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Submanifolds $A,B\subseteq M$ intersect cleanly when $A\cap B$ is an embedded submanifold andat every $x\in A\cap B$. A transverse intersection is the special case in which $T_{x}A+T_{x}B=T_{x}M$.

Every closed subgroup of a finite-dimensional Lie group is an embedded submanifold and a Lie subgroup. Closedness alone forces the compatible smooth structure; smoothness need not be assumed in advance. The proof constructs the Lie algebra of a closed subgroup from one-parameter subgroups, then uses local product coordinates for a closed subgroup.

A critical point of a smooth map is an input; a critical value is an output reached from at least one such input. For the fold $F(x,y)=(x,y^2)$, all inputs $(a,0)$ are critical points of a smooth map, and all outputs $(a,0)$ are critical values. The identical coordinate pairs live in different copies of ${\mathbb{R}}^2$. To classify an output $(a,b)$, inspect its entire fiber of a function:For $b>0$ both inputs have matrix rank two, so the output is a regular value. For $b=0$ its input has matrix rank one, so the output is a critical value. For $b<0$ the fiber of a function is the empty set, and the output is a regular value despite being outside the image of a function.

In general, for a smooth map $f:X\to Y$, write $C_f$ for its set of critical points of a smooth map. Its set of critical values is $f(C_f)\subseteq Y$. Equivalently, $q\in Y$ is a critical value if some $p\in f^{-1}(q)$ has a differential that is not surjective. A regular value requires a surjective differential at every input in that fiber of a function. The universal condition holds vacuously for an empty fiber of a function: every output outside $f(X)$ is a regular value. These quantifiers are explicit in Loring W. Tu, An Introduction to Manifolds, Definition 8.22 and its two following remarks.

The distinction is useful when solving equations. For a smooth map $f:X^m\to Y^n$ between smooth manifolds without boundary and a regular value $q$ with nonempty fiber of a function, the regular level set theorem makes $f^{-1}(q)$ an embedded submanifold of dimension $m-n$, with tangent spaceThe implicit function theorem explains the freedom count: locally, $n$ independent equations fix $n$ coordinates and leave $m-n$ free. The rank-nullity theorem gives the same count for the displayed kernel of a linear map. See Eckhard Meinrenken, Differentiable Manifolds, Theorems 1.11 and 1.15 for the local projection description and its consequence for level sets.

For example, $H:{\mathbb{R}}^2\to \mathbb{R}$, $H(x,y)=x^2+y^2$, has gradient $(2x,2y)$ and just one critical point, the origin, with critical value zero. For $c>0$, its fiber of a function is the circle of radius $\sqrt{c}$, a one-dimensional embedded submanifold; negative $c$ are regular values with empty fibers. At $c=0$, the fiber of a function is a single point instead of a circle. A critical value does not force its fiber of a function to be nonsmooth: that singleton is itself a zero-dimensional embedded submanifold, but the regular dimension conclusion $2-1=1$ does not apply.

Nor does a single regular input certify a regular value. The scalar smooth function $h(t)=t^2(t-1)$ has $h^{-1}(0)=\{0,1\}$ and derivative $h^{\prime }(t)=3t^2-2t$. The input zero is a critical point, while the input one is regular because $h^{\prime }(1)=1$. Their shared output zero is nevertheless a critical value. Conversely, different critical points of a smooth map can share one critical value: $f(t)=(t^2-1{)}^2$ sends both critical inputs $-1$ and $1$ to zero. Counting inputs and counting critical outputs are different tasks.

Finally, for $G(t)=(t,t^2):\mathbb{R}\to {\mathbb{R}}^2$, every output on the parabola is a critical value, and every output off it is a regular value with empty fiber of a function. There is no nonempty regular fiber of a function here, so the negative expression $1-2$ never becomes a claimed manifold dimension. Both diagrams show exact mathematical examples, not measured data.

The map descends to an injective immersion from $\mathbb{R}\times (\mathbb{R}/\mathbb{Z})$ into the three-dimensional torus. Injectivity follows because an integer difference in $s$ with an integer difference in $\alpha s$ must be zero. Its image is dense by an irrational rotation of the circle, and is tangent to the commuting independent fields ${\partial }_x+\alpha {\partial }_z$ and ${\partial }_y$. It is a leaf of a regular foliation, but cannot be an embedded submanifold: in an embedding chart the coordinate plane would be locally closed yet contain a dense ambient subset.

An embedding identifies one mathematical structure with a structure-preserving copy inside another. In topology it is a homeomorphism onto its image with the subspace topology; an algebraic embedding is an injective homomorphism. A smooth embedding additionally has injective differential everywhere, so its image is an embedded submanifold.

The Gauss–Codazzi equations relate the intrinsic curvature and connection of an embedded submanifold to its second fundamental form and the ambient curvature. The Gauss equation controls tangential curvature; the Codazzi equation controls the covariant derivative of the second fundamental form. The Gauss formula is the tangential-normal splitting used to derive these relations.

For an embedded submanifold of a Riemannian manifold, use $R(v,w)y={\nabla }_v{\nabla }_{w}y-{\nabla }_w{\nabla }_{v}y-{\nabla }_{[v,w]}y$. The Gauss formula and tangential derivative of a normal field giveSubtract the expression with $v,w$ interchanged and the bracket derivative, whose normal part pairs to zero. This proves the displayed curvature identity. For flat Euclidean ambient space, its ambient curvature term vanishes and one obtains the ordinary Gauss equation. Declaring the four-slot convention $R(x,y,v,w)=⟨R(v,w)y,x⟩$ avoids sign ambiguities when permuting arguments.

Choose a vector subspace $\mathfrak{m}$ complementary to the Lie algebra of a closed subgroup $H$. The differential of $F$ at $(0,0)$ is $(U,V)\mapsto U+V$, so the inverse function theorem makes $F$ a local diffeomorphism. Sufficiently small nonzero $U\in \mathfrak{m}$ cannot satisfy $\exp U\in H$: otherwise limit directions of a closed subgroup give a nonzero element of $\mathfrak{m}\cap \mathfrak{h}$. Consequently $H$ is locally exactly the coordinate slice $U=0$, proving that it is an embedded submanifold.

For an $n$-dimensional embedded submanifold, let $A$ denote its vector-valued second fundamental form and $e_1,\dots ,e_n$ an orthonormal basis of its tangent space. This branch uses the trace mean curvature vectorAn alternative averaged mean curvature vector is $\mathbf{H}/n$; on a smooth surface in three-dimensional Euclidean space, these are $2HN$ and $HN$, respectively. Reversing $N$ reverses $H$, so their product is independent of the chosen orientation of a surface. With the trace convention, the first variation of area formula has no additional factor $n$. For an outward-oriented sphere of radius $R$, $\mathbf{H}=-2N/R$: it points toward the centre even though the scalar's sign depends on conventions.

The ambient Levi-Civita connection induces this metric connection on the normal bundle of an embedded submanifold. Its tangential counterpart appears in the Weingarten formula. Projecting the derivative preserves the connection on a vector bundle Leibniz rule and the fiber inner product.

A subset $X\subset M^m$ is a $d$-dimensional embedded submanifold if, with the subspace topology, every point has a smooth ambient chart in which $X$ is the intersection of the coordinate domain with ${\mathbb{R}}^d\times \{0\}$. These slice charts give its smooth structure, and its inclusion is an embedding.

The inverse function theorem says that a smooth map $F:U\subset {\mathbb{R}}^m\to {\mathbb{R}}^m$ with invertible derivative at $a$ restricts to a diffeomorphism between open neighborhoods of $a$ and $F(a)$. A point $q\in N$ is a regular value of a smooth map $f:M^m\to N^n$ when $d{f}_x:T_{x}M\to T_{q}N$ is surjective at every $x\in f^{-1}(q)$.

Choose local coordinates centered at $x$ and $q$. At a fiber point, rank $n$ means that, after relabeling coordinates, the first $n$ columns of the coordinate derivative form an invertible matrix. DefineIts derivative is block upper triangular with that invertible block and an identity block, hence invertible. The inverse function theorem makes $F$ a new ambient coordinate chart in which $f^{-1}(q)$ is exactly $v_1=\cdots =v_n=0$. Therefore the regular level set theorem giveswhen the fiber is nonempty. An empty fiber is regular vacuously; if $m<n$, it is the only possible regular fiber. The construction does not assign a negative dimension to a nonempty manifold.

For the projective hyperplane, the mapis injective with inverse $[x_0:x_1:0]\mapsto [x_0:x_1]$ on its image. At every image point, either $x_0$ or $x_1$ is nonzero; the corresponding standard projective chart uses $x_2/x_i$ as one coordinate and cuts the image out by setting it to zero. The map and inverse are smooth in these charts, and the slice condition provesNevertheless, ${\mathbb{RP}}^2\setminus X$ is the single affine chart $x_2\ne 0$, diffeomorphic to ${\mathbb{R}}^2$, so it is connected. If a smooth real function had exactly this zero set with zero regular, the inverse function theorem near any point of $X$ would give both positive and negative values off $X$. On the connected complement it never vanishes, so continuity requires its sign to be constant. This contradiction is the obstruction that regular zero hypersurfaces have disconnected complements. ThusIt illustrates why local defining equations for an embedded hypersurface need not glue to a global real defining function, as in real projective hyperplane is not a global regular zero set.

A $d$-dimensional embedded submanifold $F\subseteq M^m$ has the subspace topology and, near each of its points, a manifold chart identifying it with a coordinate slice ${\mathbb{R}}^d\times \{0\}$. These slice charts for an embedded submanifold give its smooth structure, and its inclusion is a smooth embedding.

A regular value $q\in N^n$ of a smooth map $f:M^m\to N^n$ is one for which $d{f}_p:T_{p}M\to T_{q}N$ is surjective at every $p\in f^{-1}(q)$. If the preimage is nonempty this forces $m\ge n$.

The inverse function theorem used here says that if $G:U\subseteq {\mathbb{R}}^m\to {\mathbb{R}}^m$ is smooth and $D{G}_p$ is an invertible matrix, then its restriction to a suitable neighbourhood of $p$ is a diffeomorphism onto an open neighbourhood of $G(p)$, with smooth inverse.

To prove the regular level set theorem, fix $p\in f^{-1}(q)$ and choose coordinates centred at $p,q$. The coordinate representative $\tilde{f}$ has a rank-$n$ Jacobian matrix. After permuting domain coordinates, its first $n$ columns form an invertible matrix. DefineIts Jacobian matrix is block triangular with invertible diagonal blocks, so the inverse function theorem makes $G$ a local coordinate change. In these coordinates, $f^{-1}(q)$ is precisely the slice with first $n$ coordinates zero. Thus it is an embedded submanifold of dimension $m-n$, withAn empty preimage is harmless; the local assertion is then vacuous.

Three equivalent formulations of orientability of a smooth manifold are: an oriented atlas whose transition Jacobian determinants are positive; a smoothly varying orientation of a vector space on each tangent space; and a nowhere-vanishing smooth top-degree differential form. An oriented atlas gives compatible oriented coordinate frames. A partition of unity glues their positive local top forms, and a nonzero top form declares a frame positive precisely when it evaluates positively on that frame. These constructions prove the equivalence.

For the orientability of a regular fibre, write $F=f^{-1}(q)$. The derivative gives a short exact sequence of vector bundlesThis is the reason the normal bundle of a regular fibre is trivial. Choose any fixed positive basis $b_1,\dots ,b_n$ of $T_{q}N$ and an ambient orientation on $M$. Declare a frame $v_1,\dots ,v_{m-n}$ of $T_{p}F$ positive whenis positive in $T_{p}M$, where $d{f}_p({\tilde{b}}_i)=b_i$. Changing a lift adds a tangent vector and leaves the determinant sign unchanged. Local smooth lifts exist because $df$ is surjective, so this rule varies smoothly and agrees on overlaps. It gives a global orientation on $F$. Only an orientation of the single vector space $T_{q}N$ was chosen; $N$ itself need not be orientable.

Use the Levi-Civita connection and the Riemann curvature tensor conventionfor orthonormal $T,E$. Thus the round sphere has positive sectional curvature. Work on a fixed compact parameter interval $[a,b]$ inside the given open interval; this keeps all differentiations and endpoint evaluations well-defined. The base geodesic is regular and has constant speed, so a constant rescaling of $t$ makes it unit-speed. Put $T={\partial }_t\varphi$, $J={\partial }_s\varphi$, $D_t={\nabla }_T$, $D_s={\nabla }_J$ and evaluate at $s=0$. The torsion-free connection gives $D_{s}T=D_{t}J$ because the two parameter derivatives commute. The geodesic equation is $D_{t}T=0$.

Differentiating the length of a curve once and twice, using metric compatibility, givesandLet $A=D_{s}J$. The curvature commutator gives $D_s{D}_{t}J=D_{t}A+\mathcal{R}(J,T)J$, and the skew-adjoint curvature symmetry gives $⟨\mathcal{R}(J,T)J,T⟩=-⟨\mathcal{R}(J,T)T,J⟩$. Integration by parts therefore proves the moving-endpoint second variation of Riemannian arc length:Equivalently, with $W=J-⟨J,T⟩T$, the integral is $I(W,W)$, the Riemannian index form. The endpoints of this geodesic variation generally move, so the displayed boundary term must be retained. For a base speed $c$ instead of one, the boundary and integral have an overall factor $1/c$, and the subtracted square inside the integral is $⟨D_{t}J,T{⟩}^2/c^2$. Returning to the original parameter, every ruling has constant speed, so $L_{[a,b]}(s)=(b-a)|{\partial }_t\varphi (0,s)|$ and the full open-interval length is $2\delta |{\partial }_t\varphi (0,s)|$. ConsequentlyThe preceding curvature formula, with the base-speed factor $1/c$ when necessary, therefore evaluates the original full length derivative using any compact subinterval. No extension to the missing endpoints is required.

Differentiating $D_{t}T=0$ in $s$ yields the Jacobi field equationThe same ruling curves are geodesics of the surface with its induced metric, because the tangential part of their ambient acceleration is zero. Write its second fundamental form as $II$ and its induced Levi-Civita connection as $D^N$. In particular $II(T,T)=0$. The scalar $f=⟨J,T⟩$ satisfies $f^{\prime \prime }=0$, by the Jacobi field equation, so $W=J-fT$ is a Jacobi field both intrinsically and in the ambient manifold. In a regular surface chart $h=|W|>0$, and $E=W/h$ is the perpendicular unit tangent. Along a two-dimensional geodesic, $D_t^{N}E=0$: its derivative is orthogonal to both $E$ and the parallel field $T$. The intrinsic Jacobi field equation consequently givesFor the ambient derivative, the Gauss formula gives $D_{t}W=h^{\prime }E+hII(T,E)$. Applying the same norm differentiation used above to $h=|W|$ givesComparing these identities proves the curvature comparison for a geodesically ruled surface:This is also the Gauss equation in a curved ambient manifold with $II(T,T)=0$. It applies locally to each regular patch of the surface.

For strict inequality, take the Euclidean embedded submanifold parametrized by $\varphi (t,s)=(t,s,ts)$. Each $t$-curve is a straight-line geodesic. Its first fundamental form has coefficients $E_0=1+s^2$, $F_0=st$, $G_0=1+t^2$; the normal $(-s,-t,1)/\sqrt{1+t^2+s^2}$ gives second fundamental form coefficients $e=0$, $f_0=1/\sqrt{1+t^2+s^2}$, $g_0=0$. HenceThus equality can fail everywhere, although every ruling is an ambient geodesic.

The length differentiation requires a nonconstant base ruling; a regular parametrized surface patch guarantees this. If “image of a smooth map” is read literally without a rank assumption, a degenerate member can fail even to have a first length derivative. For example, in the flat cylinder $\mathbb{R}\times S^1$, the map $\varphi (t,s)=(st,e^{is})$ for $|t|<\delta$, $|s|<4\pi$ has geodesic rulings and a two-dimensional open image: every nonzero-$s$ point has full-rank parametrization, and the sole zero-$s$ image point also has a full-rank preimage at $s=2\pi ,t=0$. Yet $L({\gamma }_s)=2\delta |s|$ is not differentiable at zero. The variation formula therefore applies to nonconstant members, as usual. The curvature inequality still holds on the whole image: regular values are dense by Sard theorem, and both curvatures extend continuously to the remaining points.

A subset $Z$ of an $m$-dimensional smooth manifold $M$ is an $r$-dimensional embedded submanifold if, for each $p\in Z$, some coordinate chart $x:U\to V\subset {\mathbb{R}}^m$ containing $p$ satisfiesThe induced topology on $Z$ is the subspace topology, and the first $r$ coordinates restricted to $Z$ give its smooth atlas. To see their smooth transition maps agree, restrict the ambient smooth transitions to the coordinate planes; their inverses restrict in the same way. The inclusion then has injective differential of a smooth map and is a homeomorphism onto its image. Conversely this is the local coordinate description of a smooth smooth embedding. An embedded submanifold need not be a closed subset of $M$.

Put $m=\dim M$ and $n=\dim N$. The hypothesis says that $q$ is a regular value of $F$. Since its preimage is nonempty and the differential of a smooth map is surjective there, $m\ge n$.

We use the following finite-dimensional inverse function theorem: if a smooth map $H:O\to {\mathbb{R}}^m$, with $O\subset {\mathbb{R}}^m$ open, has invertible derivative at $a$, there are open neighborhoods of $a$ and $H(a)$ on which $H$ is a diffeomorphism, with smooth inverse.

Fix $p\in F^{-1}(q)$. Choose coordinate charts centered at $p$ and $q$, and shrink the source neighborhood so that its image under $F$ lies in the target chart. Its coordinate expression is $f=(f^1,\dots ,f^n)$ with $f(0)=0$ and derivative of rank $n$. Choose $n$ domain coordinates giving an invertible $n\times n$ minor, and relabel them as $x^1,\dots ,x^n$. DefineIts derivative at zero has block formso it is invertible. The inverse function theorem makes $u=H(x)$ a new coordinate chart near $p$. In this chart $F=q$ is exactly $u^1=\cdots =u^n=0$, because the target chart sends $q$ to zero. These are slice charts for an embedded submanifold; reordering coordinates if desired puts the free coordinates first. Giving the level set the subspace topology, these restricted charts are smoothly compatible, as in part (a). This proves the regular level set theorem rather than merely invoking it.

The level set is an embedded submanifold of dimension $\boxed{m-n}$. The same coordinates show $T_{p}Z=\ker d{F}_p$: tangent vectors to the slice have zero first $n$ components, which are exactly the components of $d{F}_p$. The empty-dimensional case $m=n$ gives a discrete zero-dimensional embedded submanifold.

Let $m=\dim M$, $n=\dim N$ and $k={\mathrm{codim}}_{N}S$. Fix $p\in f^{-1}(S)$ and choose the allowed slice chart for an embedded submanifold on a neighborhood $U$ of $f(p)$, so that $S\cap U$ is given by $x^1=\cdots =x^k=0$. On $f^{-1}(U)$ define the smooth mapThe derivative $L=d(x^1,\dots ,x^k)$ at a point of $S\cap U$ is surjective and has kernel $TS$, by the slice description. The printed sum-of-spaces condition givesIndeed any target tangent vector is a sum of an image vector and a tangent vector to $S$, and $L$ kills the latter. By the chain rule, $d{G}_r=L\circ d{f}_r$ is therefore surjective. This condition is precisely transversality of a map to a submanifold; the original sum need not be direct.

We have $G^{-1}(0)=f^{-1}(S)\cap f^{-1}(U)$. Part (b), applied to $G$, gives slice charts for an embedded submanifold of codimension $k$ around every point of this zero set. Since the construction is available around every $p\in f^{-1}(S)$, the charts give its global structure as an embedded submanifold with the subspace topology. Its dimension is $\boxed{m-k=m-n+\dim S}$. Moreover,This follows either from the slice coordinates or from $T_p{G}^{-1}(0)=\ker d{G}_p$ and $\ker L=T_{f(p)}S$. No injectivity of $df$, closedness of $S$, or direct-sum hypothesis is required.