All Questions
Tagged with dg.differential-geometry differential-topology
247 questions with no upvoted or accepted answers
63
votes
0
answers
2k
views
Are there periodicity phenomena in manifold topology with odd period?
The study of $n$-manifolds has some well-known periodicities in $n$ with period a power of $2$:
$n \bmod 2$ is important. Poincaré duality implies that odd-dimensional compact oriented manifolds ...
- 118k
29
votes
0
answers
2k
views
Nontrivial tangent bundle that is diffeomorphic to the trivial bundle
Is there an example of a smooth $n$-manifold $M$ whose tangent bundle is nontrivial as a bundle but is nonetheless (abstractly) diffeomorphic to the trivial bundle $M \times \mathbb{R}^n$?
(This ...
- 10.3k
16
votes
0
answers
425
views
Is the oriented bordism ring generated by homogeneous spaces?
I am trying to find a Riemannian geometrically well-understood set of generators of the oriented bordism ring, including the torsion parts. By a set of generators, I mean that the set generates the ...
- 587
15
votes
0
answers
1k
views
Homotopy equivalence vs weak homotopy equivalence in Gromov's h-principle
My question concerns Gromov's h-principle for open diffeomorphism-invariant partial differential relations on open manifolds; see e.g. Eliashberg/Mishachev: Introduction to the h-principle, §6.2.A and ...
- 648
14
votes
0
answers
312
views
An unpublished paper of Thurston about diffeomorphism groups
William Thurston has done many contributions in the field of diffeomorphism groups. But it seems that one of his papers entitled
"On the Structure of the Group of Volume Preserving Diffeomorphisms"
...
- 747
12
votes
0
answers
460
views
3 manifolds with diffeomorphic unit tangent bundles
What can one say about two closed oriented 3-manifolds $M_1$ and $M_2$ such that $S^2 \times M_1$ is diffeomorphic to $S^2 \times M_2$?
- 131
12
votes
0
answers
479
views
Exotic smoothness and Parallelizability
Regarding the parallelizability of the Milnor's seven dimensional exotic spheres:
Parallelizability of the Milnor's exotic spheres in dimension 7
The following question naturally arises:
Suppose ...
- 1,236
11
votes
0
answers
650
views
Triangulation of manifolds with corners
Let's begin with some definitions:
A (smooth) manifold with corners is a Hausdroff (and second countable if you want) space that can be covered by open sets homeomorphic to $\mathbb R^{n-m} \times \...
- 909
10
votes
1
answer
695
views
Does the continuous mapping space between topological manifolds always admit a Banach manifold structure?
Let $M$ and $N$ be smooth, i.e. $C^\infty$, manifolds. Suppose that $M$ is compact. Then for every $k \geq 0$ it is well known that $$C^k(M,N)$$ admits the structure of a smooth Banach manifold. I am ...
- 548
10
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0
answers
742
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Can any smooth triangulation of a smooth manifold be blurred?
For the purposes of this question, let's say that a blurring
of a smooth triangulation $T$ of a smooth manifold $X$
is a smooth homotopy $h\colon [0,1] \times X \to X$ such that $h_0=\operatorname{id}...
- 37.8k
10
votes
0
answers
281
views
Embeddings of hyperbolic $n$-manifolds in $R^{n+2}$
Is there any example of a compact manifold $M$ of dimension $n>10000$
such that
$M$ admits an embedding into $\mathbb R^{n+2}$,
$M$ is hyperbolic; i.e., it admits a Riemannian metric with
...
- 28.9k
9
votes
0
answers
338
views
Is $\beta^{*}(w_{2k-2}) = 0$ for an open orientable $2k$-manifold?
This question is motivated by the vector field question I asked recently. Panagiotis Konstantis answered this question for odd manifolds and I am trying to figure out the even case.
Let $M$ be a ...
- 1,726
9
votes
0
answers
399
views
History of the definition of smooth manifold with boundary
I am trying to determine the earliest source for the definition of smooth ($C^\infty$) manifold with boundary. Milnor and Stasheff (1958) give a definition, but a scrutiny of that definition shows it ...
- 18.8k
9
votes
0
answers
344
views
Diffeomorphism type of Ricci-flat four manifolds
Let $(M,g)$ be an irreducible compact and simply connected Ricci-flat Riemannian four-manifold. My first questions are as follows:
A) Is there a classification of the possible homeomorphism types of ...
- 2,816
9
votes
0
answers
570
views
In terms of sheaf cohomology, what does Bott & Tu's relative de Rham cohomology $H^\bullet(f)$ compute for $f: S \to M$ a smooth map?
Given a map $f: S \to M$ of smooth manifolds, Bott & Tu define on page 78 a complex by $\Omega^q(f)=\Omega^q(M) \oplus \Omega^{q-1}(S)$ and $d(\omega, \theta)=(d\omega, f^*\omega - d\theta)$ where ...
- 6,025
9
votes
0
answers
248
views
Parametrized cancelations in stable Morse theory
Let $B$ be a closed manifold. Let $\pi : M\to B$ be a submersion such that each fiber is a manifold without boundary. Let $f : M \to \mathbb{R}$ be a function such that the restrictions $f_x$ to each ...
- 2,590
8
votes
0
answers
233
views
+300
Maps with small fibers between manifolds of equal dimension
The following question is an attempt to revise this one into what I intended.
Important revisions are shown in bold.
Are there any known examples of a compact Riemannian manifold $M$ with (possibly ...
- 491
8
votes
0
answers
409
views
What specifically is the gap in Aubin's argument about positive Ricci curvature that Paul Ehrlich alludes to?
In his paper [2], Paul Ehrlich write
In [1], Aubin stated a theorem which implied as a corollary that if a manifold
$M$ admits a Riemannian metric with nonnegative Ricci curvature and
all Ricci ...
- 4,195
8
votes
0
answers
198
views
A modified version of the converse to the Sard's Theorem
When I learned Sard's Theorem in differential topology by myself, I was thinking whether it would be possible to prove a converse version of the theorem. That is to say, can we somehow show that each (...
- 349
8
votes
0
answers
174
views
Topological restrictions from mean curvature bounds
Alexandrov's Theorem says that a compact constant mean curvature hypersurface embedded in $\mathbb{R}^{n+1}$ must be a round sphere.
What happens when the mean curvature is small, or bounded? (For ...
- 937
7
votes
0
answers
270
views
The Todd class and Weyl's character formula
Let $\mathfrak{g}$ be a finite-dimensional complex semi-simple Lie algebra. Fix a Cartan sub algebra $\mathfrak{h} \subset \mathfrak{g}$ and let $R \subset \mathfrak{h}^{\ast}$ denote the root system. ...
- 1,379
7
votes
0
answers
350
views
Do smooth maps with nowhere-maximal rank have small image?
I’m trying to better understand the concept of “maps with small image” as used by Lipyanskiy in his construction of “geometric homology” in https://arxiv.org/abs/1409.1121. Lipyanskiy utilizes ...
- 5,489
7
votes
0
answers
226
views
The limitation of $G$ and loop group $\Omega G$ in Atiyah's and Donaldson's work on Instantons
In Atiyah's work [Ref. 1], Atiyah states that "Essentially we shall show (at least for $G$ a classical
group and probably for all $G$) that Yang-Mills instantons in 4D can be naturally identified with ...
- 10.5k
7
votes
0
answers
235
views
Kähler-Einstein metric on blowup
Given a nonsingular variety $X$ of dimension $n \geq 3$ with a Kähler-Einstein metric and a smooth curve $C \subset X$ of genus $g \geq 2$. Denote the blowup $Y = Bl_C X$. Then $Y$ is Kähler. If we ...
- 1,981
7
votes
0
answers
229
views
Higher homotopy of diffeomorphism groups from singularities
In the case of a genus $g$ surface $\Sigma$, it is well known that $MCG(\Sigma) = \pi_0 \operatorname{Diff}^+(\Sigma)$ is generated by Dehn twists, which come from a Kahler degeneration with smooth ...
- 1,981
7
votes
0
answers
499
views
Smoothing a piecewise smooth manifold
Let $M \subset \mathbb{R}^d$ be a piecewise smooth $2$-manifold. Let $C$ be a polyhedral complex that covers $\mathbb{R}^d$ and contains faces of dimension $[0,d]$. Since $M$ is a $2$-manifold, we can ...
- 109
7
votes
0
answers
484
views
manifold branched covering space for orbifolds
An orbifold structure on some topological space $X$ is a covering of $X$ with local quotient charts $V/G$, where $V$ is some connected manifold and $G$ effectively acts on $V$ via a finite group of ...
7
votes
0
answers
516
views
Quotient of 3-sphere by binary octahedral group?
Consider the Lie group $Spin(3)$, which can be thought of geometrically as the 3-sphere (e.g., it can be represented by the collection of unit quaternions). The quotient $Spin(3)/\pm I$ yields the ...
- 3,059
6
votes
0
answers
129
views
Are there isospectrally equivalent exotic spheres?
Let $X$ and $Y$ be two different exotic spheres. Are there metrics $g$ and $h$ on $X$ and $Y$, respectively, such that the laplacians of $(X,g)$ and $(Y,h)$ have the same spectrum?
I would be happy ...
6
votes
0
answers
136
views
A particular case of the general converse to the preimage (submanifold) theorem
I was thinking whether it would be possible to develop a converse to the preimage theorem in differential topology and I found the following post:
When is a submanifold of $\mathbf R^n$ given by ...
- 197
6
votes
0
answers
179
views
Is the category of diffeological spaces a full subcategory of locally ringed spaces?
It is known that the natural functor of smooth functions from the category of smooth manifolds into the category of locally ringed spaces is a full embedding (see, for example, here).
Is a similar ...
- 6,962
6
votes
0
answers
297
views
Regarding homology of fiber bundle
Let $f: X\to Y$ be a smooth map between smooth manifolds, both connected. Let $Y=\cup_{i=1}^k Y_i$ be a finite union of disjoint locally closed submanifold $Y_i$ such that $f^{-1}(Y_i)\to Y_i$ is ...
- 585
6
votes
0
answers
302
views
Are there are any surprising diffeomorphisms?
Two smooth manifolds are often viewed to be equivalent if there is a diffeomorphism between them. Are there examples of two manifolds that one would not expect to be equivalent (in this sense), but in ...
- 1,379
6
votes
0
answers
516
views
Yang–Mills existence and mass gap official statement on Euclidean $\mathbb{R}^4$, why not Minkowski $ \mathbb{R}^{3,1}$?
Yang–Mills existence and mass gap problem is officially stated by Clay Mathematics Institute:
Yang–Mills Existence and Mass Gap.'' Prove that for any compact simple gauge group G, a non-trivial ...
- 10.5k
6
votes
0
answers
167
views
Elliptic operators with with same index but non homotopic symbols
Let $\mathcal{D}:\Gamma(E)\to \Gamma(F)$ be an elliptic operator of order $k$.
Where $E,F$ are $\mathbb{C}$-vector bundles over $X$, a compact smooth manifold.
In Atiyah-Singer "the index of ...
- 2,533
6
votes
0
answers
177
views
Equivariant Morse theory for non-compact Lie groups
Let $G$ be a Lie group acting properly on a smooth manifold $M$. The (non-equivariant) definition of a Morse function does not carry over to equivariant functions $M \rightarrow \mathbb{R}$ (where $\...
- 198
6
votes
0
answers
209
views
Spin structure using flag manifolds instead of a Riemannian metric
Let $(M,g)$ be an oriented Riemannian manifold of dimension $n$, and denote by $P_{\mathrm{SO}}\to M$ its oriented frame bundle. The usual definition of a spin structure is the data of a principal $\...
- 3,669
6
votes
0
answers
132
views
On the weak homotopy type of a differentiable (Chen) space
Suppose that $M$ is a differentiable space in the sense of Chen (cf. https://ncatlab.org/nlab/show/Chen+space ).
Assume that $M$ also has the structure of a topological space and that the two ...
- 18.8k
6
votes
0
answers
252
views
The tangent space to the Hilbert manifold of $H^1$ loops at non-smooth loops
It is satisfactory to have a nice functional analytic setting for the energy functional in Riemannian geometry. I'm currently deep into Klingenberg's book "Riemannian geometry" which (among other ...
- 7,583
6
votes
0
answers
291
views
Can we "Curve" a manifold, as much as possible?
Assume that $M$ is a $k$ dimensional manifold which is embedded in $\mathbb{R}^n$. We define the map $\phi_{M,n}: M \to G(k,n)$ with $\phi_{M,n} (x)= T_x M$, the tangent space to $M$ at point $x\in M$....
- 356
6
votes
0
answers
621
views
Gompf's invariant of $2$-plane fields
I am interested in low dimensional contact topology. These days I read "Handlebody construction of Stein surfaces" written by R. E. Gompf, and study an invariant $\theta (\xi)$. This invariant is ...
- 369
6
votes
0
answers
302
views
degenerating surface II
In degenerating surface, Robert Bryant give us an example of a sequence of minimal immersions which converges (in $C^2$- topology) to $z\mapsto z^{2k+1}$ on the unit disc $\mathbb{D}$. My question is ...
- 914
5
votes
0
answers
122
views
Explicit parallelization of an exotic sphere
I asked this question on MathStackExchange a week ago (see here), but, despite a few upvotes, I received no comments or answers. Ideally, I would love a detailed answer, but a yes/no would do the job! ...
- 51
5
votes
0
answers
211
views
$C^1$ manifold with complex structure
Let $M$ be a manifold. A complex structure on $M$ is an endomorphism $J \in \text{End}(TM)$ such that $J^2 = -\text{id}$ together with the vanishing of the Nijenhuis tensor. If $J$ is real-analytic, ...
- 661
5
votes
0
answers
289
views
A certain kind of proof of the Hairy Ball Theorem
I'd just like to know if proofs of the Hairy Ball Theorem along the following lines are well-known or even somewhere in the literature.
From a given vector field $V_1$ on $S^2$, form another, $V_2$, ...
- 17.6k
5
votes
0
answers
121
views
How to see $\delta_2(\hat{\chi}(V))=\chi(V)$ in differential cohomology?
I'm reading the paper "Differential Characters and Geometric Invariants" by Cheeger and Simons. In Page 62 the authors defined the differential Euler character $\hat{\chi}(V)\in \hat{H}^{2n-...
- 9,019
5
votes
0
answers
133
views
On the vertical cohomology of a fibered manifold
Let $\pi:Y\rightarrow X$ be a $C^\infty$ fibered manifold (all constructions, unless otherwise stated are over the smooth manifold category) with $\Omega_k$ the sheaf of (smooth) $k$-forms on $Y$.
...
- 2,792
5
votes
0
answers
160
views
Potential theory as a tool in extrinsic flows
Let $M \subseteq \mathbb{R}^n$ be a submanifold. For a point $x$ disjoint from $M$, we can define the electric potential $\Phi(x) = \int_M \frac{dM}{|x-m|^{n-2}}$, which is smooth and harmonic where ...
- 217
5
votes
0
answers
311
views
Hopf fibration extended to bundle over $\mathbb{C}^2$
Consider the Hopf bundle $h:\mathbb{S}^3\rightarrow\mathbb{S}^2$. There is a connection $1$-form $\omega$ oh $h$ which is left $SU(2)$ invariant. In terms of the Euler angles $(\theta,\,\phi,\,\psi)$ ...
5
votes
0
answers
261
views
The space of $k$ differential forms as a Fréchet space
Given a smooth manifold $M$, can define define seminorms on $\Gamma(U,\bigwedge^kT^{\ast}M)$ for $U$ a coordinate open set by the following: $p^{s}_L(u = \sum_{I}u_I dx_I) = \sup_{x \in M}\max_{|I|=p, ...
- 51