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Ehresmann connections; covariant derivatives; connections on vector bundles, principal bundles, ∞-bundles, submersions, bundle gerbes; holonomy and higher holonomy; parallel transport; torsion; curvature. See also the tags [principal-bundles], [vector-bundles], [gerbes], [curvature], [geodesics], [characteristic-classes], [torsion].

3 votes
Accepted

Are non-linear connections with linear holonomy, linear?

The answer to your literal question is 'no', you can even have the holonomy be trivial (in which case, it is certainly linear) and yet the connection not be linear. This is a local question, so you …
Robert Bryant's user avatar
6 votes
Accepted

Connection, compatible with type (1, 1) tensor field

N.B.: I'm fixing my answer, which was off for two reasons: First, I didn't correctly interpret the OP's notation. (Thanks, Sebastian, for pointing that out!) Second, I didn't check the case when the …
Robert Bryant's user avatar
2 votes

complex vector bundles and curvature

An obvious necessary local condition is that $d\omega=0$. On the open set $U\subset X$ on which $\omega^2\not=0$, one has the further condition that the only ${\frak su}(2)$-valued connection that co …
Robert Bryant's user avatar
6 votes
Accepted

connections on principal bundles over $S^1$

Yes. Let $g\in G$ be the holonomy of the connection $A$; since $G$ is compact and connected, one can choose a frame (i.e., trivialization of $P$) such that $A = a\,\mathrm{d}\theta$ where $g = \exp(2 …
Robert Bryant's user avatar
20 votes

Geometrical meaning of the Ricci Tensor and its Symmetry

NB: I'm combining my previous comments into an answer, because I believe that this is better than leaving them scattered. As another commenter has pointed out, the skew-symmetric part of the Ricci t …
Robert Bryant's user avatar
6 votes
Accepted

Left invariant connections on a Lie group

Yes. Just take the Levi-Civita connection of any left-invariant Riemannian metric on the Lie group. The metric is complete, so any two points can be joined by a geodesic (Hopf-Rinow). Thus, the geo …
Robert Bryant's user avatar
7 votes
Accepted

The automorphism group of a symplectic symmetric space

The affine group of $(M,\nabla)$ is a Lie group $G$ by Kobayashi's theorem that shows that the automorphism group of any affine connection is a Lie group (see Kobayashi and Nomizu's Foundations of Dif …
Robert Bryant's user avatar
9 votes
Accepted

A consequence of Ambrose-Singer theorem on holonomy

Your first question is a bit ambiguous. Are you asking whether, for each $p\in U$, the matrices $S_k(p)$ span the Lie algebra of $\mathrm{Hol}^0_p(\nabla)$ or are you asking whether, after taking the …
Robert Bryant's user avatar
3 votes

Obstructions to the existence of a flat connection on a vector bundle

A slightly different point of view for answering this question is the following one: First, if $M$ is simply connected, then $E\to M$ admits a flat connection if and only if $E$ is trivial, so in this …
82 votes
Accepted

When can a connection Induce a Riemannian metric for which it is the Levi-Civita connection?

Even though they are linear ODE, for most connections given explicitly by some functions $\Gamma^i_{jk}$ on a domain, one cannot perform their integration. …
Robert Bryant's user avatar
32 votes
Accepted

Can a manifold have a curvature-free connection that is not torsion-free?

Many manifolds have curvature-free (i.e., flat) connections on their tangent bundles. … For example, any orientable $3$-manifold $M$ is parallelizable, i.e., its tangent bundle is trivial, so it carries a flat connection (in fact, many flat connections). …
Robert Bryant's user avatar
5 votes
Accepted

Metric, torsion free connections on principal bundles

I don't know what you mean by 'without using at all the picture on the tangent bundle $TM$', but here is how one normally does it: First, one shows that there are canonical $1$-forms $\omega^i$ on $F …
Robert Bryant's user avatar
6 votes
Accepted

How large can the cone of $\nabla$-compatible metrics be?

The $\nabla$-compatible metrics on $E$ are the positive-definite $\nabla'$-parallel sections of $S^2(E^*)$, where $\nabla'$ is the connection on $S^2(E^*)$ induced by $\nabla$. When $M$ is connected …
Robert Bryant's user avatar
8 votes

Interpretation of Curvature and Torsion

Élie Cartan proposes such interpretations in his fundamental paper Sur les variétés à connexion affine et la theorie de la relativité généralisée (Ann. Ec. Norm. 40 (1923), 325–412 and 41 (1924), 1–25 …
Robert Bryant's user avatar
7 votes
Accepted

Is there such a connection on the punctured plane?

Yes. Take the Levi-Civita connection of any conformal metric $g = e^{2u}(dx^2+dy^2)$ of positive curvature, say. Then, by (local) Gauss-Bonnet, the holonomy around any smooth closed loop $\gamma$ is …
Robert Bryant's user avatar

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