1.

Manifolds with boundary

Definition 1.1. An n-dimensional manifold with boundary is a topological space X in which
each point x X has a neighborhood Ux homeomorphic to either Rn or to H n the closed
upper half-space in Rn :
H n = {(x1 , ..., xn ) Rn | xn 0}
The set of all points x X which only have neighborhoods homeomorphic to H n constitute
the boundary of X. The boundary of X is denoted by X. If this boundary is empty, then
X is simply an n-manifold (consequently, manifolds are also referred to as manifolds with
empty boundary).
Remark 1.2. The definition of the boundary of a manifold does not always coincide with
the definition of the boundary of a topological space. For example, the manifold X = D n =
{x Rn | x < 1} as a manifold has no boundary but as a subspace of Rn has boundary S n .
Examples 1. H n itself is a manifold with boundary. Its boundary is
H n = Rn1 {0}
= Rn1
n

2. The closed n-ball D n = {x Rn | |x| 1} is an n-manifold with boundary D = S n1 .

3. If X is an n-manifold (without boundary) and Y is an m-manifold with boundary then
X Y in the product topology is an (m + n)-manifold with boundary
(X Y ) = X Y
4. The intervals [0, 1 and 5, 6] are 1-manifolds with boundaries {1} and {5} respectively.
Proposition 1.3. If X is an n-manifold with boundary then X (with the relative topology)
is an (n 1)-manifold with empty boundary. In other words X = for all manifolds X.
Proof. Let x X, we need to show that in X there is a neighborhood Vx of x homeomorphic to Rn1 . Towards this goal, pick a neighborhood (Ux , x ) of x where x : Ux H n is a
/ Rn1 {0} then there is some > 0 such that Bx (x) () H n .
homeomorphism. If x (x)
But then 1 (Bx (x) ()) is a neighborhood of x homeomorphic to Rn which is a contradiction
since we picked x X. Thus we must have x (x) = (y, 0) for some y Rn1 .
Claim: x (Ux X) = Rn1 {0}.
/ Rn1 {0} we arrive at
Proof of claim If for some point z Ux X we get x (z)
a contradiction in the same way we did with x above. Thus x (Ux X) Rn1 {0}.
/ X for some y Rn1 . Then 1 (y, 0) has a
To see the converse, suppose that 1 (y, 0)
neighborhood homeomorphic to Rn and contained in Ux . Since x is a homeomorphism then
(y, 0) also has a neighborhood (in H n ) homeomorphic to Rn , this however is clearly not the
case. Therefore the claim is proved.
n1
{0}. As this is X Ux it is open in
To nish the proposition, take Vx to be 1
x (R
n1
X and x |Vx : Vx R
is a homeomorphism.
Since every point x X has a neighborhood homeomorphic to Rn1 , the boundary of
X is empty.

The next lemma is used in the proof of the gluing theorem below.

Lemma 1.4. Let X1 and X2 be two copies of the upper half space H n and let g : X2 X1
be a homeomorphism. Then the quotient space X = (X1 X2 )/P associated to the partition
P = {{x, g(x)}, {y}, {z} | x X2 , y X1 X1 , z X2 X2 }
is homeomorphic to Rn .
Proof. Let : (X1 X2 ) X be the quotient map. Given an x X1 X2 let us decompose
it as x = (y, t) with y Rn1 and t R. Here t is the n-th coordinate of x, e.g. (y, t) Xi
precisely when t = 0.
Consider the function : X Rn dened by

; (y, t) X1
(y, t)
((y, t)) =

(g(y), t)
; (y, t) X2
We claim this is a homeomorphism. First o, notice that it is well dened since if (y, 0) X2
then (y, 0) = (g(y), 0). But for (g(y), 0) X1 we also get ((g(y), 0)) = (g(y), 0).
It is easy to see that is a bijection, its inverse if given by

; t0
(y, t)
1
(y, t) =

; t0
(g 1 (y), t)
Proving continuity of and 1 is left as an exercise.

Theorem 1.5 (The gluing theorem). Let X1 and X2 be two n-manifolds with boundary and
let h : X2 X1 be a homeomorphism. Let X be the quotient space
X = (X1 X2 )/P
associated to the partition P of X1 X2 given by
P = {{x, h(x)}, {y}, {z} | x X2 , y X1 X1 , z X2 X2 }
Then X is a n-manifold without boundary.
Proof. We need to show that each point p X has a neighborhood homeomorphic to Rn .
Let : (X1 X2 ) X be the quotient map. If p is of the form (x) for x either in X1 X1
or X2 X2 , this is evident. So lets consider the case of p = (x) = (h(x)) with x X2 .
Let U be a neighborhood of h(x) in X1 and V a neighborhood of x in X2 each homeomorphic to H n via homeomorphisms : U H n and : V H n . For convenience and
without loss of generality lets assume that (x) = 0 and (h(x)) = 0.
Pick an > 0 small enough to that the ball V = B0 () satises the inclusion
h 1 (B0 () H n ) U
Such an exists since U is an open set. Let g : H n H n be the homeomorphism
g = h and let g : H n H n be the homeomorphism
g : H n H n : (y, t)  (g(y), t)
Note that g is an extension of g. Dene U = g(V ). Then both U and V are homoeomorphic
to H n and g : V U is a homeomorphism. According to lemma 1.4 the quotient space
V )/P
(U
= Rn

where P is the partition


P = {{x, g(x)}, {y}, {z}  x V , y U U , z V V }

V Rn .
Let us denote the quotient map by  : U


To nd the desired chart (W, ) around p, set W = 1 (U ) 1 (V ) and dene
: W Rn to be
 

(x)
; x 1 (U)
((x)) =

1
; x (V )
(x)
It is straightforward to check that is a homeomorphism, this is left as an exercise.


h
X1

h(x)

X2

g
g

Hn

Hn


(W )
Rn

Figure 1. A visual presentation of the construction of the chart (W, ).