Chern number ($⟨c_{i_1}\cdots c_{i_s},[M]⟩$)

On a compact oriented $2r$-manifold without boundary, an integral product of Chern classes of total complex degree $r$ pairs with the fundamental class to give a Chern number. A unitary connection supplies Chern-Weil theory representatives, but the integer is independent of that connection. The Second Chern number on a four-manifold is one important example; the integral of the First Chern class over a closed surface is another.