DX , DY ]p f = ai bj − bj ai
i
∂xi j
∂xj j
∂x j i
∂xi
2
X ∂bj ∂f ∂ f X ∂ai ∂f ∂2f
= ai + a i bj − bj − ai bj
i,j
∂xi ∂xj ∂xi ∂xj i,j
∂xj ∂xi ∂xi ∂xj
 
X X ∂bi ∂ai  ∂f
=  aj − bj .
i j
∂xj ∂xj ∂xi

Thus
 
X X ∂bi ∂ai  ∂
[DX , DY ] =  aj − bj .
i j
∂xj ∂xj ∂xi

Remark 2.8. We can prove the above Theorem by showing that [DX , DY ]
verifies the Leibniz rule. Let f, g ∈ C ∞ (M ), then we have

[DX , DY ](f g) = (DX ◦ DY − DY ◦ DX )(f g) = DX (DY (f g)) − DY (DX (f g))

= DX (DY (f )g + f DY (g)) − DY (DX (f )g + f DX (g))
= DX (DY (f ))g + DY (f )DX (g) + DX (f )DY (g) + f DX (DY (g))
− DY (DX (f ))g − DX (f )DY (g) − DY (f )DX (g) − f DY (DX (g))
= [DX , DY ](f )g + f [DX , DY ](g).

Remark 2.9. One can define the Lie brackets on Γ(M ) as follows:

[X, Y ](p) := dp X(Y (p)) − dp Y (X(p)).

Question: Relate the two definitions of the Lie brackets.

 16 2. SUBMANIFOLDS OF Rn

Flows of a vector field. Let M as above and X ∈ Γ(M S ). Let p ∈ M , the

maximal existence interval of p is the open interval I(p) := I where the union
runs over all I ⊂ R open intervals containing 0 such that there exists an integral
curve γ : I → M for X with γ(0) = p.
By Theorem 2.3, there exists an integral curve γ : I(p) → M . The flow of X is the
map φ : D → M defined by
D := {(t, p)|p ∈ M, t ∈ I(p)},
and φ(t, p) := γ(t), where γ : I(p) → M is the unique integral curve.
Theorem 2.10. Let M ⊂ Rn be a smooth r−manifold and X ∈ Γ(M ) be a
smooth vector field on M . Let φ : D → M be the flow of X. Then the following
holds.
(i) Let p ∈ M and s ∈ I(p). Then
(3) I(φ(s, p)) = I(p) − s,
and, for every t ∈ R with s + t ∈ I(p), we have
(4) φ(s + t, p) = φ(t, φ(s, p)).
(ii) D is an open subset of R × M .
(iii) The map φ : D → M is smooth.
Proof. (i) The map γ : I(p) − s → M defined by γ(t) := φ(s + t, p) is a
solution of the initial value problem γ 0 (t) = X(γ(t)) with γ(0) = φ(s, p).
Hence I(p) − s ⊂ I(φ(s, p)) and equation (4) holds for every t ∈ R with
s + t ∈ I(p). In particular, with t = −s, we have p = φ(−s, φ(s, p)). Thus
we obtain equality in equation (3) by the same argument with the pair
(s, p) replaced by (−s, φ(s, p)).
(ii) & (iii) Let (t0 , p0 ) ∈ D so that p0 ∈ M and t0 ∈ I(p0 ). Suppose t0 > 0. Then
K := {φ(t, p0 )|0 6 t 6 t0 } is a compact subset of M . (It is the image
of the compact interval [0, t0 ] under the unique solution γ : I(p0 ) → M
of equation (1).) Hence, by Lemma 2.11 bellow, there is an M −open set
U ⊂ M and an ε > 0 such that
K ⊂ U, (−ε, ε) × U ⊂ D,
and φ is smooth on (−ε, ε) × U . Choose N so large that t0 /N < ε. Define
U0 := U and, for k = 1, · · · , N , define the sets Uk ⊂ M inductively by
Uk := {p ∈ U |φ(t0 /N, p) ∈ Uk−1 }.
These sets are open in the relative topology of M. We prove by induction
on k that (−ε, kt0 /N +ε)×Uk ⊂ D and φ is smooth on (−ε, kt0 /N +ε)×Uk .
For k = 0 this holds by definition of ε and U . If k ∈ {1, · · · , N } and the
assertion holds for k − 1 then we have
p ∈ Uk ⇒ p ∈ U, φ(t0 /N, p) ∈ Uk−1
⇒ (−ε, ε) ⊂ I(p), (−ε, (k − 1)t0 /N + ε) ⊂ I(φ(t0 /N, p))
⇒ (−ε, kt0 /N + ε) ⊂ I(p).
Here the last implication follows from Equation (3). Moreover, for p ∈ Uk
and t0 /N − ε < t < kt0 /N + ε, we have, by Equation (4), that
φ(t, p) = φ(t − t0 /N, φ(t0 /N, p)).
 2. VECTOR FIELDS AND FLOWS 17

Since φ(t0 /N, p) ∈ Uk−1 for p ∈ Uk the right hand side is a smooth map on
the open set (t0 /N − ε, kt0 /N + ε) × Uk . Since Uk ⊂ U , φ is also a smooth
map on (−ε, ε)×Uk and hence on (−ε, kt0 /N +ε)×Uk . This completes the
induction. With k = N we have found an open neighborhood of (t0 , p0 )
contained in D, namely the set (−ε, t0 + ε) × UN , on which φ is smooth.
The case t0 6 0 is treated similarly. This proves (ii) and (iii).

Lemma 2.11. Let M, X, D be as in Theorem 2.10 and let K ⊂ M be a compact
set. Then there exists an M −open set U ⊂ M and an ε > 0 such that K ⊂ U ,
(−ε, ε) × U ⊂ D, and φ is smooth on (−ε, ε) × U .
Proof. see [RS18, Lemma 2.4.10] 
Proposition 2.12. Let M ⊂ Rn be a smooth submanifold and X ∈ Γ(M ).
Then the following are equivalent.
(i) X is complete.
(ii) I(p) = R for all p ∈ M .
(iii) D = R × M.
Proof. Clear. 
Let us denote the space of diffeomorphisms of M by
Diff(M ) := {f : M → M |f is a diffeomorphism}.
This is a group. The group operation is composition and the neutral element is
the identity. Now equation (4) asserts that the flow of a complete vector field
X ∈ Γ(M ) is a group homomorphism
R → Diff(M ) : t → φt .
This homomorphism is smooth and is characterized by the equation
d t
φ (p) = X(φt (p)), φ0 (p) = p,
dt
for all p ∈ M .
Theorem 2.13 (Normal form around a point). Let X ∈ Γ(M ) and p ∈ M
such that X(p) 6= 0. Then there exists a local chart (U, φ) around p such that if
φ = (x1 , · · · , xd ) then
∂
X|U = .
∂x1
In particular, φt (x1 , · · · , xd ) = (t + x1 , · · · , xd ).
Proof. Let (U, ψ) be any local coordinate chart around p with ψ(p) = 0. Since
we can compose this with a diffeomorphism of the target, we can assume that
∂
X(p) = (p).
∂x1
Define
χ(y1 , · · · , yd ) = φy1 (ψ −1 (0, y2 , · · · , yd )).
The differential d0 χ of this map at 0 is bijective. Indeed, one can compute
d0 χ = dp (φt )0 |0 ◦ d0 ψ −1 .


18 2. SUBMANIFOLDS OF Rn

Using the equality

dp (φt )0 |0 = dφ0 (p)=p X ◦ dp φ0

and the fact that φ0 = id, we can see that d0 χ sends the coordinate ei to the basis
∂
. 
∂xi
3. Parallel transport
Let M ⊂ Rn be a submanifold. The Euclidean inner product h , i : Rn × Rn →
R induces an inner product
gp : Tp M × Tp M −→ R.
The set {gp }p is called the first fundamental form.

Note that this inner product induces an orthogonal projection Πp : Rn → Tp M

for each p ∈ M . The linear map Πp can be represented by n × n matrix over R,
and it is uniquely determined by the two conditions
Πp = Π2p ,
and for v ∈ Rn
Πp (v) = v ⇔ v ∈ Tp M.
Remark 3.1. The map Π : M → Rn×n is smooth.
The differential of Π is the linear map dp Π : Tp M → Rn×n which associate to
a vector v = γ 0 (0) ∈ Tp M the matrix
d
dp Π(v) := |t=0 Π(γ(t)) ∈ Rn×n .
dt
Lemma 3.2. For any v, w ∈ Tp M we have
dp Π(v) · w = dp Π(w) · v ∈ Tp M ⊥ .
The collection of symmetric bilinear maps hp : (v, w) 7→ hp (v, w) := dp Π(v) · w
is called the second fundamental form.
Let M ⊂ Rn be a submanifold and γ : I → M a smooth curve. A vector
field along γ is a section of T M over I, that’s a smooth map Xγ : I → Rn such
that Xγ (t) ∈ Tγ(t) M . The derivative Xγ0 (t) is not in general in the tangent space
Tγ(t) M .
Definition 3.3. The covariant derivative of Xγ is the vector field ∇Xγ over
γ defined by
∇Xγ := Πp (Xγ0 (t)) ∈ Tγ(t) M.
Lemma 3.4. Let Xγ as above and λ : I → R be a smooth function. Then we
have
∇(λXγ ) = λ0 Xγ + λ∇(Xγ ).
Definition 3.5. Let I ⊂ R be an interval and let γ : I → M be a smooth
curve. A vector field Xγ along γ is called parallel if
∇Xγ (t) = 0.
for all t ∈ I.
In other words, Xγ is parallel if and only if Xγ0 (t) ⊥ Tγ(t) M.
 3. PARALLEL TRANSPORT 19

Example 3.6. In particular, γ 0 is a vector field along γ and ∇γ 0 (t) = Πγ 0 (t) (γ 00 (t)).
Hence γ 0 is a parallel vector field along γ if and only if γ 00 (t) ⊥ Tγ(t) M for all t ∈ I.
Theorem 3.7. Let I ⊂ R be an interval and γ : I → M be a smooth curve.
Let t0 ∈ I and v0 ∈ Tγ(t0 ) M be given. Then there is a unique parallel vector field
Xγ along γ such that Xγ (t0 ) = v0 .
Definition 3.8 (Parallel transport). Let I ⊂ R be an interval and let γ : I →
M be a smooth curve. For t0 , t ∈ I we define the map
Φ(t, t0 ) : Tγ(t0 ) M −→ Tγ(t) M
by
Φ(t, t0 )(v0 ) := Xγ (t),
where Xγ is the unique parallel vector field along γ satisfying Xγ (t0 ) = v0 . The
collection of maps Φ(t, t0 ) for t, t0 ∈ I is called parallel transport along γ.
 CHAPTER 3

Differential forms

1. Tensors
1.1. Exterior product. Let k > 0, and let V be a finite dimensional vector
space over R. The exterior product Λk V of V is defined by
k
O
k
Λ V = V / ∼,
where the equivalence relation is given by
⊗ki=1 xi ∼ ⊗ki=1 yi ⇔ ⊗ki=1 xi = sng(σ) ⊗ki=1 yσ(i) , for some permutation σ.
The class of a tensor x1 ⊗ · · · ⊗ xk is denoted x
1 ∧ · · · ∧ xk .
Note that the dimension of Λk V is given by nk , where n = dim(V ).
There is a canonical alternating k−linear map ∧k : V k → Λk V given by
∧k (x1 , . . . , xn ) = x1 ∧ · · · ∧ xn ,
such that for any alternating k−linear map f : V k → W , there is a unique linear
map g : Λn V → W such that f = g ◦ ∧k .
Lemma 1.1. Assume that e1 , . . . , en is a basis of V . Then {ei1 ∧ · · · ∧ eik |i1 <
· · · < ik } is a basis of Λk V . In particular,
 
n
dim Λk V = ,
k
where n = dim(V ).

Proposition 1.2. The vectors v1 , . . . , vk are linearly independent if and only

if v1 ∧ · · · ∧ vk 6= 0. Two linearly independent k−tuples of vectors v1 , . . . , vk and
w1 , . . . , wk span the same k−dimensional linear subspace if and only if v1 ∧· · ·∧vk =
cw1 ∧ · · · ∧ wk for some c ∈ Rn r {0}.
Corollary 1.3. The Grassmannian manifold Grk (V ) can be embedded into
the projective space P (Λk V ) by assigning to the k−dimensional subspace spanned by
the linearly independent vectors v1 , · · · , vk the 1−dimensional linear space spanned
by v1 ∧ · · · ∧ vk . This embedding is called the Plücker embedding.
Ln
The direct sum Λ∗ (V ) = k=1 Λk V is an associative algebra where the product
∧ is defined
(v1 ∧ · · · ∧ vk ) ∧ (w1 ∧ · · · ∧ wl ) = v1 ∧ · · · ∧ vk ∧ w1 ∧ · · · ∧ wl .
∗
Λ V is called the exterior algebra or Grassmannian algebra of V.

21
22 3. DIFFERENTIAL FORMS

Definition 1.4. A (covariant) k−tensor on V is a multilinear map T : V k → R.

The set of k−tensors on V is denoted T k (V ).
Let φ1 , . . . , φk ∈ V ∗ . The map
φ1 ⊗ · · · ⊗ φk : (v1 , . . . , vk ) 7→ φ1 (v1 ) . . . φk (vk )
is a k−tensor on V . More generally, if S ∈ T k (V ) and T ∈ T l (V ) are tensors, we
define the tensor product S ⊗ T ∈ T k+l (V ) by
S ⊗ T (v1 , . . . , vk , vk+1 , . . . , vk+l ) = S(v1 , . . . , vk )T (vk+1 , . . . , vk + l).
Lemma 1.5. Let ξ1 , . . . , ξn be a basis of V ∗ . Then the family {ξ1 i1 ⊗ · · · ⊗ ξk },
where i1 , . . . , ik are arbitrary number in {1, . . . , n}, form a basis of T k (V ). In
particular dim T k (V ) = nk .
So one sees that T k (V ) ∼ = V ∗ ⊗ · · · ⊗ V ∗.
Definition 1.6. A k−tensor ϕ is called alternating if for every v1 , . . . , vk ∈ V
and any σ ∈ Σk , one have
ϕ(v1 , . . . , vk ) = sign(σ)ϕ(vσ(1) , . . . , vσ(k) ).
The space of these is denoted Ak (V ). For φ1 , . . . , φk ∈ V ∗ , the map
X
φ1 ∧ · · · ∧ φk : (v1 , . . . , vk ) 7→ φ1 (vσ(1) ) · · · φk (vσ(k) )
σ∈Σ
is alternating k−tensor.
So we get as before
Ak (V ) ∼
= Λk V ∗ .
Remark 1.7. There is a canonical map Λk V ∗ → (Λk V )∗ defined by sending
an alternating tensor ϕ1 ∧ · · · ∧ ϕk to the linear form
X
Alt(ϕ1 ∧ · · · ∧ ϕk )(x1 ∧ · · · ∧ xk ) = sgn(σ)ϕ1 (xσ(1) ) · · · ϕk (xσ(k) ),
σ∈Σk

which is an isomorphism.

2. Differential forms
Let M ⊂ Rn be a smooth submanifold. Let f ∈ C ∞ (M ). The differential of f
is a map df : T M → R, at each fiber, it gives a linear form dp f of the vector space
Tp M . Hence an element of the dual space.

Denote by T ∗ M the cotangent bundle over M ; it is the dual of the tangent

bundle. Each fiber of T ∗ M is isomorphic to (Tp M )∗ .
Definition 2.1. A differentiable 1−form on M (also called covector field ) is
a section of the cotangent bundle, that’s a smooth map ω : M → T ∗ M such that
ω(p) ∈ Tp∗ M for each p ∈ M . The space of 1−forms is denoted Ω1 (M ).
As we have seen before, each smooth function f gives rise to a 1−form df . A
differentiable 1−form is called exact if it is equal to df for some f ∈ C ∞ (M ). In
particular, if f equals one of the coordinates xi around a point p ∈ M , we get the
1−form dxi . Moreover, any 1−form ω can be written, locally around p in the form
Xn
ω= ai dxi .
i=1
 2. DIFFERENTIAL FORMS 23

Example 2.2. Let M = R2 with coordinates x, y, and let f ∈ C ∞ (R2 ). The

differential of x and y equal to dx and dy whose Jacobian matrices at any point are
equals to (1, 0) and (0, 1) respectively. Hence the differential of f is given by
∂f ∂f
df = dx + dy.
∂x ∂y
And any other covector field ω is of the form adx+bdy, with a, b ∈ C ∞ (R2 ), because
the cotangent bundle is trivial.
More generally, we have
Definition 2.3. A differentiable k−form on M is a section of the exterior
product Λk T ∗ M of the cotangent bundle, that’s a smooth map ω : M → Λk T ∗ M
such that ω(p) ∈ Λk Tp∗ M for each p ∈ M . The space of k−forms is denoted Ωk (M ).
On a local coordinate chart U ⊂ M , let x1 , . . . , xd , then dxi1 ∧ · · · ∧ dxik is
k−form, where 1 6 i1 < · · · < ik 6 n. Moreover, any k−form on U can be written
uniquely in the form X
w= aI dxi1 ∧ · · · ∧ dxik ,
I
where aI are smooth functions on U .
Example 2.4. Let M = R2 with coordinates x, y. A differential 2−form ω
on M is of the form adx ∧ dy, with a ∈ C ∞ (R2 ), because the cotangent bundle is
trivial and its second exterior power is a line bundle. If X, Y ∈ Tp M , then
ωp (X, Y ) = a(p)(x1 y2 − x2 y1 ).
Ln
∗
We denote by Ω (M ) = k=0 Ωk (M ). The wedge product ∧ gives Ω∗ (M ) the
structure of an algebra over C ∞ (M ).
2.1. Interior product. Let ω a differential k−form on a manifold M , and X
a smooth vector field. We have
Definition 2.5. The interior product of X and ω is the differential (k −
1)−form ιX ω defined by
ιX ω(X1 , . . . , Xk−1 ) := ω(X, X1 , . . . , Xk−1 ).
If k = 0, we set ιX ω = 0.
Interior product ιX with the vector field X can be thought of as a linear map
from Ω∗ (M ) into itself. This is a degree −1 map, as it decreases the degree of any
form by 1. In general, a linear map L : Ω∗ (M ) → Ω∗ (M ) is a degree d map, if
L(Ωk (M )) ⊂ Ωk+d (M ) for all possible k.
2.2. Exterior derivative. Let M ⊂ Rn be a submanifold. In a local chart
around a point p ∈ M , we can write a k−form ω ∈ Ωk in the form
X
ω= aI dxi1 ∧ · · · ∧ dxid ,
i1 <···<id

We get then
Definition 2.6. The exterior derivative of the k−form ω is the (k + 1)−form
dω giving locally by
X
dω = daI ∧ dxi1 ∧ · · · ∧ dxid .
i1 <···<id
24 3. DIFFERENTIAL FORMS

It is a non trivial result that this definition can be globalized to get a morphism
d : Ωk (M ) → Ωk+1 (M ).
Definition 2.7. A k−form is called exact if it equals dα form some (k −
1)−form α. It is called closed if dω = 0.
Since d2 = 0 by definition, we deduce
Lemma 2.8. An exact form is closed. That’s the exterior derivative defines a
complex
d d d
0 −→ Ω1 (M ) −→ Ω2 (M ) −→ · · · −→ Ωm (M ) → 0,
meaning Im(d) ⊂ Ker(d). Here m = dim(M ).
Example 2.9. Reconsider the example 2.2. The 1−form ω = adx + bdy is
exact if and only if
∂a ∂b
= .
∂y ∂x
∂f ∂f
Indeed, if ω is exact then there is an f ∈ C ∞ (R2 ) such that a = ,b = . Hence
∂x ∂y
∂a ∂2f ∂b
= = .
∂y ∂y∂x ∂x
∂a ∂b
Conversely, assume that = . Then choose a smooth two variable function f
∂y ∂x
2
∂f ∂a ∂ f ∂b ∂f
such that = a. Then = = . So b− doesn’t depend on x. Choose
∂x ∂y ∂y∂x ∂x ∂y
∂f
a function g on y such that g 0 (y) = b − . Then one sees that ω = d(f + g).
∂y
Note that this in not true in arbitrary manifold.
Let f : M → N a smooth map and let ω ∈ Ωk (N ). We define the pullback of ω
by f to be the k−form denoted f ∗ ω on M given by
f ∗ ω(p)(v1 , · · · , vk ) = ω(f (p))(dp f (v1 ), · · · , dp f (vk )),
for all v1 , · · · , vk ∈ Tp M and all p ∈ M . It is not difficult to show that this is well
defined.
Example 2.10. Let M = R3 . The coordinates xi : M → R are smooth function
whose differential dxi : T M → T R = R × R Then
• Ω0 (R3 ) = C ∞ (R3 ).
• Ω1 (R3 ) = {adx1 + bdx2 + cdx3 |a, b, c ∈ C(R3 )}.
• Ω2 (R3 ) = {adx1 ∧ dx2 + bdx1 ∧ dx3 + cdx2 ∧ dx3 |a, b, c ∈ C(R3 )}.
• Ω3 (R3 ) = {adx1 ∧ dx2 ∧ dx3 |a ∈ C(R3 )}.
The exterior differentiation is given by
• d : Ω0 (M ) → Ω1 (M ),
∂f ∂f ∂f
df = dx1 + dx2 + dx3 .
∂x1 ∂x3 ∂x3
• d : Ω1 (M ) → Ω2 (M ),
d(adx1 + bdx2 + cdx3 ) = da ∧ dx1 + db ∧ dx2 + dc ∧ dx3 .
∂b ∂a ∂c ∂a ∂c ∂b
=( − )dx1 ∧ dx2 + ( − )dx1 ∧ dx3 + ( − )dx2 ∧ dx3 .
∂x1 ∂x2 ∂x1 ∂x3 ∂x2 ∂x3
 2. DIFFERENTIAL FORMS 25

• d : Ω2 (M ) → Ω3 (M ),
d(adx1 ∧ dx2 + bdx1 ∧ dx3 + cdx2 ∧ dx3 ) = da ∧ dx1 ∧ x2 + db ∧ dx1 ∧ dx3 + dc ∧ dx2 ∧ dx3 .
∂a ∂b ∂c
=( − + )dx1 ∧ dx2 ∧ dx3 .
∂x3 ∂x2 ∂x1
 CHAPTER 4

Differential manifolds

1. Abstract manifolds
Let T be a topological space. A neighborhood of a point x ∈ T is a subset
U ⊂ T with the property that it contains an open set containing x. A map f :
T → W which is continuous, bijective and has a continuous inverse is called a
homeomorphism.
Definition 1.1. A topological space X is said to be Hausdorff if for every pair
of distinct points x, y ∈ X there exist disjoint neighborhoods of x and y.
Let M be a Hausdorff topological space, and let m > 0 be a fixed non negative
integer.
Definition 1.2. An m−dimensional smooth atlas of M is a collection (Oi )i∈I
of open sets Oi ⊂ M such that M = ∪i∈I Oi , together with a collection (Ui )i∈I of
open sets in Rm and a collection of homeomorphisms, called charts, φi : Oi → Ui =
φi (Ui ), with the following property of smooth transition on overlaps:
For each pair i, j ∈ I the map φj ◦ φ−1i : φi (Oi ∩ Oj ) → φj (Oi ∩ Oj ) is smooth.
Two smooth atlases are compatible if their union is again an atlas.
If A is an atlas, then so is the collection A¯ of all charts compatible with each
member of A . The atlas A¯ is obviously maximal. In other words, every atlas
extends uniquely to a maximal atlas.
Example 1.3. The map
ϕ(u, v) = (cos v, sin v, u), u, v ∈ R
is smooth and covers the cylinder S = {(x, y, z) ∈ R3 |x2 + y 2 = 1}, but it is not
injective. Let
U1 = {(u, v) ∈ R2 | − π < v < π} , U2 = {(u, v) ∈ R2 |0 < v < 2π},
and let ϕi denote the restriction of ϕ to Ui for i = 1, 2. Then ϕ1 and ϕ2 are
both injective, ϕ1 covers S with the exception of a vertical line on the back where
x = −1, and ϕ2 covers S with the exception of a vertical line on the front where
x = 1. Together they cover the entire set and thus they constitute an atlas.
Example 1.4. Assume that W ⊂ Rm and V ⊂ Rn are open sets, that M is a
subset of the product Rm × Rn = Rm+n , and f : W → V is a map whose graph is
a subset of M , i.e.
graph(f ) := {(x, y)|x ∈ W, y = f (x)} ⊂ M.
Let U = (W ∩ V ) r graph(f ) and let φ(x, y) = x be the projection of U onto W .
Then the pair (φ, U ) is a chart on M. The inverse map is given by φ−1 (x) = (x, f (x)).

27
28 4. DIFFERENTIAL MANIFOLDS

Definition 1.5. An abstract manifold (or just a manifold) of dimension m, is

a Hausdorff topological space M , equipped with a maximal m−dimensional smooth
atlas.
Remark 1.6. If in the definition, we don’t assume that M is a topological
space, and that Oi are just subset, then there is a unique topology on M making
Oi open and φi homeomorphisms.
Example 1.7. The stereographic projections endows the spheres S n with an at-
las given as follows; let U± be the subsets of S n obtained by removing (∓1, 0, · · · , 0).
Stereographic projection defines bijections φ± : U± → Rn given by
x0 xn
φ(x0 , · · · , xn ) = ( ,··· , ).
1 ± x0 1 ± x0
One can check (exercise!) that
x
φ− ◦ φ−1
+ (x) = ,
kxk2
hence it is smooth.
Definition 1.8. Let f : M → N be a map between abstract manifolds. Then
f is called smooth if for each p ∈ M there exists a chart φ : O → U around p,
and a chart ψ : O0 → V around f (p), such that f (O) ⊂ O0 and such that the
coordinate expression ψ ◦ f ◦ φ−1 is smooth. A bijective map f : M → N , is called
a diffeomorphism if f and f −1 are both smooth.
Notice that a smooth map f : M → N is continuous. This follows immediately
from the definition above, by writing f = ψ −1 ◦ (ψ ◦ f ◦ φ−1 ) ◦ φ in a neighborhood
of each point. Also, every chart φ : O → U is a smooth diffeomorphism. And every
diffeomorphism φ of a non-empty open subset V ⊂ Rm onto an open subset in M
is a chart on M .

Now, an atlas of an abstract manifold is said to be countable if the set of charts

in the atlas is countable
Lemma 1.9. Let M be an abstract manifold. Then M has a countable atlas
if and only if there exists a countable base for the topology in M . In particular, a
submanifold of Rn has a countable atlas.
Proof. Assume M has a countable atlas. Let φ : O → U ⊂ Rm be a chart,
then there is a countable base for the topology of U . This induces a countable base
for the topology on O, because φ is a homeomorphism. The collection of these
bases for all the charts in the atlas gives a base for the topology of M .
Conversely, suppose that there exists a countable base (Vk )k of the topology of M .
For each k, choose a chart φ : O → U , such that Vk ⊂ O (if it exists!). This gives
a countable atlas A in M . Indeed, it is clearly countable. Let now x ∈ M . Then
there exists a chart ψ : O0 → U 0 such that x ∈ O0 , and there exists k such that
x ∈ Vk ⊂ O0 . Hence there exists a chart φ : O → U in A such that x ∈ O. So A is
an atlas. 
Theorem 1.10 (Whitney theorem). Let M be an abstract smooth manifold of
dimension d, and assume that there exists a countable atlas for M . Then there
exists a diffeomorphism of M onto a submanifold in R2d .
 2. TANGENT SPACE 29

Example 1.11 (Projective space). Let V be a finite dimensional vector space,

The projective space of V is the set of lines (through the origin) in V . In other
words,
P (V ) = {l ⊂ V |l is a 1-dimensional R-linear subspace}.
It can be seen a P (V ) = V ∗ / ∼, where the equivalence relation is given by
u ∼ v ⇔ u = λv for some λ ∈ R.
If V = R , then P (V ) is denoted simply Pn . The projective space Pn can be given
n

the structure of an abstract n−dimensional manifold as follows. Let π : x → [x]

denote the natural map Rn+1 r {0} → Pn , and let S n ⊂ Rn denote the unit sphere.
A set U ⊂ Pn is declared to be open if and only if its preimage π −1 (U ) is open in
Rn+1 (or equivalently, if π −1 (U ) ∩ S n is open in S n ). This makes Pn a Hausdorff
topological space (it is actually the quotient topology, that’s a map f : Pn → Y is
continuous if and only if f ◦ π is continuous).
For i = 1, . . . , n + 1, let Oi = {[x] ∈ Pn |xi 6= 0}. They are clearly open and cover
Pn . Define the maps φi : Oi → Rn given by
φi ([x1 : · · · : xn+1 ]) = (x1 /xi , · · · , xn+1 /xi ),
th
where the i component is omitted. Clearly φi is a homeomorphism from Oi to
Rn . Moreover, the collection {(Oi , φi )} is a smooth atlas. Indeed, we have
φ−1
i : Rn → Oi , (x1 , · · · , xn ) 7→ [x1 : · · · : 1 : · · · : xn ],
where 1 is in ith position. Hence φj ◦ φ−1
i : Rn r {xj 6= 0} → Rn
φj ◦ φ−1
i (x1 , · · · , xn ) = (x1 /xj , . . . , 1/xj , · · · , xn /xj ),
which is smooth.
Note also that P1 is homeomorphic to the circle S 1 . It is clearly isomorphic to
S 1 / ∼, where ∼ identifies x and −x in S 1 . Then the map z → z 2 is a homeomor-
phism S 1 / ∼→ S 1 .

2. Tangent space
Let M be an m−dimensional manifold. A curve γ on M is a smooth map
γ : I → M , where I ⊂ R is open. This means (see Definition 1.8) that φ ◦ γ is
smooth for all chart φ on M . The expression φ ◦ γ is called coordinate expression
of γ with respect to φ. If p ∈ M is a point, a parametrized curve on M through p,
is a parametrized curve on M together with a point t0 ∈ I for which p = γ(t0 ).
Let γi : Ii → M , for i = 1, 2, be parametrized curves on M with p = γ(t1 ) =
γ(t2 ), and let φ be a chart around p. We say that γ1 and γ2 are tangential at p, if
the coordinate expressions satisfy
(φ ◦ γ)0 (t1 ) = (φ ◦ γ)0 (t2 ).
Lemma 2.1. Being tangential at p is an equivalence relation on curves through
p. It is independent of the chosen chart (φ, O).
Proof. The first part is easy.
If φ̃ is another chart then the coordinate expressions are related by
φ̃ ◦ γ = φ̃ ◦ φ−1 ◦ (φ ◦ γ)
on the overlap O ◦ Õ. The chain rule implies
(φ̃ ◦ γi )0 (ti ) = D(φ̃ ◦ γi )(x)(φ ◦ γi )0 (ti ),
30 4. DIFFERENTIAL MANIFOLDS

for each of the curves. This implies the result. 

Denote the tangential equivalence relation at p by ∼p .

Definition 2.2. The tangent space Tp M is the set of ∼p −classes of parametrized
curves on M through p.
Theorem 2.3. Let (φ, U ) be a chart on M with φ(p) = q. For each element
v ∈ Rm let γv (t) = φ−1 (q + tv) for t close to 0. The map
Γ : v 7→ γv0 (0)
is a bijection of Rm onto Tp M . The inverse map is given by
γ 0 (0) 7→ (φ ◦ γ)0 (0),
for each curve γ on M with γ(0) = p.

3. Orientability
Let V be a finite dimensional vector space. Two ordered bases (u1 , ..., un ) and
(v1 , ..., vn ) are said to be equally oriented if the transition matrix S, whose columns
are the coordinates of the vectors (u1 , ..., un ) with respect to the basis (v1 , ..., vn ),
has positive determinant. Being equally oriented is an equivalence relation among
bases, for which there are precisely two equivalence classes. The space V is said to
be oriented if a specific class has been chosen, this class is then called the orienta-
tion of V , and its member bases are called positive. The Euclidean spaces Rn are
usually oriented by the class containing the standard basis (e1 , ..., en ). For the null
space V = {0} we introduce the convention that an orientation is a choice between
the signs + and −.

Let now a (φ, U ) be a chart on M with φ(p) = q, we obtain a basis for Tp M

by taking the pre-images (ei ) of each of the standard basis vectors e1 , . . . . , em for
Rm (in that order), that is, the basis vectors will be the equivalence classes of the
curves t → σ(x0 + tei ). This basis for Tp M is called the standard basis with respect
to σ. The compatibility condition between charts (Oi , φi ) and (Oj , φj ) on a set
M is that the map φj ◦ φ−1 j : φj (Oi ∩ Oj ) → φi (Oi ∩ Oj ) is a diffeomorphism. In
particular, the Jacobian matrix J(φj ◦ φ−1 j ) of the transition map is invertible, and
hence has nonzero determinant. If the determinant is > 0 everywhere, then we say
(Oi , φi ), (Oj , φj ) are oriented-compatible. An oriented atlas on M is an atlas such
that any two of its charts are oriented-compatible; a maximal oriented atlas is one
that contains every chart that is oriented-compatible with all charts in this atlas.
Definition 3.1. A manifold is called orientable if it admits an oriented atlas.
If an orientation has been chosen we say that M is an oriented manifold. The
notion of an orientation on a manifold is crucial, since integration of differential
forms over manifolds is only defined if the manifold is oriented.

Let (φ, Oi ) be a chart on an abstract manifold M , then the tangent space is

equipped with the standard basis with respect to φ. For each p ∈ Oi we say that
the orientation of Tp M , for which the standard basis is positive, is the orientation
induced by φ.
 3. ORIENTABILITY 31

Proposition 3.2. Let M be a connected manifold. Then the following are

equivalent
• (i) M is orientable.
• (ii) Orientation is preserved moving along loops.
• (iii) M admits a nowhere vanishing n−form.
Proof. 
Example 3.3. The spheres S n are orientable. To see this, consider the atlas
with the two charts (U+ , φ+ ) and (U, φ− ), given by stereographic projections. (see
Example 1.7). Here
φ− : (U+ ∩ U) = φ+ (U+ ∩ U) = Rn r {0}.
The entries of the Jacobian matrix of φ− ◦ φ−1
+ at x are given by
∂ xi 1 2xi xj
(5) 2
= 2
δij − .
∂xj kxk kxk kxk4
Its determinant is −kxk−2n . (exercise).
If M is a smooth manifold of dimension n then for each p ∈ M the tangent space
Tp M is a vector space of dimension n, and hence has two choices of orientation.
This gives a two-sheeted covering space OM called the orientation covering of M .
So one sees that M is orientable if and only if its covering space is disconnected.
An advantage of this covering space point of view is that we immediately have
the following result.
Proposition 3.4. If M is a smooth connected manifold with π1 (M ) = 0 then
M is orientable.
Proof. Each covering space M̃ → M is trivial since if p ∈ M then π1 (M̃ , p̃) ⊂
π1 (M, p) = 0. In particular the orientation covering must then consist of two simply-
connected components, each diffeomorphic to M. 
Example 3.5. The real projective space Pn is orientable if and only if n is odd
or n = 0 .
Example 3.6. a Möbius strip is a surface with only one side.

It is maybe the simplest example of a non-orientable manifold. To see this, one can
remark that the orientation is not preserved along loops, thus it is impossible to
make a consistent choice of orientations, because the band is one-sided. Choosing
an orientation in one point forces it by continuity to be given in neighboring points,
and eventually we are forced to the opposite choice in the initial point.
 CHAPTER 5

Exercises

Exercise 0.1. For which values of (a, b) ∈ R2 , the function f : R2 → R2 ; (x, y) 7→

(x + a sin y, y + b sin x) is a local diffeomorphism at any point ? Show that in this
case, f is a global diffeomorphism.

Exercise 0.2. Let B(0, 1) be the open ball in Rn endowed with the Euclidean
x
norm. Show that f : B(0, 1) → Rn given by x 7→ is a smooth diffeomor-
1 − kxk2
phism.
Exercise 0.3. Let I1 and I2 be two intervals in R and let f1 : I1 → R and
g : I2 → R be two C 1 −functions. Define F : I1 × I2 → R2 by
F (x, y) = (x + y, f (x) + g(y)).
(1) Give a sufficient condition for which F is invertible in a neighborhood of
(x0 , y0 ) ∈ I1 × I2 .
(2) Assume for every (x, y) ∈ I1 × I2 , f 0 (x) 6= g 0 (y). Show that F is a
C 1 −diffeomorphism from I1 × I2 to F (I1 × I2 ). Hint: use the mean value theorem.
Exercise 0.4. Let f : Rn → Rn be a C 1 −function such that x 7→ f (x) −
x is a k−Lipschitz continuous function with 0 < k < 1. Show that f is a
C 1 −diffeomorphism from Rn to itself.
Exercise 0.5. • Show that a subset M ⊂ Rn is a 0−dimensional submanifold
if and only if M is discrete, i.e. for every p ∈ M , there is an open set U ⊂ Rn such
that U ∩ M = {p}.
• Show that a subset M ⊂ Rn is an n−dimensional submanifold if and only if M
is open.
Exercise 0.6. If Mi ⊂ Rni is an di -manifold for i = 1, 2, show that M1 × M2
is an (d1 + d2 )-dimensional submanifold of Rn1 +n2 . Prove by induction that the
n−torus T n is a smooth submanifold of R2n .
Note: The question isp easier then prove that it is a submanifold of Rn+1 . T 1 := S 1 ,
T = {(x, y, z) ∈ R |( x2 + y 2 − R)2 + z 2 = r2 }, T n+1 = T n × S 1 .
2 3

Exercise 0.7. Let n and m be integers with 0 6 m 6 n. Let M ⊂ Rn be a

non-empty set and p ∈ M . Then show that the following are equivalent.
(i) There exists an M −open neighborhood U ⊂ M of p and a diffeomorphism
φ:U →V
onto an open set V ⊂ Rm .
33
34 5. EXERCISES

(ii) There exist open sets U, V ⊂ Rn and a diffeomorphism φ : U → V such

that p ∈ U and
φ(U ∩ M ) = V ∩ (Rm × {0})
(iii) There exists an open set U ⊂ Rn and a smooth map f : U → Rn−m
such that p ∈ U , the differential dx f : Rn → Rn−m is surjective for every
x ∈ U ∩ M , and
U ∩ M = f −1 (0) = {q ∈ U |f (q) = 0}.
Exercise 0.8. Consider the general linear group
GL(n, R) = {g ∈ Rn×n |det(g) 6= 0}.
Prove that the derivative of the function f = det : Rn×n → R is given by
dg f (v) = det(g)T r(g −1 v),
for every g ∈ GL(n, R) and every v ∈ Rn×n . Deduce that the special linear group
SL(n, R) := {g ∈ GL(n, R)|det(g) = 1}
is a smooth submanifold of Rn×n .
Exercise 0.9. Prove that the tangent space of SL(n, R) at the identity matrix
is the space
sl(n, R) = Tid SL(n, R) = {A ∈ Rn×n |T r(A) = 0}.
of traceless matrices.
Exercise 0.10. Consider the space M(n, R) of square matrices of size n and
Sym(n, R) of symmetric matrices of size n.
(1) Prove that the derivative of the function
f : M(n, R) → Sym(n, R), A → A × t A
(× : matrix multiplication, t : matrix transpose) is given by
dX f (A) = X × t A + A × t X,
for every X, A ∈ M(n, R).
(2) Deduce that the orthogonal group
O(n, R) := {A ∈ M(n, R)|A−1 = t A}
is a smooth submanifold of M(n, R).
(3) Prove that
Tid O(n, R) = {A ∈ M(n, R) | t A = −A}.
(4) Deduce the dimension of O(n, R).

Exercise 0.11. Prove that the set M = {(x, y) ∈ R2 |xy = 0} is not a subman-
ifold of R2 .
Hint: If U ⊂ R2 is a neighborhood of the origin and f : U → R is a smooth map
such that U ∩ M = f −1 (0) then d0 f = 0.
Exercise 0.12. Prove that the map f : R → R2 given by f (t) := (t2 , t3 ) is
proper and injective, but is not an embedding. The image of f is the set f (R) =
{(x, y) ∈ R2 |x3 = y 2 }. Show that it is not a submanifold.
 5. EXERCISES 35

Exercise 0.13. Let M = U ⊂ Rn open. Determine the space Γ(M ).

Exercise 0.14. Let M ⊂ Rn is a compact manifold. Then every vector field
on M is complete.
Exercise 0.15. Let M ⊂ Rn be a smooth manifold. A vector field X on M
is said to have compact support if there exists a compact subset K ⊂ M such that
X(p) = 0 for every p ∈ M r K. Prove that every vector field with compact support
is complete.
Exercise 0.16. Let ϕ, ψ two diffeomorphisms. Prove that
(ϕ ◦ ψ)∗ = ψ ∗ ◦ ϕ∗ , (ϕ ◦ ψ)∗ = ϕ∗ ◦ ψ∗ .
Exercise 0.17. Prove that the Lie brackets verifies the following two derivation
properties:
[f X, Y ] = f [X, Y ] − DY f X,
[X, f Y ] = f [X, Y ] + DX f Y,
for any X, Y ∈ Γ(M ) and f ∈ C ∞ (M ).
Exercise 0.18. Prove that the flow of ϕ∗ X is conjugated to the flow of X,
and the flow of ϕ∗ Y is conjugated to the flow of Y . More precisely:
φtϕ∗ X = ϕ ◦ φtX ◦ ϕ−1 , φtϕ∗ Y = ϕ−1 ◦ φtY ◦ ϕ.
Exercise 0.19. Prove that if f : M → N is an embedding then df : T M → T N
is also an embedding.
∂ ∂
Exercise 0.20. Let and be the two coordinate vector fields on R2
∂x ∂y
determined by the identity mapping. Describe the vector fields
∂ ∂
X(x, y) = x +y
∂x ∂y
∂ ∂
X(x, y) = y −x .
∂x ∂y
Compute their Lie bracket, and determine the flows generated by them.
Exercise 0.21. Prove that
(φt )∗ X = X, (φt )∗ X = X,
for any (t, p) ∈ D and any complete X ∈ Γ(M ).
Exercise 0.22. Let U ⊂ Rn be an open subset. Show that a vector field X
over γ : I → U is parallel if and only if it is constant.
Exercise 0.23. Let M ⊂ Rn be a submanifold. Define the following brackets
on Γ(M ): For X, Y ∈ Γ(M ), we set
[X, Y ] = dX ◦ Y − dY ◦ X.
(1) Prove that this brackets gives a well defined bilinear map on Γ(M ), that’s
[X, Y ] ∈ Γ(M ).
(2) Show that it is in fact a Lie brackets.
(3) Prove that it is actually the same one giving in the course.
36 5. EXERCISES

Exercise 0.24. Let M = R2 and let ω = adx + bdy ∈ Ω1 (R2 ) with a, b ∈

∞
C (R2 ). Show that ω is exact if and only if it is closed, that is, if and only if
∂a ∂b
=
∂y ∂x
.
Exercise 0.25. Let θ be the argument on M := R2 r {0}. Note that it is not
a function on M .
(i) Give the expression of θ.
(ii) Calculate dθ.
(iii) Show that the 1−form dθ on M is closed but not exact, even thought it
verifies the condition of Exercise 0.24
Exercise 0.26. Show that a function f is a closed differential 0−form if and
only if it is locally constant.
Exercise 0.27. Show that for any two vector fields X an Y , we have ιX ◦ ιY =
−ιY ◦ ιX .
Exercise 0.28. Show that every diffeomorphism φ of a non-empty open subset
V ⊂ Rm onto an open subset in M is a chart on M .
Exercise 0.29. Calculate the determinant of the matrix with entries given in
equation (3).
Exercise 0.30. Let A ∈ MatC (n) be a complex n × n−matrix, and AR ∈
MatR (2n) the same matrix regarded as a real-linear transformation of R2n ∼
= Cn .
Show that
detR (AR ) = |detC (A)|2 .
Hint: You may start with the case n = 1 and then consider the case that A is upper triangular.

Exercise 0.31. Show that Pn is orientable if and only if n is odd or n = 0.

More generally, Gr(k, n) is orientable if and only if n is even or n = 1.
 CHAPTER 6

Solutions

Exercise 0.1. We have detJ(x,y) f = 1 − ab cos x cos y. So f is a local diffeo-

morphism iff |ab| < 1. Now we show that f is injective. let (x, y), (x0 , y 0 ) ∈ R2 such
that f (x, y) = f (x0 , y 0 ). Then x − x0 = a(sin y 0 − sin y) and y − y 0 = b(sin x0 − sin x).
sin x − sin x0 sin y − sin y 0 1
Assuming x 6= x0 and y 6= y 0 , we get 0 0
= > 1. How-
x−x y−y ab
sin x sin x0 sin x − sin x0 sin x0
ever, assuming for example 6 0
, this implies 0
6 6 1.
x x x−x x0
0 0
sin x − sin x sin y − sin y
So 6 1 a contradiction. So f is injective.
x − x0 y − y0
Exercise 0.2. Apply the inverse function theorem. Calculating the partial
derivatives, we get the Jacobian matrix
1
(1 − kxk2 )In − xxt


Jx f =
(1 − kxk2 )2
Then show that f is bijective. To show that it is injective take the norm on
f (x) = f (y). For surjectivity, note that f preserves the lines in Rn .
Exercise 0.3. For injectivity, use the mean value theorem.
Exercise 0.4. Since f is differentiable, we have
g(x + h) − g(x) = dx g(h) + ◦(h) = dx f (h) − h + ◦(h),
using the Lipschitz condition, we get
kdx f (h) − hk 6 (1 + k)khk,
for any h, so dx f is invertible. Do f is a local C 1 −diffeomorphism. It remains to
show that f is bijective. If f (x) = f (y) then kg(x) − g(y)k = kx − yk 6 kkx − yk so
x = y. Let y ∈ Rn , we want to show that there exists x ∈ Rn such that f (x) = y =
g(x) + x. This is equivalent to y − g(x) = x. So let Fy : Rn → Rn , x 7→ y − g(x).
We see that x is then a fixed point for Fy ,. But since Fy is k−Lipschitz continuous
for 0 < k < 1, we know that Fy has a fixed point and so f is surjective.
Exercise 0.5. • Trivial.
• By applying the definition, we deduce that for every p ∈ M there is open
sets U, V ⊂ Rn s.t. p ∈ U and 0 ∈ V , and a diffeomorphism φ : U → V
such that φ(U ∩ M ) = V . In particular, U ∩ M is open and hence M is
open too.
Exercise 0.6. Easy.
Exercise 0.7.
Exercise 0.8.
37
38 6. SOLUTIONS

Exercise 0.9.
Exercise 0.10.
∂f
Exercise 0.11. Using the hint, (x, 0) = 0 ...
∂x
Exercise 0.12. Let U ⊂ R2 be a neighborhood of 0 and let g : U → R be
∂g
smooth s.t. U ∩f (R) = g −1 (0). So g◦f = 0 for any t s.t f (t) ∈ U . Let a = (0, 0),
∂x
∂g
b= (0, 0). Then we have for any t as before
∂y
2at + 3bt2 = 0.
Hence a = b = 0.
Exercise 0.13. The tangent space Tp U is Rn for any p ∈ U , since the derivative
of t 7→ p + tv at t = 0 is v. Moreover T U = U × Rn . This implies that a vector
field is nothing but a smooth map U → Rn .
Exercise 0.14.
Exercise 0.15.
Exercise 0.16.
Exercise 0.17. We have
[f DX DY ] = f DX ◦ DY − DY ◦ (f DX )
= f DX ◦ DY − DY (f )DX − f DY (DX )
= f (DX ◦ DY − DY ◦ DX ) − DY (f )DX
= f [DX , DY ] − DY f DX
Exercise 0.18.
Exercise 0.19.
 Bibliography

[Gua18] Marco Gualtieri. Differential geometry. Lecture notes, 2018.

[Ma09] J. Marco and all. Mathématiques L3, Analyse. Pearson Education France, 2009.
[Oan18] Alexandru Oancea. Notes de cours de Géométrie différentielle. Lecture notes, 2018.
[RS18] Joel W. Robbin and Dietmar A. Salamon. Introduction to differential geometry. Lecture
notes, 2018.
[Sch08] Henrik Schlichtkrull. Lecture Notes for Geometry 2. Lecture notes, 2008.
[Spi99] Michael Spivak. A comprehensive introduction to differential geometry, volume 1. Publish
or Perish, Inc, 1999.

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