Questions tagged [differential-geometry]
For questions about the discipline that uses differential calculus and linear algebra to study geometrical problems.
18
questions with no upvoted or accepted answers
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Whence originates the use of the nabla (∇) for a connection or covariant derivative?
Who introduced it, when, where, and with what if any rationale?
(Note that I am not asking about the origin of the nabla symbol, which is covered here.)
- 143
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Is $\Gamma^i_{jk}$ the Christoffel symbol or the Christoffel symbols?
For years, I have been perplexed that the expression $\Gamma^i_{jk}$ is often referred to in the plural as "the Christoffel symbols", although sometimes it is referred to in the singular as "the ...
4
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History of Pfaff's problem and integrability conditions
I'm curious about Pfaff's problem and all the various mathematicians who have worked on it. From Wikipedia articles I was able to gather the following timeline of events.
In the modern language:
Pfaff'...
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3
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128
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What motivated Grassman to study Grassman algebras in 1844?
These are $n$-tuples of reals, added componentwise and multiplied via the “exterior product.” They were introduced by Grassmann in 1844 as part of a brilliant attempt to construct a vector algebra in $...
3
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Asymptotically Periodic Potentials
Who came up with the idea of solving elliptic equations with periodic potentials and from there solving elliptic equations with asymptotically periodic potentials? I heard it was Pierre Louis Lions, ...
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3
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260
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Priority on lemniscate of Gerono?
The Lemniscate of Gerono is a special case of the Lissajous curves. The dates for the two mathematicians are fairly close: Gerono (1799-1891) and Lissajous (1822-1880). Historically who has priority ...
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376
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How was the use of upper and lower indices in tensor notation developed?
It is just a notation, but it is so economical and so systematic.
So who invented them?
A handy notation should be helpful for the development of the whole field.
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2
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99
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How to give a meaningful interpretation to Gauss's notion of "oriented area" of self-intersecting geodesic polygons?
Gauss's notion of "oriented area" of figures characterizes the notion of two-dimensional content in a way that enables self-intersecting geodesic polygons (the term "geodesic" ...
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2
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328
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Why is the space of sections of $E$ called $\Gamma(E)$?
The space of sections of a bundle $\pi: E \to B$ is commonly denoted $\Gamma(E)$. (Note that the graph of a function $f$ is $\Gamma(f):=\left\{(x,f(x))\right\}$, and a particular section $\sigma: B \...
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117
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Origin of the Christoffel symbol
I am interested in the Christoffel symbol. So I found Christoffel's 1869 paper and The Road to Reality by Roger Penrose. These days, the Christoffel symbol has been established as a covariant ...
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Gauss fundamental form in differential geometry : use of dot products
In textbooks on differential geometry, the first fundamental form looks like $E^2+2FG+H^2$, and its length is calculated through the help of the dot product. However, the inner product did not exist. ...
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Who discovered intrinsic curvature first?
Historically, Gauss measured it by an old method called after his name today: The Gauss map.
This maps the normal vector at each point of a surface curve to the unit sphere. Then he measured the angle ...
- 51
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Why is bachelors' unknotting called as such and who discovered it?
Bachelors' unknotting is a way to show that all tame knots are isotopic to the unknot, by tightening a knot to a point. Why is it called 'bachelors' unknotting'?
- 103
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What is the historical significance of Riemann’s discovery of non-flat metrics?
From a perspective of math history, what discoveries resulted directly from Riemann’s discovery and codification of non-flat metrics on Riemannian manifolds? After Albert Einstein modeled the Universe ...
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101
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historical comments in bad taste
On page 44 of [1] Flanders writes "A treatment from this point of view of exterior calculus
which is not quite completely satisfactory and which unfortunately is embellished
with historical ...
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58
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Were Christoffel symbols used by Riemann?
The answer to the question would appear to be "no" looking at the transcription of Riemann's 1854 Ueber die Hypothesen, welche der Geometrie zu Grunde liegen lecture. However, Bernhard Riemann (1826-...
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How to derive from Gauss's result on the volume of orthoscheme tetrahedron the formulas of Lobachevsky and Bolay?
My question is a direct continuation of my already posted question Did Gauss's expression for the differential of the hyperbolic volume of the tetrahedron agree with later results?.
I simply didn'...
- 4,327
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Riemann surfaces and covering
Assuming we have a Riemann surface $S$ of degree $n$ and we look at it as a covering of the projective line $\mathbb{P}^1$. If $B$ is the set of branch points of $S$ (when $B$ is a subset in $\mathbb{...
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