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Historical Notes
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331
332 Appendix A: Historical Notes
§A-3 Manifolds
The fundamental objects of study in differential geometry are manifolds. These
are spaces whose properties are described by coordinates which are defined
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the fact that it is not so easy to free oneself from the idea that coordinates
have an immediate metrical meaning" (Einstein 1949).
The technical and philosophical difficulties were overcome by the develop-
ment of differential topology. The notion of a topological manifold is subtle.
With the introduction of differentiation, however, the powerful tool of the cal-
culus can be applied for analytical treatment, and differential manifolds became
accessible objects.
An important analytical tool is the exterior differential calculus (cf. Chap-
ter Three). It was developed by Elie Cartan in 1922.
1) Characteristic classes.
This is a generalization of the Euler characteristic. Among many ap-
plications they provide a ring homomorphism of the K-ring to the
cohomology ring.
2) Hodge's harmonic integrals.
By this analytic approach Hodge gave an analysis of the cohomology of
algebraic varieties (see, for example, G. de Rham, 1984). More gener-
ally Eells and Sampson introduced the notion of harmonic maps (Eells
and Sampson 1964). It is clearly a fundamental notion in differential
geometry.
§A-4: Global Geometry 333
Theoretical Physics
It was in the fall of 1930 when I first met Professor Zhou Pei-Yuan at
Qinghua University. That year I graduated from Nankai University and applied
to the graduate school in mathematics at Qinghua. Among the subjects in the
entrance examination was mechanics, and Professor Zhou was responsible for
setting the exam problems as well as grading the papers. The first time he
laid eyes on me he greeted me thus, "I have read your exam." By 1937 we
were colleagues in the Southwest Associated University, where I also audited
his course on electromagnetism.
Differential geometry and theoretical physics both employ the calculus as
a tool. One discipline treats geometrical phenomena, while the other treats
physical phenomena. Of the two, the latter is naturally broader in scope. Yet
all physical phenomena take place in space. Thus differential geometry is also
the foundation of theoretical physics. Both disciplines rely on deductive meth-
ods; but theoretical physics must also have experimental support. Geometry is
free from this constraint. Consequently the choice of its problems is permitted
greater freedom, even though its deductive procedures must be accompanied
by mathematical rigor. This freedom propelled mathematics to ever new ter-
ritories. Those who possess mathematical experience and vision can sail the
This essay originally appeared in Chinese in Papers on Theoretical Physics and Mechan-
ics, Science Press, Beijing (1982). It was dedicated to the late Professor Zhou Pei-Yuan of
Peking University. The present translation is carried out by Kai S. Lam.
335
336 Appendix B: Diff. Geom. and Theoretical Physics
uncharted seas and reach new domains of great import. For example, Rieman-
nian geometry as required by the general theory of relativity and the theory
of connections on fiber spaces required by gauge field theory have been de-
veloped by mathematicians prior to the recognition of their applications in
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dx
dei
* (B.l)
^2qij(t)ej, l<i,j<3,
3
The functions pt (t) and qij (t) give a complete description of the motion of the
orthonormal frame and the rigid body.
There is an intimate relationship between dynamics and the theory of curves
in space. In fact, the latter can be viewed as a special example of the former. In
order to exploit this relationship in the theory of surfaces, we need to consider
reference frames specified by two parameters. This program was successfully
and spectacularly completed by the great French geometer G. Darboux (1842—
1917). His magnum opus, the four volumes of Theorie des Surfaces, is a classic
in differential geometry.
It was Elie Cartan (1869—1951) who further developed this so-called
method of moving frames to new heights. Gauss, Riemann, and Cartan are
generally recognized to be the three greatest differential geometers in history.
At present, the method of moving frames has become a most important tool
in differential geometry. We will attempt to describe it in the following para-
graphs.
§B-1: Dynamics and Moving Frames 337
' (B-5)
=
d^ij 2 ^ ^ A uikj, 1 < i, j,k < 3,
k
where "A" denotes an exterior product. These are the Maurer-Cartan equa-
tions for the group G, which are dual to the multiplication equations for the
Lie algebra of G. We thus see that the progression from dynamics to moving
frames, and then to the fundamental equations of a Lie group, is one involving
a series of natural steps.
This progression can be further extended. After the appearance of Ein-
stein's general theory of relativity, Cartan published an article in 1925 in which
the theory of generalized affine spaces and its application to the theory of rel-
ativity were developed (see Cartan, 1937). A conclusion of this paper is a
generalization of (B.5):
du}
ij = ^Uik /\L}kj +^ij, 1 < M < 3,
k
where fi^ is a differential two-form, called the curvature form. This equation
is the fundamental equation for three-dimensional Riemannian geometry.
The usual approach to differential geometry is through tensor analysis. Its
basic viewpoint is to use the tangent vectors of local coordinates as coordinate
338 Appendix B: Diff. Geom. and Theoretical Physics
x also denote the corresponding position vector, and let £ denote the normal
unit vector. Then the invariants of S are the two differential two-forms:
H = | ( « i + «a), (B8)
K = KiK2,
are respectively called the mean curvature and the total curvature (Gauss
curvature). It is well-known that these curvatures have simple geometric in-
terpretations. For example, a surface with H = 0 is a minimal surface.
Surfaces with constant mean curvature or total curvature are obviously
worthy of study. If x,y,z are coordinates in E3, and S is expressed by the
equation
z = z(x,y) (B.9)
H = constant or K — constant
the study of such mappings originates from variational principles, they are
likely to find applications in physics.
Prom a geometrical perspective, for given manifolds X and Y with dim X <
dimY, the problem of how to imbed or immerse X in Y as a minimal sub-
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manifold is an extremely interesting one. Even for the 2-sphere X = S2, the
problem is already non-trivial. Under this assumption for X, E. Calabi (Calabi
1967), S. S. Chern (Chern 1970), and L. Barbosa (Barbosa 1975) have stud-
ied the case Y = Sn (the n-sphere) many years ago. In 1980, the physicists
A. M. Din and W. J. Zarkrzewski (Din and Zarkrzewski 1980) determined all
Lectures on Differential Geometry Downloaded from www.worldscientific.com
§B-4 Conclusion
I will of course need to mention the relationship between general relativity and
Riemannian geometry. Without the theory of relativity, Riemannian geometry
would hardly have enjoyed the status it does among mathematicians.
Professor C. N. Yang has given a pictorial depiction of the relationship
between mathematics and physics (Yang 1980). I offer another drawing (Fig-
ure 15) to conclude this essay.
„y mathematics
physics
FIGURE 15.
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343
344 References
(b) S. S. Chern, Complex Manifolds Without Potential Theory (D. Van Nos-
trand, Princeton, 1967); second edition, revised (Springer-Verlag, New York,
1979).
K. Nomizu, Lie Groups and Differential Geometry, Publ. Math. Soc. of Japan,
No. 2 (1956).
1976).
M. Spivak, A Comprehensive Introduction to Differential Geometry, Vols. I—V
(Publish or Perish, Inc., Boston, 1979).
Lectures on Differential Geometry Downloaded from www.worldscientific.com
347
348 Index
Finsler, 267
equation, 310 complete, 322
field, 310 Grassman, 63
Jacobi's identity, 31 Hermitian, 256
Hopf, 226
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Ricci smooth
curvature, 295 distribution, 34
form, 261 function, 7
Riemann manifold, 4
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differentiable, 3 alternating, 51
equation bundle, 69
of a Lie group, 177 Cartan, 280
Hermitian, 234, 252 components, 48
Riemannian, 143 contraction map, 49
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trivial bundle, 70
type
(r, s)-tensor bundle, 69
(0,1) vectors, 233
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variation, 298
field, 298
of arc length
first, 298
second, 306
variety
Abelian, 225
algebraic, 225
vector
bundle, 70
connection on a, 101
generalized Riemannian, 143
Hermitian, 252
holomorphic, 254
Riemannian, 143
contravariant, 17, 47
cotangent, 11
covariant, 17, 47
exterior, 53
field
right-invariant, 179
tangent, 29
space, 39
basis of, 40
multi-dimensional, 40
tangent, 14
vectors, 39
vertical space, 124, 198