MAT 237

Notes on 3-3

Smooth Manifolds

Three patterns appeared in sections 3.2 and 3.3: smooth curves in plane, smooth surfaces in the space,
and smooth curves in the space. In this note we draw parallels between the three ideas and then generalize
this idea further.
1. This is a common question in an IQ test: a curve drawn in a plane is similar to a surface drawn in
the (What?). And of course the answer is (space). There is something that makes the relationship
between the curve and plane the same as the relationship between a surface and the space. What is
that property. One can understand mathematics as a way of formulating a formal description for such
intuitions and feelings.
2. A curve in the plane: Plane is R2 , dimension is n = 2. The curve looks like a line (one variable in
the parametric representation, one dimension, lets say k = 1). The curve is turning and twisting in
the plane with n = 2. In this relationship n k = 2 1 = 1, we have one constraint in the locus
representation F (x, y) = 0 and we have only one equation in the graph representation, y = f (x). The
regularity condition for parametric representation is f 0 (t0 ) 6= 0 , and the regularity condition for locus
representation is that F (x0 , y0 ) 6= 0 .
3. A surface in the space: space is R3 , dimension is n = 3. The surface is like a plane, turning a
twisting in the space. As such, like a plane, a surface has two degrees of freedom, and its parametric
representation has two variables, u and v. So we say surface is "two dimensional" and let k = 2.
Now again, n k = 3 2 = 1 and this is the number of constraints in the locus representation
F (x, y, z) = 0, or the number equations in the graph representation. The regularity conditions for
the locus representation is F (x0 , y0 , z0 ) 6= 0 (still using corollary 3.3). But when it comes to the
parametric representation f (u, v) then again we need "the derivative not to vanish." But there is not
one derivative but two partial derivatives. The requirement of non-vanishing of the derivative means
that the two partial derivatives not to kill one another. we need the two partial derivatives, as two
vectors, not to be linearly independent. This translated to f u f v 6= 0 . So this regularity conditions
is specific to k = 2.
4. Now we are ready to see the formal formulation of the similarity between the two events: curve in the
plane, and surface in the space: they both satisfy n k = 1.
5. What if we wish to consider the n k = 2. This situation is like a curve (k = 1) in space (n = 3). The
graph representation of a curve in space consists of two concurrent equations: y = f (x) and z = g(x).
Or the locus representation consists of a system of two equations F1 (x, y, z) = 0 and F2 (x, y, z) = 0.
These two representations are consistent with n k = 2. the regularity condition is given in theorem
F = 2, where F = (F1 , F2 ). However the parametric equation of a curve
3.9, that is the rank of DF
in space is f (t) = (x(t), y(t), z(t)), with one variable (or one parameter), consistent with k = 1. The
regularity condition would be just f 0 (t0 ) 6= 0 .
6. Now we move on, one step further, to n k = m for an arbitrary m. The name for this situation is
"a smooth k manifold in Rn ." what would the graph representation of this object be? What would
the locus and what would the parametric representations would be? And what would the regularity
conditions be?
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MAT 237
Notes on 3-3
Smooth Manifolds
7. Lets explore this for the case n = 7 and k = 3 (a smooth 3-manifold in R7 .) The variables are
p, x, y, z, u, v, w,. Note n k = 4 so the graph and the locus form need four constraints. The graph
representation would be like u = f (p, x, y) and v = g(p, x, y) and w = h(p, x, y) and z = k(p, x, y).
The locus format would be F (p, x, y, , z, u, v, w) = 0, where F = (F1 , F2 , F3 , F4 ). The regularity
F = 4. The parametric representation would be f (r, s, t) with
condition would be that rank of DF
regularity condition that suggests the vectors f r , f s , f t be linearly independent.

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