Open Journal of Mathematics and Physics | Volume 1, Article 2, 2019 | ISSN: 2674-5747

https://doi.org/10.31219/osf.io/puhzw | published: 14 May 2019 | https://ojmp.wordpress.com AB

[microreview]
Diamond Open Access Peer Reviewed

The metric tensor pullback

Open Mathematics Collaboration∗†
November 15, 2019

Abstract
This is an article on differential geometry that connects metric
tensor with its pullback [1].

keywords: metric pullback, differential geometry, quantum gravity, black hole

Introduction
The motivation for this article is to try to fully understand the pull-
back of a metric tensor for potential applications in quantum gravity,
more specifically in the black hole spacetime physics [2]. In the next
section, we present a roadmap with the main concepts and definitions
connecting metric and its pullback. Some of the prerequisites needed are
listed in the Supplemental Material [3].

∗ All authors with their affiliations appear at the end of this paper.
† Corresponding author: mplobo@uft.edu.br | Join the Open Mathematics Collaboration

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Pullback metric tensor
We have included here a list summarizing the mathematical definitions
in order to have a global view of what is a metric tensor pullback.

1. We are considering here a Riemannian manifold of two dimensions,

imbedded in R3.

2. In this article, the word smooth means C ∞, or infinitely differentiable.

3. Instead of the dot product, let us replace it (due to Riemann) by an

arbitrary inner product on each tangent plane of an abstract surface
M.

4. The metric tensor g is a function on all ordered pairs (v, w), where
v and w are tangent vectors at the point p = (p1, p2, p3) of M ⊂ R3.

5. In mathematical symbols, g ∶ R3 → R, given by gp(v, w) = ⟨v, w⟩p,

where ⟨v, w⟩p is the inner product at p ∈ R3 [1].

6. The metric tensor is a geometric structure with a collection of inner

products.

7. g can also be considered a smooth, covariant, 2-tensor field [4].

8. Consider an abstract surface A (see [1]) and a geometric surface B.

9. A geometric surface is an abstract surface composed with an inner

product on each of its tangent planes [1].

10. It can be summarized as “surface + metric tensor = geometric

surface” [1].

11. Let F ∶ A Ð→ B be a smooth map between the surfaces A and B.

12. The map F ∗ ∶ Tk (B) Ð→ Tk (A) is the pullback by F , where the

pullback by η ∈ Tk (B) is a smooth covariant k-tensor field F ∗η ∈
Tk (A).

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 13. F ∗η ∶ A Ð→ T k (A), where each p ∈ A is associated with (F ∗η)(p) ∈
T k (TpA).

14. Thus, for any vectors v1, v2, ⋯, vr ∈ TpA, we defined the covariant
k-tensor
(F ∗η)(p) ∈ T k (TpA)
by

(F ∗η)(p)(v1, v2, ⋯, vr ) = η(F (p))(dF (p)v1, ⋯, dF (p)vr ).

15. For k = 2, the map F ∗ ∶ T2(B) Ð→ T2(A) is the pullback by F .

16. Let g be a metric tensor on B, we can consider g ∈ T2(B).

17. Therefore, F ∗g ∈ Tk (A) denotes the pullback of g and is defined by

(F ∗g)(p)(v1, v2) = g(F (p))(dF (p)v1, dF (p)v2).

18. This is,

⟨v1, v2⟩A = ⟨dF (p)v1, dF (p)v2⟩B ,
for any v1, v2 ∈ TpA.

19. How can we visualize (15) graphically?

Final Remarks
We hope we provided all the necessary steps to understand the pull-
back of a metric tensor. If the “hole in the black hole conjec-
ture” [2] is correct, perhaps the pullback map F ∗(g) could provide us
the fundamental means to understand the formation of a black hole.

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Open Invitation
Please review, add content, and be a co-author of this article. Join
the Open Mathematics Collaboration. Send your contribution to
mplobo@uft.edu.br.

Ethical conduct of research

This original work was pre-registered under the OSF Preprints [8],
please cite it accordingly [9]. This will ensure that researches are conducted
with integrity and intellectual honesty at all times and by all means.

References
[1] O’neill, Barrett. Elementary differential geometry. Elsevier, 2006.

[2] Lobo, Matheus P. “A Hole in the Black Hole.” OSF Preprints, 18 Apr.
2019. https://doi.org/10.31219/osf.io/js7rf

[3] Velleman, Daniel J. How to prove it: A structured approach. Cambridge

University Press, 2006.

[4] Lee, John M. Introduction to Smooth Manifolds. New York: Springer,

2001.

[5] Warner, Steve. Pure Mathematics for Beginners. GET 800, 2018.

[6] Warner, Steve. Topology for Beginners. GET 800, 2019.

[7] Leon, Steven J., Ion Bica, and Tiina Hohn. Linear algebra with appli-
cations. New York: Macmillan, 1980.

[8] OSF. Open Science Framework. https://osf.io

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[9] Lobo, Matheus P. “The Metric Tensor Pullback.” OSF Preprints, 14
May 2019. https://doi.org/10.31219/osf.io/puhzw

[10] Wikipedia. Metric tensor. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metric_tensor

Supplemental Material
Definitions
Points, dot product, norm, distance
20. p = (p1, p2, p3) and q = (q1, q2, q3) are points of R3.

21. The dot product of p and q is the number p ⋅ q = p1q1 + p2q2 + p3q3.

22. The norm of p is the number ∥p∥ = (p ⋅ p)1/2 = (p21 + p22 + p23)1/2.

23. p − q = (p1 − q1, p2 − q2, p3 − q3).

24. The Euclidean distance from p to q is the number d(p, q) =

∥p − q∥ = ((p1 − q1)2 + (p2 − q2)2 + (p3 − q3)2)1/2.

Relation, function
25. Consider the sets A and B.

26. A set R ⊆ A × B is a relation from A to B.

27. A × B = {(a, b) ∣ a ∈ A ∧ b ∈ B} is the Cartesian product.

28. A relation f ⊆ A × B is a function from A to B, written f ∶ A → B,

if ∀a ∈ A ∃!b ∈ B((a, b) ∈ f ).

29. f is one-to-one if ¬∃a1 ∈ A ∃a2 ∈ A(f (a1) = f (a2) ∧ a1 ≠ a2).

30. f is onto if ∀b ∈ B ∃a ∈ A(f (a) = b).

31. f is a bijection if it is one-to-one and onto.

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 32. if f ∶ A → B is bijective, then f −1 ∶ B → A is the inverse of f .

Vector space, inner product

33. R3 is a vector space over the real numbers for it satisfies the
axioms for a vector space [7].

34. An inner product is a function that assigns two vectors to a

number.

35. The number ⟨v, w⟩ is an inner product between the pair of vectors
v, w in the vector space V .

Open subset, neighborhood, one-to-one mapping

36. D ⊆ R2 is an open subset of R2 iff ∀d ∈ D, ∃c > 0, c ∈ R such that
the interval (d − c, d + c) ⊆ D.

37. c is called a neighborhood of d.

38. x ∶ D → R3 is a one-to-one mapping (function) called a coordi-

nate patch.

39. A proper patch is a coordinate patch that has the inverse function
x−1.

Surface, differentiability
40. A surface in R3 is a subset of R3 that is smooth and two-dimensional,
i.e., that satisfies (38) and (39).

41. Let a surface be a set M , a collection of points.

42. Consider a one-to-one function x ∶ D → M .

43. (42) is an abstract patch in M .

44. Let P be a collection of abstract patches.

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 45. The covering axiom states that the images of the patches in P cover
M.

46. The smooth overlap axiom states that ∀x, y ∈ P, y−1x and x−1y
are Euclidean differentiable and defined on open sets of R2.

47. Euclidean differentiable means differentiable on Euclidean space.

Ordered triples, Euclidean space

48. The set of all ordered triples of real numbers p = (p1, p2, p3),
called points, is a Euclidean 3-space R3.

49. Let f be a real-valued function on R3.

50. Real-valued function means that its codomain is a cartesian

product of R.

51. f is differentiable if all partial derivatives of f , of all orders, exist

and are continuous.

52. f is said to be infinitely differentiable, or smooth, or of class C ∞.

Metric tensor
53. “A metric tensor is a type of function which takes as input a pair of
tangent vectors v and w at a point of a surface (or higher dimensional
differentiable manifold) and produces a real number scalar g(v, w)
in a way that generalizes many of the familiar properties of the dot
product of vectors in Euclidean space.” [10]

Tensors and Tensor Fields

54. Consider a finite-dimensional real vector space E.

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 55. A covariant k-tensor on E is a real-valued multilinear function of k
elements of E
T ∶ E × ⋯ × E Ð→ R.
´¹¹ ¹ ¹ ¹ ¹ ¹ ¹ ¹ ¹ ¹¸¹ ¹ ¹ ¹ ¹ ¹ ¹ ¹ ¹ ¹ ¶
k times

56. T k (E) denotes the vector space of all covariant k-tensors on E.

57. Let A be a smooth abstract surface.

58. We define the bundle of covariant k-tensors on A by

T k A = ∏ T k (TpA),
p∈A

this bundle is called tensor bundle on A.

59. A smooth section of a tensor bundle is called a smooth tensor field

on A [4].

60. Tk (A) = {smooth sections of T k A} denotes the real vector space of

smooth sections of the bundle T k A.

61. If η ∈ Tk (A), then η is a map

η ∶ A Ð→ T k A,

called smooth covariant k-tensor field on A, where each p ∈ A is

associated with the covariant k-tensor η(p) ∈ T k (TpA).

The Open Mathematics Collaboration

Matheus Pereira Lobo (lead author, mplobo@uft.edu.br),1
Alvaro Julio Yucra Hancco,1 João Pedro Almeida Sales1,2

1 Federal University of Tocantins (Brazil); 2Colégio da Polícia Militar