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.

7915 questions
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the Levi-Civita connection on a product of Riemannian manifolds

I'm working on exercise 1(a) of chapter 6 in do Carmo's Riemannian Geometry: Let $M_1$ and $M_2$ be Riemannian manifolds, and consider the product $M_1\times M_2$, with the product metric. Let $\nabla^1$ be the Riemannian connection of $M_1$ and…
29
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2 answers

A manifold for Hilbert's hotel

Well, after recently answering a Hilbert's Hotel question, I've started to think: If an infinite number of people arrive, the solution is that every guest goes to the room with twice the number. However, if one imagines the doors one after the other…
celtschk
  • 43,384
21
votes
3 answers

Computation of Laplace-Beltrami operator in a conformally equivalent metric

Could anyone tell me where I'm wrong with the following elementary calculation? Given a smooth Riemannian manifold $(M, g)$, I'd prove that if $\tilde{g}$ is conformally equivalent to $g$ (that is, $\tilde{g} = e^{2w}g$ for some smooth function…
user8088
  • 211
19
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2 answers

Can every Riemannian manifold be embedded in a sphere?

The famous Nash embedding theorem asserts that every closed Riemannian manifold can be isometrically embedded in Euclidean space $\mathbb{R}^n$ for $n$ sufficiently large. Is it true that we can replace $\mathbb{R}^n$ with the round sphere…
Asaf Shachar
  • 25,111
16
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3 answers

What does $ds^2$ mean and how does it specify a metric?

Let $H$ be the upper half-plane in $\mathbb{R}^2$. How does the following expression $$ds^2= \frac{dx^2+dy^2}{y^2}$$ specify a Riemannian metric on $H$? I don't understand what the expression means. If the $y^2$ wasn't there, then…
Bruno Stonek
  • 12,527
15
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1 answer

Injectivity radius

Let $M$ be a Riemannian manifold. Let $\mathrm{inj}_M(p)$ be the injectiviy radius at a point $p\in M$, which is defined as the biggest $R>0$ such that $\mathrm{exp} \colon B_R(p) \rightarrow M$ is a diffeomorphism. Then, the injectivity radius of…
15
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4 answers

Riemannian/Ricci curvature for round n-sphere

What is the best way to see that the Ricci scalar curvature of $(S^n(r),g_{round})$ is a constant $n(n-1)/r^2$ ? I essentially only see this value stated in the literature, but no computation associated with it, so I assume it is a straightforward…
Chris Gerig
  • 2,001
12
votes
2 answers

Any compact embedded $2$-dimensional hypersurface in $\mathbb R^3$ has a point of positive Gaussian curvature

Problem statement: Let $M \subseteq \mathbb{R}^3$ be a compact, embedded, 2-dimensional Riemannian submanifold. Show that $M$ cannot have $K \leq 0$ everywhere, where $K$ stands for the Gauss curvature of $M$. I have attempted an approaches…
user20609
12
votes
1 answer

Curvature of a product of Riemannian manifolds

If $\mathcal{M}$ is a Riemannian manifold of constant curvature, is the manifold $\mathcal{M}^n$ with the product metric, of constant curvature? (and why?) Thank you
Chevallier
  • 1,062
12
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2 answers

Pseudo-Riemannian Metric on Manifold

In Riemannian geometry, we have Proposition Any Manifold has a Riemannian metric. However, we cannot place the proof on pseudo-Riemannian situation because we do not hold the signature on manifold. So my question is Is there always a…
gaoxinge
  • 4,434
12
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3 answers

In what sense is a pseudo-Riemannian metric a "metric"?

I have read that Riemannian manifolds have the structure of a metric space. In this sense, they have a distance function and it satisfies the definition of metric space. However, I have recently learned that pseudo-Riemannian metrics do not have…
11
votes
2 answers

Geodesic distance from point to manifold

This is question 1 of chapter 9 from Manfredo do Carmo's Riemmanian Geometry. $M$ is a complete Riemmanian manifold and $N\subset M$ a closed submanifold. $p_0\in M$ and $p_0\notin N$. Let $d(p_0,N)$ denote the distante of $p_0$ to $N$. Show that…
Tomás
  • 22,559
10
votes
1 answer

When is the dimension of the fixed point set of an isometry defined?

The very short version For any isometry $\sigma$, the fixed point set $\text{Fix}(\sigma)$ is a union of submanifolds. When is the dimension well-defined? The long version In the following, let $M$ always be a Riemannian manifold. The quotes were…
10
votes
2 answers

Christoffel symbols vanishing in normal coordinates

Let $(M,g)$ be a Riemannian manifold, and let $(\varphi,U)$ be normal coordinates in $p\in M$. For every $v\in T_p M$, denote $\gamma_v :I_v \to M$ the maximal geodesic with initial point $p$ and initial velocity $v$. Since $U$ is a normal…
10
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1 answer

A question about two parallel integrable distributions

Give a Riemannian manifolds $(M,g)$,$\nabla$ is its connection. Suppose we have two distributions $E$ and $F$ on $(M,g)$,that are orthogonal complements of each other in $TM$.In addition,assume that the distributions are parallel,i.e.,if two vector…
gilliatt
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