WOMP 2012 Manifolds Jenny Wilson

The Denition of a Manifold and First Examples

In brief, a (real) n-dimensional manifold is a topological space /for which every point x /has a neighbourhood
homeomorphic to Euclidean space R
n
.
Denition 1. (Coordinate system, Chart, Parameterization) Let / be a topological space and | / an open
set. Let 1 R
n
be open. A homeomorphism : | 1, (u) = (x
1
(u), . . . , x
n
(u)) is called a coordinate system on
|, and the functions x
1
, . . . x
n
the coordinate functions. The pair (|, ) is called a chart on /. The inverse map
1
is a parameterization of |.
Denition 2. (Atlas, Transition maps) An atlas on /is a collection of charts |

such that |

cover /. The
homeomorphisms

(|

(|

) are the transition maps or coordinate transformations.

Recall that a topological space is second countable if the topology has a countable base, and Hausdorff if distinct
points can be separated by neighbourhoods.
Denition 3. (Topological manifold, Smooth manifold) A second countable, Hausdorff topological space /is
an n-dimensional topological manifold if it admits an atlas |

: |

R
n
, n N. It is a smooth manifold if
all transition maps are C

diffeomorphisms, that is, all partial derivatives exist and are continuous.
Two smooth atlases are equivalent if their union is a smooth atlas. In general, a smooth structure on / may be
dened as an equivalence class of smooth atlases, or as a maximal smooth atlas.
Denition 4. (Manifold with boundary, Boundary, Interior) We dene a ndimensional manifold with boundary
/as above, but now allow the image of each chart to be an open subset of Euclidean space R
n
or an open subset
of the upper half-space R
n
+
:= (x
1
, . . . , x
n
) [ x
n
0. The preimages of points (x
1
, . . . , x
n1
, 0) R
+
n
are the
boundary /of /, and //is the interior of /.
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WOMP 2012 Manifolds Jenny Wilson
A manifold with boundary is smooth if the transition maps are smooth. Recall that, given an arbitrary subset
X R
m
, a function f : X R
n
is called smooth if every point in X has some neighbourhood where f can be
extended to a smooth function.
Denition 5. A function f : / A is a map of topological manifolds if f is continuous. It is a smooth map of
smooth manifolds /, A if for any smooth charts (|, ) of /and (1, ) of A, the function
f
1
: (| f
1
(1)) (1)
is a C

diffeomorphism.
Exercise # 1. (Recognizing Manifolds) Which of the following have a manifold structure (possibly with bound-
ary)?
(a) Arbitrary subset X R
n
(b) Arbitrary open subset U R
n
(c) Graph
(d) Hawaiian Earring
(e) {(x, sin
1
x
) | x (0, 1]} (f) {(x, sin
1
x
) | x (0, 1]}

{0} [0, 1]

y
x
z
(g) Solution to x
2
+y
2
= z
2
x y
z
(h) Solution to x
2
+z
3
= y
2
z
2
z
y
x
(i) Solution to z = x
2
+y
2
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WOMP 2012 Manifolds Jenny Wilson
B B
A
A
(j) Quotient Space ABAB
1
A
A
A A
(k) Quotient Space AAAA
(l) Innite Coordinate Space

N
R
(m) Disjoint union

N
[0, 1]
of discrete copies of [0, 1]
(n) Disjoint union

continuum
[0, 1]
of discrete copies of [0, 1]
(o) Innite Real Hilbert Space
It is a difcult fact that not every topological manifold admits a smooth structure. Moreover, a topological
manifold may have multiple nondiffeomorphic smooth structures. For example, there are uncountably many
distinct smooth structures on R
4
.
Exercise # 2. (Atlases on the circle) Dene the 1sphere S
1
to be the unit circle in R
2
. Put atlases on S
1
using
charts dened by:
1. the angle of rotation from a xed point,
2. the slope of the secant line from a xed point,
3. the projections to the x and y axes.
In each case, compute the transition functions.
Exercise # 3. (Topological vs. Smooth) Give an example of a topological space /and an atlas on /that makes
/a topological, but not smooth, manifold.
Exercise # 4. (Products of manifolds) Let / be a manifold with atlas (U

), and A a manifold with atlas

(V

), and assume at least one of /and A is empty. Describe a manifold structure on the Cartesian product
/A.
Exercise # 5. (Manifold boundaries) Let /be an ndimensional manifold with nonempty boundary /. Show
that /is an (n 1)dimensional manifold with empty boundary.
Exercise # 6. (Atlases on spheres) Prove that any atlas on S
1
must include at least two charts. Do the same for
the 2sphere S
2
.
Exercise # 7. (Centering charts) Given a (topological or smooth) manifold /, and any x /, show that there
is some chart (|, ) with x | centered at x in the sense that (x) = 0. Show similarly that there is some
parameterization of | such that (0) = x.
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WOMP 2012 Manifolds Jenny Wilson
Denition 6. (Real and complex projective spaces) The projectivization of a vector space V is the space of 1
dimensional subspaces of V . Real and complex projective spaces are dened:
RP
n
:= (R
n+1
0)/(x
0
, . . . , x
n
) (cx
0
, . . . cx
n
) for c R
CP
n
:= (C
n+1
0)/(x
0
, . . . , x
n
) (cx
0
, . . . cx
n
) for c C
Points in RP
n
and CP
n
are often written in homogeneous coordinates, where [x
0
: x
1
: : x
n
] denotes the equiva-
lence class of the point (x
0
, x
1
, . . . , x
n
).
Exercise # 8. Let |
i
= [x
0
: x
1
: : x
n
] RP
n
[ x
i
,= 0. Use the sets |
i
to dene a manifold structure on RP
n
.
Exercise # 9. Show that RP
n
can also be dened as the quotient of nsphere S
n
by the antipodal map, identifying
a point (x
0
, . . . , x
n
) with (x
0
, . . . , x
n
).
Exercise # 10. Show that RP
n
decomposes as the disjoint union RP
n
= R
n
. RP
n1
, and hence inductively
RP
n
= R
n
. R
n1
. . R
1
. point.
These subspaces are called the point at innity, the line at innity, etc.
Exercise # 11. Identify among the following quotient spaces: a cylinder, a M obius band, a sphere, a torus, real
projective space, and a Klein bottle.
B B
A
A
A
A
B B
A
A
A
A
B A
A
B
B B
A
A
Exercise # 12. (The cylinder as a quotient) Dene the cylinder C to be the subset of R
3
C = (cos , sin , z) [ 0 < 2, 0 z 1.
Give a rigorous proof that C is homeomorphic to the unit square R = [0, 1] [0, 1] in R
2
modulo the identication
(0, x) (1, x) for all x [0, 1].
Exercise # 13. (T
2
= R
2
/Z
2
) Show that the quotient of the plane R
2
by the action of Z
2
is the torus T
2
= S
1
S
1
,
T
2
= R
2
/(x, y)

(x, y) + (m, n)

for (m, n) Z
2
.
Exercise # 14. (Challenge) (Classication of 1manifolds) Prove that any smooth, connected 1manifold is dif-
feomorphic to the circle S
1
or to an interval of R.
Exercise # 15. (Challenge) (Topological groups) Show that the following groups have the structure of a manifold.
Compute their dimension, nd the number of connected components, and determine whether they are compact.
1. Real n n matrices M
n
(R)
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WOMP 2012 Manifolds Jenny Wilson
2. Rigid motions of Euclidean space E
n
(R)
3. mn matrices of maximal rank
4. General linear group GL
n
(R) = A M
n
(R) [ det(A) ,= 0
5. Special linear group SL
n
(R) = A M
n
(R) [ det(A) = 1
6. Orthogonal group O
n
(R) = A GL
n
(R) [ transpose(A) = A
1

7. Special orthogonal group SO

n
(R) = O
n
(R) SL
n
(R)
Exercise # 16. (Challenge) (The real Grassmannian) The projective space of a vector space V is a special case of
the Grassmanian G(r, V ), the space of rplanes through the origin. Show that, as a set,
G(r, R
n
)

= O(n)/

O(r) O(n r)

.
Argue that this identication gives G(r, R
n
) the structure of a smooth compact manifold, and compute its dimen-
sion.
Multivariate Calculus
Denition 7. (Derivative) Given a function f : R
n
R
m
, the derivative of f at x is the linear map
df
x
: R
n
R
m
y lim
t0
f(x +ty) f(x)
t
The directional derivative of f at x in the y direction
Write f in coordinates f(x) = (f
1
(x), . . . f
m
(x)). If all rst partial derivatives exist and are continuous in a neigh-
bourhood of x, then df
x
exists and is given by the Jacobian, the mn matrix

df1
dx1
(x)
df1
dxn
(x)
.
.
.
.
.
.
dfm
dx1
(x)
dfm
dxn
(x)

The chain rule asserts that given smooth maps f, g

|

gf
$$
f
//
1

g
//
J

R
n
R
m
R

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WOMP 2012 Manifolds Jenny Wilson
then for each x |, the following diagram commutes:
R
n
dfx
//
d(gf)x
$$
R
m
dg
f(x)
//
R

Exercise # 17. Let f and g be functions from R

n
R with derivatives df
x
and dg
x
at x. Give formulas for the
derivative of their pointwise sum and product, f + g and fg. Conclude that the space of rtimes differentiable
functions R
n
R is closed under addition and multiplication. Repeat the exercise for functions R
n
R
m
under
sum and scalar product.
Exercise # 18. Let f be an rtimes differentiable function R
n
R. Under what circumstances is the pointwise
reciprocal
1
f
an rtimes differentiable function?
Theorem 8. (Taylors Theorem) Given an n-tuple = (
1
, . . . ,
n
), let
[[ =
1
+ +
n
! =
1
!
n
! x

= x
1
1
x
n
n
D

f =

||
f
x
1
1
x
n
n
and let f : R
n
R be a (r + 1) times continuously differentiable function in a ball B of y. Then for x B, f has a Taylor
expansion
f(x) =
r

||=0
D

f(y)
!
(x y)

||=r+1
R

(x)(x y)

where the remainder

R

(x) =
[[
!

1
0
(1 t)
||1
D

y +t(x y)

dt
Tangent Spaces and Derivatives
Denition 9. (Tangent Space T
x
/, Derivatives) Suppose that / is a smooth m-dimensional submanifold of
some Euclidean space R
N
. (We will see in Theorem 18 that every manifold can be realized this way). Let : |
/ be a local parameterization around some point x / with (0) = x. We dene the tangent space T
x
/ to be
the image of the map d
0
: R
m
R
N
. Note that T
x
/is an m-dimensional subspace of R
N
; its translate x +T
x
/
is the best at approximation to at x.
Given a smooth map of manifolds f : / A, and local parameterizations : | /, (0) = x / and
: 1 A, (0) = f(x) A. Let h be the map h =
1
f : | 1. We can dene the differential of f at x by
df
x
: T
x
/ T
f(x)
A
df
x
= d
0
dh
0
d
1
0
.
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WOMP 2012 Manifolds Jenny Wilson
The spaces T
x
(/), T
f(x)
(A), and the differential df
x
are independent of choice of local parameterizations
and .
Exercise # 19. (Tangent spaces to products) Given smooth manifolds /and A, show that
T
(x,y)
(/A)

= T
x
/T
y
A.
Exercise # 20. (Tangent spaces to vector spaces) Show that if V is a vector subspace of R
N
, then for x V ,
T
x
V = V .
Exercise # 21. (Chain rule for manifolds) Prove that if f : X Y and g : Y Z are smooth maps of manifolds,
d(g f)
x
= dg
f(x)
df
x
.
There are alternate, intrinsic denitions of the tangent space T
x
/ that do not require / to lie in R
N
. Given
/ and x /, we dene a curve through x to be a smooth map : R / with (0) = x. Choose a chart (|, ),
| x; we call two curves
1
and
2
through x equivalent if (
1
)

(0) = (
1
)

(0). Then we can dene T

x
/as
the equivalence classes of curves through x; it is independent of choice of chart.
(t)

x
T
x
M
M
In this formulation, the differential df
x
of a map f : A /is dened as the map
df
x
: T
x
/ T
f(x)
A
[ : R /] [f : R A]
The Constant Rank Theorem and Consequences
The Constant Rank Theorem states that the local behaviour of a smooth map f : | R
n
is governed by the rank
of the Jacobian.
Theorem 10. (Constant Rank Theorem) Let | R
m
be open, and let f : | R
n
be a smooth map. If the Jacobian of
f is of constant rank k in a neighbourhood of p, then there are local coordinate systems g at p and h at f(p) such that
hfg
1
(x
1
, . . . , x
m
) = (y
1
, . . . , y
k
, 0, . . . , 0)
In other words, in appropriately chosen coordinates, f is locally the composition of the projection R
m
R
k
and the inclusion
R
k
R
n
.
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WOMP 2012 Manifolds Jenny Wilson
The case of the Constant Rank Theorem with n = k = m implies the Inverse Function Theorem:
Theorem 11. (Inverse Function Theorem) Suppose that /, A are smooth manifolds, and f : / A is a smooth map
whose derivative df
x
at x is an isomorphism. Then f is a local diffeomorphism at x, that is, f takes some neighbourhood
of x diffeomorphically onto its image.
In this case, f locally has a smooth inverse f
1
, with differential d(f
1
)
f(x)
= (df
x
)
1
at f(x).
Local dieomorphism
Exercise # 22. (Local diffeomorphism at each point vs. global diffeomorphism) Show by example that even if
a map f : X Y is a local diffeomorphism at each point in X, it may not be a global diffeomorphism.
Exercise # 23. (Local Immersion and Submersion Theorems) Suppose that /is an m-dimensional manifold and
A is an n-dimensional manifold, m n. Let f : / A be a smooth map such that df
x
is injective at some point
x. Show that the Constant Rank Theorem implies that, in appropriately chosen local coordinates, f is the natural
inclusion R
m
R
n
in a neighbourhood of x. Similarly, show that if a map g : A /has a surjective differential
dg
y
at some point y, then there are local coordinates such that g is the projection R
n
R
m
in some neighbourhood
of y.
Denition 12. (Submersion; Immersion) A map f : / A of smooth manifolds is a submersion if its derivative
df
x
is surjective at each x. The map is an immersion if the derivative is injective at every x. The image of an
immersion is sometimes called an immersed submanifold, though it may not have a manifold structure.
E
B
(p) Submersion
(q) Immersion
Denition 13. (Embedding, Submanifold) A function f : / A of topological manifolds is a topological
embedding if it is a homeomorphism onto its image. If /and A are smooth manifolds, then f is a smooth embedding
if it is an immersion and a topological embedding. Some references additionally require embeddings to be proper
maps, that is, preimages of compact sets must be compact. With either denition, the image of an embedding is a
(regular) submanifold; the topology on /coincides with the subspace topology on f(/).
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WOMP 2012 Manifolds Jenny Wilson
Exercise # 24. (Image of an immersion) Give an example of an immersion i : / A such that i(/) is not a
submanifold of A.
Exercise # 25. (Injective immersion vs. Embedding) Give an example of a map of smooth manifolds f : / A
that is injective and an immersion, but not an embedding. Is an injective local diffeomorphism necessarily a global
diffeomorphism?
Exercise # 26. (Two denitions of embedding) Give an example of a map of smooth manifolds f : / A that
is an immersion and a homeomorphism onto its image, but not proper. Would you call f an embedding?
Exercise # 27. (Proper injective immersions are embeddings) Prove that a proper injective immersion of smooth
manifolds f : / A is an embedding. Conclude that if / is compact then the embeddings f : / A are
precisely the injective immersions.
Exercise # 28. (Paths in the torus) In Exercise # 13, we realized the torus as the orbit space q : R
2
/Z
2
= T
2
.
Consider the map f : R T
2
dened by the image of the graph y = mx
f : R R
2
R
2
/Z
2
x (x, mx) q(x, mx)
Under what circumstances is this f an immersion? When is it an embedding? When is its image a submanifold?
Exercise # 29. The solution sets to the following polynomials are pictured in Exercise # 1: x
2
+y
2
= z
2
, x
2
+z
3
=
y
2
z
2
, and z = x
2
+ y
2
. Use these formulas to determine which of the solutions sets are embedded submanifolds
of R
3
.
Critical Values and Sards Theorem
Denition 14. (Critical values, Regular values) Given a smooth map of manifolds f : / A, the set of critical
values of f is dened as
f(p) A [ rank(df
p
) < dim(A).
The regular values of f are the complement of the critical values in A, that is,
q A [ rank(df
p
) = dim(A) at every preimage p f
1
(q) q A [ q / f(/).
Theorem 15. (Sards Theorem) The set of critical values of a smooth map of manifolds f : / A has measure 0 in A,
in the sense that its preimage in Euclidean space under any local parameterization has measure 0.
Exercise # 30. (Critical points, Regular points) Given a smooth map f : / A, a point p in / is a critical
point if rank(df
p
) < dim(A), otherwise it is a regular point. Note that regular and critical points lie in the domain
of f, while regular and critical values lie in the codomain. Show by example that the set of critical points may have
positive measure in /.
Exercise # 31. (Preimage Theorem) Let /and A be smooth manifolds, and f : / A. Suppose q f(/) A
is a regular value of f. Use the Constant Rank Theorem show that its preimage f
1
(q) is a submanifold of /,
with dimension dim(/) dim(A).
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WOMP 2012 Manifolds Jenny Wilson
Exercise # 32. (Measure of submanifolds) Prove that submanifolds of positive codimension have measure 0.
Exercise # 33. (Dense critical values) Show by example that the critical values of a map f : R R may be dense.
Partitions of Unity
An essential tool for developing the theory of real manifolds is the existence of partitions of unity:
Denition 16. (Partition of unity) Given a smooth manifold /, a partition of unity on / is a set of smooth
functions
i

I
,
i
: / [0, 1], so that each m / has a neighbourhood where only nitely many
i
are
nonzero, and

I

i
(m) = 1.
0
1
Theorem 17. (Partitions of unity exist) Given a manifold / and an open cover |

A
of /, there exists a partition
of unity

A
subordinate to | in the sense that the support of

is contained in |

. Alternatively, there exists some

partition of unity
i

I
so that each
i
has compact support contained in some |

.
Partitions of unity allow us to extend certain structures or operations dened in individual coordinate systems
to the whole manifolds. Examples are integration, bundle sections (such as vector elds, Riemannian metrics, . . .).
Exercise # 34. (Existence of proper maps) Prove that any manifold /admits a proper map : / R.
Whitney Embedding Theorem
Theorem 18. (Whitney Embedding Theorem) For m > 0, any smooth mdimensional manifold admits a smooth proper
embedding into R
2m
.
This dimension 2m is a sharp lower bound: RP
m
cannot embed in R
2m1
whenever m is a power of 2.
Exercise # 35. (Challenge) (Weak Whitney Immersion Theorem) Prove a weaker version of Theorem 18: any
mdimensional manifold admits an injective immersion into R
2m+1
.
Exercise # 36. (Challenge) (Weak Whitney Embedding Theorem) Use Exercises # 34 and # 35 to prove that every
mmanifold properly embeds in R
2m+1
.
Further Reading
Munkres, Topology: A First Course.
Spivak, Calculus on Manifolds.
GuilleminPollack, Differential Topology.
Lee, Introduction to Smooth Manifolds.
Milnor, Topology from the Differential Viewpoint.
MadsenTornehave, From Calculus to Cohomology.
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Sources for graphics
Wireframe torus: Yassine Mrabet, http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Simple_Torus.svg
Transition functions: modied from Andrew Lewis, Lagrangian Mechanics, Dynamics, and Control
Disk and hemisphere with boundary: Yassine Mrabet,
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:SurfacesWithAndWithoutBoundary.svg
Hawaiian earring: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hawaiian_earrings.svg
Algebraic graphs: Cox, Little, OShea, Ideals, Varieties, and Algorithms
Surfaces via edge identications: modied from Ilmari Karonen,
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:KleinBottleAsSquare.svg
Tangent plane to sphere: from Alex Wright,
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Image_Tangent-plane.svg
Tangent vector: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tangentialvektor.svg
Local diffeomorhpism: made in Inkscape for this handout
Submersion: modied from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bundle_section.svg
Immersion: made in Inkscape for this handout
Partition of unity graphs: Oleg Alexandrov,
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Partition_of_unity_illustration.svg
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