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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Proving the generalized Riccati Equation for the second fundamental form

Let $(M,g)$ be an $n$-dimensional Riemannian manifold and $u \in C^\infty(M)$ so that whenever $|\nabla u| \not = 0$, we may write the metric , by the generalized Gauss' Lemma, as $$ g = \frac{1}{|\nabla u|^2}du \otimes du + g_{ij}(u,…
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how can i calculate the trace twice of Gauss's equation?

Get the classical Gauss's equation $\langle R_{x,y}Z,W \rangle = \langle X,W \rangle \langle Y,Z \rangle - \langle X,Z \rangle \langle Y,W \rangle - \langle A(x), Z \rangle \langle A(y), W \rangle + \langle A(x), W \rangle \langle A(y),Z \rangle…
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Mean curvature H

Get $M$ a manifold and the normal component of ∇ yields the negative of the second fundamental form of M. In particular, one defines the second fundamental form by $II(X,Y)= -(\nabla_X Y )^n$ ,Taking the trace of the bilinear form $ II(X,Y)$ the…
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Existence of a parallel orthonormal frame $(E_1, \dots , E_n)$ along $\gamma$ such that $E_n = \dot{\gamma}$

I am reading the John Lee's Riemannian Manifold, Theorem 11.8. ( p.201 ) and some question arises. Let $M$ be a Riemannian manifold with the Riemannian connection. Let $\gamma : I \to M$ be a a minimizing unit speed geodesic segment. Then does there…
Plantation
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Calculating Ricci Curvature $Rc_p(v,v)$

This question originates from proof of Proposition 8.32 of the John Lee's Introduction to Riemannian Manifolds book. It seems easy calculation but I don't understand more rigorously. Let $(M,g)$ be a Riemannian $n$-manifold and $p\in M$. Let $v \in…
Plantation
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Compact Lie groups question

Assume $G$ is a compact Lie group of finite dimension with bi-invariant Riemannian metric. Is the diameter of $G$ bounded above by some constant that can be determined? Alternatively, does there exists a bi-invariant metric on $G$ such that its…
user1040289
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Sectional curvature of tangent plane is preserved under exponential map

Let $\Pi$ be a non-degenerate tangnet plane to $M$ at $p$. If $P$ is a small enough neighbourhood of $0$ in $\Pi$, prove that $\exp_p(P)$ is a semi-Riemannian submanifold of $M$ whose Gaussian curvature at $P$ is $K(\Pi)$ where K is the sectional…
Pedro Gomes
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Proving $H(\gamma',\gamma')=d^2(f\circ\gamma)/ds^2$

If $\gamma$ is a geodesic and $f\in\mathscr{T}(M)$, then $H(\gamma',\gamma')=d^2(f\circ\gamma)/ds^2$. H is the hessian. I tried to apply the Hessian formula proven in the chapter: $H^f(\gamma',\gamma')=\langle D_{\gamma'}(grad…
Pedro Gomes
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How should Riemannian metric $g = e^xdx^2 + dy^2$ be interpreted?

Suppose that $M$ is a Riemannian manifold $M$ in $\mathbb{R}^2$ and we are interested in what kind of metric does $g = e^xdx^2 + dy^2$ induce. Assuming that $g$ indeed is a Riemannian metric, should $g$'s precise definition be $g_p = e^{p_1}dx^2 +…
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Covariant time derivative of metric

If $g_t$ is a time dependent metric on $M$ and $\nabla$ is connection, if $Y$ is a smooth vector field on $M$, then why does $\nabla_{Y} \partial_t g_t$ makes sense? I don't understand why $\partial_t g_t$ is a tensor. Namely, I know that if $T$ is…
user1040289
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equivalence of smooth functions in manifold

Let $(M,g)$ be a smooth Riemannian manifold and $\nabla^ku$ be the covariant derivative of some smooth $u:M\to\mathbb{R}$ . Denote…
am_11235...
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Finsler metric, Find the fundamental form of F?

If $F= a+ k_1 b + k_2 b^2/ a$ , where $a$ is the Riemannian metric , $a = \sqrt{a_{ij} y^i y^j}$ and $b$ is the 1-form $b = b_i y^i$, then find the fundamental form $g_{ij}$ ?? I need the steps for $g_{ij}$?
SAB
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Comformal map in hyperbolic space $\mathbb{H}^n$, $n\geq 3$.

I'm working with some result in Do carmo, Riemannian Geometry. Which consits in to find all isometries in $\mathbb{H}^n$, but in the case $\mathbb{H}^n$, $n \geq 3$, the autor said the comformal map $h$ maps $\partial \mathbb{H}^n$ to $\partial…
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The metric tensor in normal coordinates

This Wikipedia article says that the metric in polar Riemann normal coordinates ($\xi_1,...,\xi_n$, with $\xi_1$ as the 'radial' coordinate), satisfies $g_{1i}=\delta_{1i}$. By definition of normal coordinates I can see easily why $g_{11}=1$. But I…
dennis
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Construct an orthonormal frame

It is well-known that we can construct an orthonormal basis at any point $p\in M$, where (M,g) is a Riemannian manifold using exponential mapping. This coordinate is called normal coordinates. My question is: Apart from this construction, can we…