Questions tagged [riemannian-geometry]

For questions about Riemann geometry, which is a branch of differential geometry dealing with Riemannian manifolds.

Introduction

Metaphorically, Riemannian geometry is what happens when we try to generalize the Pythagorean theorem to work on smooth manifolds in general, but accidently drop the Pythagorean theorem in a blender along the way.

Definition 1.1a: (Riemannian Metric) Suppose $M$ is a smooth manifold. A Riemannian metric on $M$ is a section $\mathrm{g}\in\Gamma(T^\vee\hspace{-.25em}M\otimes T^\vee\hspace{-.25em}M)$ such that, for each $p\in M$ and all $X_p,Y_p\in T_pM$,

  • $\mathrm{g}_p(X_p\otimes Y_p)=\mathrm{g}_p(Y_p\otimes X_p)$,

  • $\mathrm{g}_p(X_p\otimes X_p)\geq0$, with equality if and only if $X_p=0$.

Note that many mathematicians use the following equivalent definition.

Definition 1.1b: (Riemannian Metric) Suppose $M$ is a smooth manifold. A Riemannian metric is a smooth function $\mathrm{g}:TM\times_MTM\to\mathbb{R}$, where $TM\times_MTM$ is the fiber product, such that, for each $p\in M$, all $X_p,Y_p,Z_p\in T_pM$, and all $a,b\in\mathbb{R}$,

  • $\mathrm{g}(aX_p+bY_p,Z_p)=a\mathrm{g}(X_p,Z_p)+b\mathrm{g}(Y_p,Z_p)$,
  • $\mathrm{g}(X_p,Y_p)=\mathrm{g}(Y_p,X_p)$,
  • $\mathrm{g}(X_p,X_p)\geq0$, with equality if and only if $X_p=0$.

Regardless of the particulars of the definition, a Riemannian metric is essentially a smooth choice of inner product on each tangent space. Making a choice of Riemannian metric gives us a Riemannian manifold.

Definition 1.2: (Riemannian Manifold) A Riemannian manifold is a pair $(M,\mathrm{g})$, where $M$ is a smooth manifold and $\mathrm{g}$ is a Riemannian metric.

There is a plethora of examples of Riemannian manifolds that appear all over geometry.

Example 1.3: (Euclidean Space) Let $x$ be the (global) identity chart on $\mathbb{R}^n$. A Euclidean space is a Riemannian manifold of the form $$\left(\mathbb{R}^n,\sum_{i=1}^n\mathrm{d}x^i\otimes\mathrm{d}x^i\right).$$ Usually, we identify $n$-dimensional Euclidean space with $\mathbb{R}^n$.

Example 1.4: (Hyperbolic Plane) Let $(x,y)$ be the (global) identity chart on the upper half plane. Then, the hyperbolic plane is the Riemannian manifold $$H^2=\left(\mathbb{R}\times\mathbb{R}_+,\frac{1}{y^2}\left(\mathrm{d}x\otimes\mathrm{d}x+\mathrm{d}y\otimes\mathrm{d}y\right)\right).$$

This tag is for questions about Riemann geometry, which is a branch of differential geometry dealing with Riemannian manifolds. Usually, Riemannian geometry focuses on the notions of distance, curvature, and shape. Consider using this tag if your question involves Riemannian manifolds or objects generally associated with them, such as Levi-Civita connections.

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Using Line Element to find out length of a curve on a circle

Let us denote a unit sphere by $S$ and assume that $\gamma: [0,1] \rightarrow S$ is a continuos and differentiable function. Let us parametrize $S$ by spherical coordinates $(a, b)$ and assume the riemannian metric on $S$ is given by…
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Riemannian metric for euclidean geometry

I am a beginner to Riemannian geometry. Following is my question. In the Euclidean space, say $\mathbb{R}^3$, let us consider a plane, for simplicity, say one passing through the origin, $\mathbb{P}=\{\textbf{x}=(x_1,x_2,x_3):ax_1+bx_2+cx_3=0\}$ and…
Kumara
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Torsion tensor of the euclidean space

I'm struggling to prove that the euclidean space ($\mathbb R^n$ with the euclidean riemannian metric) is torsion free, i.e., $$[X,Y]=\partial_XY-\partial_YX$$ I made all the identifications but I can't finish. Thank you.
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Constant Riemannian Metric

Let $M=\mathbb R^n$ and define for each $x\in \mathbb R^n$, define $$\langle v,w\rangle_x= \langle v,w\rangle_0$$ where $v,w\in T_x\mathbb R^n\equiv \mathbb R^n\equiv T_0\mathbb R^n$. Hence we see that $M=\mathbb R^n$, admits constant metrics. Is…
Junu
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Let $N$ a submanifold of a Riemannian manifold $M$. A geodesic in $M$ with image contained in $N$ is a geodesic in $N$.

Let $N$ be a submanifold of a Riemannian manifold $M$. Does a geodesic $\gamma$ in $M$ with image contained in $N$ remain a geodesic in $N$? I'm pretty sure this has to be true true because its locally length minimizing properties. To prove this can…
Tuo
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Hyperbolic space is complete

I am trying to prove the hyperbolic space is complete. It looks one need to apply Hopf-Rinow theorem, but I don't know what to start. More precisely, I don't know what is a good way to show the exponential map is defined on the entire…
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Metric on unit circle

How do you define a Riemannian metric for the unit circle. Is it $ds^2=dx^2+d\theta^2$? I want to also measure the length of the vector from the origin. This would be a standard euclidean metric given by $ds^2=dx^2+dy^2$? What is the difference…
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How to compute the sectional curvature of a hypersurface

Consider the surface in $\mathbb R^{n+1}$ $$H=\left\{(x^1,\cdots,x^{n+1})\in\mathbb R^{n+1}\mid\sum_{i=1}^n(x^i)^2-(x^{n+1})^2=-1,x^{n+1}>0\right\}$$ Prove that the tensor field $$h=\sum_{i=1}^n\mathrm dx^i\otimes\mathrm dx^i-\mathrm…
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Geodesic spheres and limit.

I want to prove the following limit: Let $M$ be a manifold. Given $\epsilon>0$ there exist some $\delta>0$ such that $$\frac{d(\exp_p(v),\exp_p(w))}{||v-w||}=1\pm o(\epsilon^2)$$ for every $u,v\in B_\delta(p)$. I tried hard to prove that equation…
EQJ
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Volume of a ball intersected with a submanifold

I am given a smooth Riemannian submanifold of dimension $d$ embedded in $\mathbb{R}^D$ with condition number $1/\tau$ (a formal definition of condition number is on Page 3 of this paper…
Sivaraman
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Riemannian submersion with isometric fibers

Assume that $\pi : X\rightarrow B$ is a Riemannian submersion where $X$ is a closed manifold. If each fiber is a totally geodesic submanifold, then fibers are isometric : Here if $c$ is a curve in $B$, then a lift of $c$ gives an isometry.…
HK Lee
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What is the correct formula for the Ricci curvature of a warped manifold?

O’Neill’s book on Semi-Riemannian geometry has: However, another book “pseudo-riemannian geometry δ-invariants and applications” has Disagreeing on the sign of a term. Which book has the correct formula? Are there any other authoritative…
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Is the distance function to $p$ differentiable or smooth at $q$ if there is a unique minimizing geodesic connecting them?

Let $(M,g)$ be a complete smooth Riemannian manifold. Assume that for two points $p$ and $q$ in $M$, there is a unique minimizing geodesic connecting them. Denote the distance function to $p$ by $d_p(x)$. Then is $d_p(x)$ differentiable at $q$? If…
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How can i show this Equality?

Let $M$ be a complete Riemannian manifold and $N\subset M$ a closed submanifold. If codimension of $N$ is $0$ take $q\in\partial N$ and $v\in T_qN$, where $\partial N$ is the boundary of $N$ as a subset of $M$ and if codimension of $N$ is bigger…
Tomás
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Covariant form of a vector in a Riemann space

The metric describing the surface of the unit sphere (with $x^1 = \theta$ and $x^2 = \phi$ ) is $$ [g_{ij}] = \begin{pmatrix} 1 & 0 \\ 0 & \sin^2{\theta} \end{pmatrix} $$ Find the covariant form of $ [A^i] = \begin{pmatrix} \pi \\ \pi /…
strider
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