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Pengfei
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nowhere vanishing vector field on a manifold

I am wondering if there are necessary and sufficient conditions under which an one-dimensional subbundle of $TM$ has a nowhere vanishing vector field.

More precisely let $M$ be a compact smooth manifold.

  1. When dose there exist a one-dimensional (smooth or continuous) subbundle $L\subset TM$?

  2. If $L\subset TM$ is a continuous/smooth line subbundle of $TM$, does there exist a nowhere vanishing continuous/smooth section $X:M\to L$? If so, the euler characteristic of $L$ should be zero.

This is related to the partially hyperbolic system $f:M\to M$ and $TM=E^s\oplus E^c\oplus E^u$. I am curious if there is a 'center flow' if $\dim E^c=1$.

Pengfei
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