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It seems that on sphere $S^{n-1}$, there exists a better frame than the usually normal frame.

In the literature, some author asserts that there exists a local orthogonal frame $\left\{e_i\right\}_{i=1}^{n-1}$ on $S^{n-1}$, such that $$ [\bar\nabla_{e_i}e_j](x)=-x\delta_{ij},\quad\forall x\in U, $$ where $\bar\nabla$ is the Levi-Civita connection of $R^n$ (which is just the directional derivative), and $x$ the the base point on $S^{n-1}$, $U$ is a neighbourhood.

I try to figure this out, but it seems not as simple as I think.

van abel
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1 Answers1

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This assertion is not true.

If $\{e_i\}$ is such a frame, then the Gauss formula yields $$ -x\delta_{ij} = (\overline \nabla _{e_i} e_j)(x) = (\nabla _{e_i} e_j)(x) + II(e_i,e_j)(x),\tag{$*$} $$ where $\nabla$ is the intrinsic Levi-Civita connection on $S^{n-1}$ and $II$ is the (vector-valued) second fundamental form.

Note that $-x$ is the inward-pointing unit normal vector at each $x\in S^{n-1}$. Decomposing $(*)$ into its normal and tangential components yields \begin{align*} -x\delta_{ij} &= II(e_i,e_j)(x),\\ 0 &= (\nabla _{e_i} e_j)(x). \end{align*} EDIT: Fixed the second equation above.

A standard computation shows that $II(X,Y)(x) = -\left<X,Y\right>x$ for any vector fields $X$ and $Y$ tangent to the unit sphere, so the first equation above shows that $\{e_i\}$ is an orthonormal frame. The second equation shows that each vector field $e_j$ is parallel on $S^{n-1}$. However, the existence of a parallel orthonormal frame would imply that $S^{n-1}$ is flat, which it certainly is not.

[BTW, your title seems inappropriate. The assertion you quoted doesn't have anything to do with normal coordinates, or in fact with any coordinates at all.]

EDIT 2: The revised question (posed in a comment below) is to find a local orthogonal frame $\{e_i\}$ satisfying $$ (\overline\nabla_{e_i}e_j)(x)=-xf(x)\delta_{ij}, $$ where $f\colon S^{n-1}\to\mathbb R$ is a conformal factor.

This is also impossible. In fact, more generally, it's impossible to find any local frame for which $\overline\nabla_{e_i}e_j$ is always a multiple of $x$. Such a frame would satisfy $$ (\overline\nabla_{e_i}e_j)(x)=-x g_{ij}(x), $$ for some smooth functions $g_{ij}$ on $U$. If $\{e_i\}$ is such a frame, then the analysis above shows that the frame is parallel, and $\left< e_i, e_j\right> = g_{ij}(x)$. The fact that the Levi-Civita connection is compatible with the metric implies \begin{align*} e_k g_{ij}(x) = e_k(\left< e_i, e_j\right>) = \left< \nabla_{e_k} e_i, e_j\right> + \left< e_i, \nabla_{e_k}e_j\right> = 0. \end{align*} Since this is true for all $i,j,k$, it implies that each coefficient $g_{ij}$ is constant. Thus we can make a constant-coefficient change of frame (using Gram-Schmidt) to construct an orthonormal frame, each vector of which is still parallel, and then we're back to the previous situation.

Jack Lee
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  • It should be note that the second equation just means the local frame is just parallel on $R^n$, and I don't know how to proof that in this case it will impliy that $S^{n-1}$ is flat. So maybe your can explain it in the answer. – van abel Oct 18 '14 at 14:58
  • I think I'd better replace the coordinates by frame. – van abel Oct 18 '14 at 14:59
  • Sorry, there was a typo in my second equation -- it should have been the intrinsic connection $\nabla$ on $S^{n-1}$, not the Euclidean connection. Fixed now. – Jack Lee Oct 18 '14 at 15:44
  • yeah, after a while, I also kown that. But since the sphere is comformally flat, maybe I can expect this can be improved to be a more valuable answer? – van abel Oct 18 '14 at 15:58
  • What improvement would you like to see? – Jack Lee Oct 18 '14 at 15:59
  • I mean orthogonal but not normal ftame and the relation can be allowed with a comformal factor? – van abel Oct 18 '14 at 16:07