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17 votes
2 answers
3k views

How useful/pervasive are differential forms in surface theory?

Every year I teach an introductory class on the differential geometry of surfaces, including numerical aspects (e.g., how to solve PDEs on surfaces). Historically this class has included an ...
22 votes
4 answers
5k views

What is the best way explain to undergraduates that all 1-dimensional manifolds are orientable?

Let's suppose that $M$ is a connected $1$-dimensional smooth manifold (Haussdorf and paracompact). We know that there are exactly two types, up to diffeomorphism (even up to homeomorphism), namely $\...