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On a connected Riemannian manifold of dimension at least three, pointwise independence of sectional curvature from the tangent two-plane forces the curvature to be constant. The contracted Bianchi identity differentiates the relation $\mathrm{Ric}=(n-1)Kg$ and gives $(n-2)dK=0$.

Both the self-dual Yang-Mills equations and the Anti-self-dual Yang-Mills equations imply the second-order Yang-Mills equations because the Bianchi identity holds for every principal connection. Finite action is additionally required to call the solution a Yang-Mills instanton; the implication itself is a local differential identity.

In oriented Euclidean four-space, gauge curvature is self-dual when $F=\ast F$. The Hodge star squares to one on two-forms, so this picks its positive eigenspace; the negative eigenspace is anti-self-duality of gauge curvature. The Bianchi identity then implies the Yang-Mills equations, and the action saturates the positive-charge Yang-Mills instanton Bogomolny bound.

The self-dual Yang-Mills equations require a gauge curvature two-form to have positive Hodge star operator eigenvalue on an oriented Riemannian four-manifold. By the Bianchi identity, they imply the full second-order Yang-Mills equations. Smooth finite-action solutions saturate the Yang-Mills instanton Bogomolny bound. Reversing orientation exchanges this equation with the Anti-self-dual Yang-Mills equations.

The trace of the curvature form of a connection is a global closed differential form of degree two. Under a frame change $e^{\prime }=eg$, the connection matrix and curvature change by $A^{\prime }=g^{-1}Ag+g^{-1}dg$ and ${\Theta }^{\prime }=g^{-1}\Theta g$. Thus trace is independent of frame. The Bianchi identity gives $d\Theta =\Theta \wedge A-A\wedge \Theta$. Taking the trace cancels the two terms: one-forms commute with two-forms in the graded sense, and renaming the matrix indices gives equality of their traces. Locally $\mathrm{tr}\Theta =d\mathrm{tr}A$, since the trace of $A\wedge A$ vanishes by pairing its off-diagonal terms. It is the curvature of the determinant connection.