List of formulas in Riemannian geometry

Summary

This is a list of formulas encountered in Riemannian geometry. Einstein notation is used throughout this article. This article uses the "analyst's" sign convention for Laplacians, except when noted otherwise.

Christoffel symbols, covariant derivative edit

In a smooth coordinate chart, the Christoffel symbols of the first kind are given by

 

and the Christoffel symbols of the second kind by

 

Here   is the inverse matrix to the metric tensor  . In other words,

 

and thus

 

is the dimension of the manifold.

Christoffel symbols satisfy the symmetry relations

  or, respectively,  ,


the second of which is equivalent to the torsion-freeness of the Levi-Civita connection.

The contracting relations on the Christoffel symbols are given by

 

and

 

where |g| is the absolute value of the determinant of the metric tensor  . These are useful when dealing with divergences and Laplacians (see below).

The covariant derivative of a vector field with components   is given by:

 

and similarly the covariant derivative of a  -tensor field with components   is given by:

 

For a  -tensor field with components   this becomes

 

and likewise for tensors with more indices.

The covariant derivative of a function (scalar)   is just its usual differential:

 

Because the Levi-Civita connection is metric-compatible, the covariant derivatives of metrics vanish,

 

as well as the covariant derivatives of the metric's determinant (and volume element)

 

The geodesic   starting at the origin with initial speed   has Taylor expansion in the chart:

 

Curvature tensors edit

Definitions edit

(3,1) Riemann curvature tensor edit

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(3,1) Riemann curvature tensor edit

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Ricci curvature edit

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Scalar curvature edit

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Traceless Ricci tensor edit

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(4,0) Riemann curvature tensor edit

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(4,0) Weyl tensor edit

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Einstein tensor edit

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Identities edit

Basic symmetries edit

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The Weyl tensor has the same basic symmetries as the Riemann tensor, but its 'analogue' of the Ricci tensor is zero:

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The Ricci tensor, the Einstein tensor, and the traceless Ricci tensor are symmetric 2-tensors:

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First Bianchi identity edit

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Second Bianchi identity edit

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Contracted second Bianchi identity edit

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Twice-contracted second Bianchi identity edit

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Equivalently:

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Ricci identity edit

If   is a vector field then

 

which is just the definition of the Riemann tensor. If   is a one-form then

 

More generally, if   is a (0,k)-tensor field then

 

Remarks edit

A classical result says that   if and only if   is locally conformally flat, i.e. if and only if   can be covered by smooth coordinate charts relative to which the metric tensor is of the form   for some function   on the chart.

Gradient, divergence, Laplace–Beltrami operator edit

The gradient of a function   is obtained by raising the index of the differential  , whose components are given by:

 

The divergence of a vector field with components   is

 

The Laplace–Beltrami operator acting on a function   is given by the divergence of the gradient:

 

The divergence of an antisymmetric tensor field of type   simplifies to

 

The Hessian of a map   is given by

 

Kulkarni–Nomizu product edit

The Kulkarni–Nomizu product is an important tool for constructing new tensors from existing tensors on a Riemannian manifold. Let   and   be symmetric covariant 2-tensors. In coordinates,

 

Then we can multiply these in a sense to get a new covariant 4-tensor, which is often denoted  . The defining formula is

 

Clearly, the product satisfies

 

In an inertial frame edit

An orthonormal inertial frame is a coordinate chart such that, at the origin, one has the relations   and   (but these may not hold at other points in the frame). These coordinates are also called normal coordinates. In such a frame, the expression for several operators is simpler. Note that the formulae given below are valid at the origin of the frame only.

 
 

Conformal change edit

Let   be a Riemannian or pseudo-Riemanniann metric on a smooth manifold  , and   a smooth real-valued function on  . Then

 

is also a Riemannian metric on  . We say that   is (pointwise) conformal to  . Evidently, conformality of metrics is an equivalence relation. Here are some formulas for conformal changes in tensors associated with the metric. (Quantities marked with a tilde will be associated with  , while those unmarked with such will be associated with  .)

Levi-Civita connection edit

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(4,0) Riemann curvature tensor edit

  •   where  

Using the Kulkarni–Nomizu product:

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Ricci tensor edit

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Scalar curvature edit

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  • if   this can be written  

Traceless Ricci tensor edit

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(3,1) Weyl curvature edit

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  •   for any vector fields  

Volume form edit

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Hodge operator on p-forms edit

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Codifferential on p-forms edit

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Laplacian on functions edit

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Hodge Laplacian on p-forms edit

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The "geometer's" sign convention is used for the Hodge Laplacian here. In particular it has the opposite sign on functions as the usual Laplacian.

Second fundamental form of an immersion edit

Suppose   is Riemannian and   is a twice-differentiable immersion. Recall that the second fundamental form is, for each   a symmetric bilinear map   which is valued in the  -orthogonal linear subspace to   Then

  •   for all  

Here   denotes the  -orthogonal projection of   onto the  -orthogonal linear subspace to  

Mean curvature of an immersion edit

In the same setting as above (and suppose   has dimension  ), recall that the mean curvature vector is for each   an element   defined as the  -trace of the second fundamental form. Then

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Note that this transformation formula is for the mean curvature vector, and the formula for the mean curvature   in the hypersurface case is

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where   is a (local) normal vector field.

Variation formulas edit

Let   be a smooth manifold and let   be a one-parameter family of Riemannian or pseudo-Riemannian metrics. Suppose that it is a differentiable family in the sense that for any smooth coordinate chart, the derivatives   exist and are themselves as differentiable as necessary for the following expressions to make sense.   is a one-parameter family of symmetric 2-tensor fields.

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Principal symbol edit

The variation formula computations above define the principal symbol of the mapping which sends a pseudo-Riemannian metric to its Riemann tensor, Ricci tensor, or scalar curvature.

  • The principal symbol of the map   assigns to each   a map from the space of symmetric (0,2)-tensors on   to the space of (0,4)-tensors on   given by
 
  • The principal symbol of the map   assigns to each   an endomorphism of the space of symmetric 2-tensors on   given by
 
  • The principal symbol of the map   assigns to each   an element of the dual space to the vector space of symmetric 2-tensors on   by
 

See also edit

Notes edit

References edit

  • Arthur L. Besse. "Einstein manifolds." Ergebnisse der Mathematik und ihrer Grenzgebiete (3) [Results in Mathematics and Related Areas (3)], 10. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 1987. xii+510 pp. ISBN 3-540-15279-2