The definitions given below are valid for both Riemannian manifolds and pseudo-Riemannian manifolds, such as those of general relativity, with careful distinction being made between upper and lower indices (contra-variant and co-variant indices). The formulas hold for either sign convention, unless otherwise noted.

Einstein summation convention is used in this article, with vectors indicated by bold font. The connection coefficients of the Levi-Civita connection (or pseudo-Riemannian connection) expressed in a coordinate basis are called Christoffel symbols.

Given a manifold ${\displaystyle M}$ , an atlas consists of a collection of charts ${\displaystyle \varphi :U\to \mathbb {R} ^{n}}$  for each open cover ${\displaystyle U\subset M}$ . Such charts allow the standard vector basis ${\displaystyle ({\vec {e}}_{1},\cdots ,{\vec {e}}_{n})}$  on ${\displaystyle \mathbb {R} ^{n}}$  to be pulled back to a vector basis on the tangent space ${\displaystyle TM}$  of ${\displaystyle M}$ . This is done as follows. Given some arbitrary real function ${\displaystyle f:M\to \mathbb {R} }$ , the chart allows a gradient to be defined:

${\displaystyle \partial _{i}f\equiv {\frac {\partial \left(f\circ \varphi ^{-1}\right)}{\partial x^{i}}}\quad {\mbox{for }}i=1,\,2,\,\dots ,\,n}$ 

This gradient is commonly called a pullback because it "pulls back" the gradient on ${\displaystyle \mathbb {R} ^{n}}$  to a gradient on ${\displaystyle M}$ . The pullback is independent of the chart ${\displaystyle \varphi }$ . In this way, the standard vector basis ${\displaystyle ({\vec {e}}_{1},\cdots ,{\vec {e}}_{n})}$  on ${\displaystyle \mathbb {R} ^{n}}$  pulls back to a standard ("coordinate") vector basis ${\displaystyle (\partial _{1},\cdots ,\partial _{n})}$  on ${\displaystyle TM}$ . This is called the "coordinate basis", because it explicitly depends on the coordinates on ${\displaystyle \mathbb {R} ^{n}}$ . It is sometimes called the "local basis".

This definition allows a common abuse of notation. The ${\displaystyle \partial _{i}}$  were defined to be in one-to-one correspondence with the basis vectors ${\displaystyle {\vec {e}}_{i}}$  on ${\displaystyle \mathbb {R} ^{n}}$ . The notation ${\displaystyle \partial _{i}}$  serves as a reminder that the basis vectors on the tangent space ${\displaystyle TM}$  came from a gradient construction. Despite this, it is common to "forget" this construction, and just write (or rather, define) vectors ${\displaystyle e_{i}}$  on ${\displaystyle TM}$  such that ${\displaystyle e_{i}\equiv \partial _{i}}$ . The full range of commonly used notation includes the use of arrows and boldface to denote vectors:

${\displaystyle \partial _{i}\equiv {\frac {\partial }{\partial x^{i}}}\equiv e_{i}\equiv {\vec {e}}_{i}\equiv \mathbf {e} _{i}\equiv {\boldsymbol {\partial }}_{i}}$ 

where ${\displaystyle \equiv }$  is used as a reminder that these are defined to be equivalent notation for the same concept. The choice of notation is according to style and taste, and varies from text to text.

The coordinate basis provides a vector basis for vector fields on ${\displaystyle M}$ . Commonly used notation for vector fields on ${\displaystyle M}$  include

${\displaystyle X={\vec {X}}=X^{i}\partial _{i}=X^{i}{\frac {\partial }{\partial x^{i}}}}$ 

The upper-case ${\displaystyle X}$ , without the vector-arrow, is particularly popular for index-free notation, because it both minimizes clutter and reminds that results are independent of the chosen basis, and, in this case, independent of the atlas.

The same abuse of notation is used to push forward one-forms from ${\displaystyle \mathbb {R} ^{n}}$  to ${\displaystyle M}$ . This is done by writing ${\displaystyle (\varphi ^{1},\ldots ,\varphi ^{n})=(x^{1},\ldots ,x^{n})}$  or ${\displaystyle x=\varphi }$  or ${\displaystyle x^{i}=\varphi ^{i}}$ . The one-form is then ${\displaystyle dx^{i}=d\varphi ^{i}}$ . This is soldered to the basis vectors as ${\displaystyle dx^{i}(\partial _{j})=\delta _{j}^{i}}$ . Note the careful use of upper and lower indexes, to distinguish contravarient and covariant vectors.

The pullback induces (defines) a metric tensor on ${\displaystyle M}$ . Several styles of notation are commonly used:

The matrix inverse ${\displaystyle g^{ij}}$  of the metric tensor ${\displaystyle g_{ij}}$  is given by

Some texts write ${\displaystyle \mathbf {g} _{i}}$  for ${\displaystyle \mathbf {e} _{i}}$ , so that the metric tensor takes the particularly beguiling form ${\displaystyle g_{ij}=\mathbf {g} _{i}\cdot \mathbf {g} _{j}}$ . This is commonly done so that the symbol ${\displaystyle e_{i}}$  can be used unambiguously for the vierbein.

In Euclidean space, the general definition given below for the Christoffel symbols of the second kind can be proven to be equivalent to:

Christoffel symbols of the first kind can then be found via index lowering:

Rearranging, we see that (assuming the partial derivative belongs to the tangent space, which cannot occur on a non-Euclidean curved space):

In words, the arrays represented by the Christoffel symbols track how the basis changes from point to point. If the derivative does not lie on the tangent space, the right expression is the projection of the derivative over the tangent space (see covariant derivative below). Symbols of the second kind decompose the change with respect to the basis, while symbols of the first kind decompose it with respect to the dual basis. In this form, it is easy to see the symmetry of the lower or last two indices:

The same numerical values for Christoffel symbols of the second kind also relate to derivatives of the dual basis, as seen in the expression:

The Christoffel symbols come in two forms: the first kind, and the second kind. The definition of the second kind is more basic, and thus is presented first.

Christoffel symbols of the second kind (symmetric definition) edit

The Christoffel symbols of the second kind are the connection coefficients—in a coordinate basis—of the Levi-Civita connection. In other words, the Christoffel symbols of the second kind^[8][9] Γ^k_ij (sometimes Γ^k
_ij or {^k
_ij})^[7][8] are defined as the unique coefficients such that

The Christoffel symbols can be derived from the vanishing of the covariant derivative of the metric tensor g_ik:

As a shorthand notation, the nabla symbol and the partial derivative symbols are frequently dropped, and instead a semicolon and a comma are used to set off the index that is being used for the derivative. Thus, the above is sometimes written as

Using that the symbols are symmetric in the lower two indices, one can solve explicitly for the Christoffel symbols as a function of the metric tensor by permuting the indices and resumming:^[10]

where (g^jk) is the inverse of the matrix (g_jk), defined as (using the Kronecker delta, and Einstein notation for summation) g^jig_ik = δ ^j_k. Although the Christoffel symbols are written in the same notation as tensors with index notation, they do not transform like tensors under a change of coordinates.

Contraction of indices edit

Contracting the upper index with either of the lower indices (those being symmetric) leads to

Christoffel symbols of the first kind edit

The Christoffel symbols of the first kind can be derived either from the Christoffel symbols of the second kind and the metric,^[11]

or from the metric alone,^[11]

As an alternative notation one also finds^[7][12][13]

Connection coefficients in a nonholonomic basis edit

The Christoffel symbols are most typically defined in a coordinate basis, which is the convention followed here. In other words, the name Christoffel symbols is reserved only for coordinate (i.e., holonomic) frames. However, the connection coefficients can also be defined in an arbitrary (i.e., nonholonomic) basis of tangent vectors u_i by

Explicitly, in terms of the metric tensor, this is^[9]

where c_klm = g_mpc_kl^p are the commutation coefficients of the basis; that is,

where u_k are the basis vectors and [ , ] is the Lie bracket. The standard unit vectors in spherical and cylindrical coordinates furnish an example of a basis with non-vanishing commutation coefficients. The difference between the connection in such a frame, and the Levi-Civita connection is known as the contorsion tensor.

Ricci rotation coefficients (asymmetric definition) edit

When we choose the basis X_i ≡ u_i orthonormal: g_ab ≡ η_ab = ⟨X_a, X_b⟩ then g_mk,l ≡ η_mk,l = 0. This implies that

In this case, the connection coefficients ω^a_bc are called the Ricci rotation coefficients.^[14][15]

Equivalently, one can define Ricci rotation coefficients as follows:^[9]

Under a change of variable from ${\displaystyle \left(x^{1},\,\ldots ,\,x^{n}\right)}$  to ${\displaystyle \left({\bar {x}}^{1},\,\ldots ,\,{\bar {x}}^{n}\right)}$ , Christoffel symbols transform as

where the overline denotes the Christoffel symbols in the ${\displaystyle {\bar {x}}^{i}}$  coordinate system. The Christoffel symbol does not transform as a tensor, but rather as an object in the jet bundle. More precisely, the Christoffel symbols can be considered as functions on the jet bundle of the frame bundle of M, independent of any local coordinate system. Choosing a local coordinate system determines a local section of this bundle, which can then be used to pull back the Christoffel symbols to functions on M, though of course these functions then depend on the choice of local coordinate system.

For each point, there exist coordinate systems in which the Christoffel symbols vanish at the point.^[16] These are called (geodesic) normal coordinates, and are often used in Riemannian geometry.

There are some interesting properties which can be derived directly from the transformation law.

• For linear transformation, the inhomogeneous part of the transformation (second term on the right-hand side) vanishes identically and then ${\displaystyle {\Gamma ^{i}}_{jk}}$  behaves like a tensor.
• If we have two fields of connections, say ${\displaystyle {\Gamma ^{i}}_{jk}}$  and ${\displaystyle {{\tilde {\Gamma }}^{i}}_{jk}}$ , then their difference ${\displaystyle {\Gamma ^{i}}_{jk}-{{\tilde {\Gamma }}^{i}}_{jk}}$  is a tensor since the inhomogeneous terms cancel each other. The inhomogeneous terms depend only on how the coordinates are changed, but are independent of Christoffel symbol itself.
• If the Christoffel symbol is unsymmetric about its lower indices in one coordinate system i.e., ${\displaystyle {\Gamma ^{i}}_{jk}\neq {\Gamma ^{i}}_{kj}}$ , then they remain unsymmetric under any change of coordinates. A corollary to this property is that it is impossible to find a coordinate system in which all elements of Christoffel symbol are zero at a point, unless lower indices are symmetric. This property was pointed out by Albert Einstein^[17] and Erwin Schrödinger^[18] independently.

If a vector ${\displaystyle \xi ^{i}}$  is transported parallel on a curve parametrized by some parameter ${\displaystyle s}$  on a Riemannian manifold, the rate of change of the components of the vector is given by

Now just by using the condition that the scalar product ${\displaystyle g_{ik}\xi ^{i}\eta ^{k}}$  formed by two arbitrary vectors ${\displaystyle \xi ^{i}}$  and ${\displaystyle \eta ^{k}}$  is unchanged is enough to derive the Christoffel symbols. The condition is

Applying the parallel transport rule for the two arbitrary vectors and relabelling dummy indices and collecting the coefficients of ${\displaystyle \xi ^{i}\eta ^{k}dx^{l}}$  (arbitrary), we obtain

This is same as the equation obtained by requiring the covariant derivative of the metric tensor to vanish in the General definition section. The derivation from here is simple. By cyclically permuting the indices ${\displaystyle ikl}$  in above equation, we can obtain two more equations and then linearly combining these three equations, we can express ${\displaystyle {\Gamma ^{i}}_{jk}}$  in terms of metric tensor.

Let X and Y be vector fields with components Xⁱ and Y^k. Then the kth component of the covariant derivative of Y with respect to X is given by

Here, the Einstein notation is used, so repeated indices indicate summation over indices and contraction with the metric tensor serves to raise and lower indices:

Keep in mind that g_ik ≠ g^ik and that gⁱ_k = δ ⁱ_k, the Kronecker delta. The convention is that the metric tensor is the one with the lower indices; the correct way to obtain g^ik from g_ik is to solve the linear equations g^ijg_jk = δ ⁱ_k.

The statement that the connection is torsion-free, namely that

is equivalent to the statement that—in a coordinate basis—the Christoffel symbol is symmetric in the lower two indices:

The index-less transformation properties of a tensor are given by pullbacks for covariant indices, and pushforwards for contravariant indices. The article on covariant derivatives provides additional discussion of the correspondence between index-free notation and indexed notation.

The covariant derivative of a vector field with components V^m is

By corollary, divergence of a vector can be obtained as

The covariant derivative of a covector field ω_m is

The symmetry of the Christoffel symbol now implies

The covariant derivative of a type (2, 0) tensor field A^ik is

If the tensor field is mixed then its covariant derivative is

Contravariant derivatives of tensors edit

To find the contravariant derivative of a vector field, we must first transform it into a covariant derivative using the metric tensor

In general relativity edit

The Christoffel symbols find frequent use in Einstein's theory of general relativity, where spacetime is represented by a curved 4-dimensional Lorentz manifold with a Levi-Civita connection. The Einstein field equations—which determine the geometry of spacetime in the presence of matter—contain the Ricci tensor, and so calculating the Christoffel symbols is essential. Once the geometry is determined, the paths of particles and light beams are calculated by solving the geodesic equations in which the Christoffel symbols explicitly appear.

In classical (non-relativistic) mechanics edit

Let ${\displaystyle x^{i}}$  be the generalized coordinates and ${\displaystyle {\dot {x}}^{i}}$  be the generalized velocities, then the kinetic energy for a unit mass is given by ${\displaystyle T={\tfrac {1}{2}}g_{ik}{\dot {x}}^{i}{\dot {x}}^{k}}$ , where ${\displaystyle g_{ik}}$  is the metric tensor. If ${\displaystyle V\left(x^{i}\right)}$ , the potential function, exists then the contravariant components of the generalized force per unit mass are ${\displaystyle F_{i}=\partial V/\partial x^{i}}$ . The metric (here in a purely spatial domain) can be obtained from the line element ${\displaystyle ds^{2}=2Tdt^{2}}$ . Substituting the Lagrangian ${\displaystyle L=T-V}$  into the Euler-Lagrange equation, we get^[19]

Now multiplying by ${\displaystyle g^{ij}}$ , we get

When Cartesian coordinates can be adopted (as in inertial frames of reference), we have an Euclidean metrics, the Christoffel symbol vanishes, and the equation reduces to Newton's second law of motion. In curvilinear coordinates^[20] (forcedly in non-inertial frames, where the metrics is non-Euclidean and not flat), fictitious forces like the Centrifugal force and Coriolis force originate from the Christoffel symbols, so from the purely spatial curvilinear coordinates.

In Earth surface coordinates edit

Given a spherical coordinate system, which describes points on the Earth surface (approximated as an ideal sphere).

For a point x, R is the distance to the Earth core (usually approximately the Earth radius). θ and φ are the latitude and longitude. Positive θ is the northern hemisphere. To simplify the derivatives, the angles are given in radians (where d sin(x)/dx = cos(x), the degree values introduce an additional factor of 360 / 2 pi).

At any location, the tangent directions are ${\displaystyle e_{R}}$  (up), ${\displaystyle e_{\theta }}$  (north) and ${\displaystyle e_{\varphi }}$  (east) - you can also use indices 1,2,3.

The related metric tensor has only diagonal elements (the squared vector lengths). This is an advantage of the coordinate system and not generally true.

^[21]

Now the necessary quantities can be calculated. Examples:

The resulting Christoffel symbols of the second kind ${\displaystyle {\Gamma ^{k}}_{ji}=e^{k}\cdot {\frac {\partial e_{j}}{\partial x^{i}}}}$  then are (organized by the "derivative" index i in a matrix):

These values show how the tangent directions (columns: ${\displaystyle e_{R}}$ , ${\displaystyle e_{\theta }}$ , ${\displaystyle e_{\varphi }}$ ) change, seen from an outside perspective (e.g. from space), but given in the tangent directions of the actual location (rows: R, θ, φ).

As an example, take the nonzero derivatives by θ in ${\displaystyle {\Gamma ^{k}}_{j\ \theta }}$ , which corresponds to a movement towards north (positive dθ):

• The new north direction ${\displaystyle e_{\theta }}$  changes by -R dθ in the up (R) direction. So the north direction will rotate downwards towards the center of the Earth.
• Similarly, the up direction ${\displaystyle e_{R}}$  will be adjusted towards the north. The different lengths of ${\displaystyle e_{R}}$  and ${\displaystyle e_{\theta }}$  lead to a factor of 1/R .
• Moving north, the east tangent vector ${\displaystyle e_{\varphi }}$  changes its length (-tan(θ) on the diagonal), it will shrink (-tan(θ) dθ < 0) on the northern hemisphere, and increase (-tan(θ) dθ > 0) on the southern hemisphere.^[21]

These effects are maybe not apparent during the movement, because they are the adjustments that keep the measurements in the coordinates R, θ, φ. Nevertheless, it can affect distances, physics equations, etc. So if e.g. you need the exact change of a magnetic field pointing approximately "south", it can be necessary to also correct your measurement by the change of the north direction using the Christoffel symbols to get the "true" (tensor) value.

The Christoffel symbols of the first kind ${\displaystyle {\Gamma _{l}}_{ji}=g_{lk}{\Gamma ^{k}}_{ji}}$  show the same change using metric-corrected coordinates, e.g. for derivative by φ:

• Basic introduction to the mathematics of curved spacetime
• Differentiable manifold
• List of formulas in Riemannian geometry
• Ricci calculus
• Riemann–Christoffel tensor
• Gauss–Codazzi equations
• Example computation of Christoffel symbols

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