Definition:Tangent Space
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Definition
Real Submanifold
Let $M$ be a real submanifold of $\R^n$ of dimension $d$.
Let $p \in M$.
Using Local Submersions
Let $U$ be a open neighborhood of $p$ in $\R^n$ and $\phi : U \to \R^{n - d}$ be a submersion such that:
- $M \cap U = \phi^{-1} \sqbrk 0$.
The tangent space of $M$ at $p$ is:
- $T_p M = \ker \d \map \phi p$
where $\d \map \phi p$ is the differential of $\phi$ at $p$.
Using Local Embdeddings
Let $U$ be a open set of $\R^d$ and $\phi: U \to \R^n$ be an embedding such that:
- $p \in \phi \sqbrk U \subset M$
The tangent space of $M$ at $p$ is:
- $T_p M = \Img {\map {\paren {\d \phi} } {\map {\phi^{-1} } p} }$
where $\map {\paren {\d \phi} } {\map {\phi^{-1} } p}$ is the differential of $\phi$ at $\map {\phi^{-1} } p$.
Using Local Immersions
Geometric Tangent Space
Let $a \in \R^n$ be an element of the $n$-dimensional Euclidean space.
The geometric tangent space to $\R^n$ at $a$, denoted by $\R^n_a$, is the cartesian product of the singleton $\set a$ and $\R^n$:
- $\R^n_a := \set a \times \R^n = \set {\tuple {a, v} : v \in \R^n}$
Differentiable Manifold
There are various ways to construct the tangent space of a differentiable manifold.
Let $M$ be a smooth manifold of dimension $m$.
Let $p \in M$.
Abstract Definition
Let $A$ be an atlas of $M$.
Let $B = \set {\struct {U, \phi} \in A: p \in U}$.
The tangent space of $M$ at $p$ is the real vector space
- $\ds \paren {\coprod_{b \mathop \in B} \set b \times \R^m} / \sim$
where $\sim$ is the equivalence relation defined by:
- $\tuple {i, \xi} \sim \tuple {j, \eta} \iff \d \map {\map {\paren {\phi_j \circ \phi_i^{-1} } } {\map {\phi_i} p} } \xi = \eta$
where $\d \map {\map {\paren {\phi_j \circ \phi_i^{-1} } } {\map {\phi_i} p} } \xi$ is the differential of $\phi_j \circ \phi_i^{-1}$ at $\map {\phi_i} p$.
Addition is defined by:
- $\eqclass {\tuple {i, \xi} } \sim + \eqclass {\tuple {j, \eta} } \sim = \eqclass {\tuple {i, \d \map {\map {\paren {\phi_j \circ \phi_i^{-1} } } {\map {\phi_i} p} } \xi + \eta} } \sim$
and scalar multiplication by:
- $\lambda \cdot \eqclass {\tuple {i, \xi} } \sim = \eqclass {\tuple {i, \lambda \cdot \xi} } \sim$
As a space of germs of curves
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As a space of derivations
Let $M$ be a smooth manifold.
Let $p \in M$ be a point in $M$.
Let $v: \map {C^\infty} M \to \R$ be a derivation at $p$.
The tangent space of $M$ at $p$, denoted by $T_p M$, is the set of all derivations of $\map {\CC^\infty} M$ at $p$.
That is, it is the set of all tangent vectors to $M$ at $p$.
Equivalence of Definitions
While the above constructions are not the same, there are very closely related. See Equivalence of Definitions of Tangent Space.
Also see
- Equivalence of Definitions of Tangent Space
- Tangent Space is Vector Space
- Definition:Tangent Vector
- Definition:Tangent Bundle
- Results about tangent spaces can be found here.
Sources
- 1998: David Nelson: The Penguin Dictionary of Mathematics (2nd ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): tangent space
- 2008: David Nelson: The Penguin Dictionary of Mathematics (4th ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): tangent space
- 2013: John M. Lee: Introduction to Smooth Manifolds (2nd ed.): $\S 3$: Tangent Vectors. Tangent Vectors
- 2013: Gerd Rudolph and Matthias Schmidt: Differential Geometry and Mathematical Physics: $\S 1.4$: Tangent Space