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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Gauss Theorem - Riemannian Geometry

I want to prove Gauss' Theorem: "Let p $\in$ M and x,y orthonormal vectors of $T_p M$. So k(x,y)-$\bar{k}$(x,y)= < B(x,x),B(y,y)> - |B(x,y)|$^2$. From Riemannian Geometry, Manfredo do Carmo We have: $X,Y \in \Gamma (TU)$ where $U$ is a neighborhood…
pipita
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Example of a surface with no unit-speed geodesic at all time $(-\infty,\infty)$

I am stuck on the following problem, which was given as homework. What is an example of a 2-dimensional surface in $\mathbb{R}^3$ such that it's not possible to find a unit-speed geodesic $\sigma: (-\infty, \infty) \to \mathbb{R}$ satisfying…
user228960
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Show that exist a "good" cover $\{U_{\alpha}\}$ of the Differential Manifold

Let $M$ differential manifold. Show that exist a cover set $\{U_{\alpha}\}$ of $M$ with the following propierties: $$U_{a}\mbox{ is a open "contractible", for each } \alpha $$ $$\mbox{If } U_{\alpha_{1}},...,U_{\alpha_{n}} \mbox{ are elements…
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How to find the inverse metrics?

I know one can calculate the inverse of metric tensor $g$ in coordinates as the inverse of it's matrix $g_{ij}$. However what I really liked about differential geometry is how one can actually avoid writing matrices, one just use expressions…
Yrogirg
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Condition for a one-parameter family of maps to be isometries

Given two smooth manifolds with Riemannian metric $(X,g)$ and $(Y,h)$ and a smooth map $f: X \to Y$ I understand that we define $\phi$ to be an isometry if $f^* g = h$. I thought I understood this definition but when trying to calculate it with an…
Wooster
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What is the easiest way to show that matric tensor of a Riemannian metric is positive-definite

Consider the following Riemannian metric: $$g_{ij}(x):= (1-\psi)\dfrac{(\delta_{ik}x^{k})(\delta_{jl}x^{l})}{|x|^{2}}+ \psi\delta_{ij},$$ where $$|x|:=\sqrt{\delta_{ij}x^{i}x^{j}}\qquad , \qquad \psi:=…
user
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Isometry invariance of Christoffel symbols

An isometry of a Riemannian manifold is generated by a Killing vector field $X$ with Lie derivative of the metric $L_X g=0$. Does this immediately imply that the Lie derivatives of the Christoffel symbols and Riemann curvature tensors are zero as…
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Given two metrics $g,$ and $h$, related by $h = e^{\frac{2f}{n}}g$, what is the relation between $\star_g$ and $\star_g$?

Given two metrics $g,$ $h$, and a smooth function $f$ on a riemannian manifold $M^n$, supposing that $g$ and $h$ are related by $h = e^{\frac{2f}{n}}g$, what is the relation between $\star_g$ and $\star_h$? Where $\star$ is the Hodge star operator?
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starry regular icosahedron

La estructura del pentágono regular estrellado se puede describir mediante una curva f(t) que no se corta a sí misma en una superficie de Riemann de dos hojas. Cómo onstruir en una variedad tridimensional el icosaedro regular estrellado de séptima…
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asymptotics of distance between points on geodesics moving with constant speed

Let $(M,g)$ be a Riemannian manifold of unbounded diameter and let $\gamma_1, \gamma_2$ be two geodesics such that $\gamma_1(0)=\gamma_2(0)=x$. Suppose that $\gamma_1, \gamma_2$ are parametrized so that $||\dot{\gamma_1}||_g=||\dot{\gamma_2}||_g…
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Computation of Liebracket for Vectorfields assosiated with a Variation of Geodesics

Let $(M,g)$ be a Riemannian manifold, $V \subset \mathbb{R}^2$ be an open subset and $\alpha: V \rightarrow M; (s,t) \mapsto \alpha(s,t)$ a smooth map. for $(s,t) \in V$ one can define $$ \frac{\partial \alpha}{\partial s}(s,t) := [\sigma \mapsto…
asterisk
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A question about covariant derivative

Let $V,W$ smooth vector fields along a smooth curve $c:I \rightarrow M$ , where $M$ is a Riemannian manifold, if $\frac{d}{dt}=0$ why we must have $=$ constant?
Jr.
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Potential of metric tensor

As I understand so far, the metric tensor of a Riemannian manifold is an $n \times n$ matrix in many specific examples. As such it could formally be the curl of some vector potential or just the derivative. I wonder if this is indeed possible and if…
Harald
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Riemannian manifold and coordinate transformation

Given a manifold $\mathcal{M}$ with fixed "shape" (say a hemisphere), we may define two sets of Riemannian metrics and connections for $\mathcal{M}$, say $g_{ij},\Gamma_{i,j}^k$ and $g'_{ij}, \Gamma_{i,j}^{'k}$. My questions are as follows: Does…
thinkbear
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Closed geodesics on real projective space

We have the result that all closed geodesics on $S^n$ must be contained with the intersection of $S^n$ and a plane. Hence all length minimising closed geodesics are single points. If we equip $\mathbb{R}P^n : = \frac{S^n}{x \sim -x}$ with the…
Tim
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