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A G-structure on a real rank-$m$ vector bundle is a principal $G$ reduction of its frame bundle. Equivalently it has local frames whose transition matrices take values in $G$, with the reduction consisting of their right $G$-orbits. An orthogonal structure on a real vector bundle is equivalent to a fiber metric; a special orthogonal reduction is equivalent to that metric together with an orientation of a vector bundle.

For a smooth manifold $M$ of dimension $n$, the tangent space $T_{p}M$ can be defined as the space of derivations at $p$: linear maps $v$ on germs of smooth real functions satisfying $v(fg)=f(p)v(g)+g(p)v(f)$. Equivalently, $v$ is the velocity of a smooth curve through $p$, with curves identified when their coordinate velocities agree. A chart $(x^1,\dots ,x^n)$ supplies the basis ${\partial }_i{|}_p$, so $v=v^i{\partial }_i{|}_p$.

The tangent bundle is the disjoint union $TM={\coprod }_{p\in M}{T}_{p}M$, with projection $\pi (v)=p$. Its smooth structure is defined by the local local trivializationsOn overlapping charts, the change of trivialization isThese are smooth changes of coordinates on a $2n$-dimensional smooth manifold, linear and invertible in each fibre. Thus $TM$ is a rank-$n$ vector bundle, and its projection is a submersion. Fibrewise addition, scalar multiplication and the zero section are smooth. A smooth section of a vector bundle $X:M\to TM$, satisfying $\pi \circ X={\mathrm{id}}_M$, is exactly a vector field; locally $X=X^i{\partial }_i$, with components transforming by the displayed Jacobian matrix. Its action on functions is a derivation, and the commutator of two such derivations is their Lie bracket.

The dual bundle of $TM$ is the cotangent bundle $T^{\ast }M$. Its smooth sections of a vector bundle are differential 1-forms, locally $\alpha ={\alpha }_{i}d{x}^i$. The coefficient transformation is the inverse transpose of that for tangent vectors, ensuring that $\alpha (X)$ is a well-defined smooth function. Tensoring these two bundles gives the tensor bundlesTheir sections of a vector bundle are tensor fields; their transition functions of a vector bundle are the corresponding tensor products of the tangent and cotangent transformations. For example, the bundle $\mathrm{End}(TM)=TM\otimes T^{\ast }M$ contains fields of linear endomorphisms, while $S^2{T}^{\ast }M$ contains symmetric bilinear fields. Taking alternating covariant tensors gives ${\Lambda }^k{T}^{\ast }M$, whose sections are differential forms. The wedge product, exterior derivative and pullback of a differential form make these bundles central to integration, Generalized Stokes theorem and de Rham cohomology.

A nowhere-vanishing section of ${\Lambda }^n{T}^{\ast }M$ chooses an orientation of a smooth manifold; such a section exists exactly when $M$ is orientable. Without an orientation of a smooth manifold, one can still integrate sections of the density bundle $|{\Lambda }^n{T}^{\ast }M|$, whose coordinate changes use the absolute Jacobian determinant. A Riemannian metric is a positive-definite section $g$ of $S^2{T}^{\ast }M$. It identifies $TM$ with $T^{\ast }M$ by the musical isomorphisms $X\mapsto g(X,\cdot )$ and gives the Riemannian volume densityOn an oriented smooth manifold, this density corresponds to a volume form.

Another organizing construction is the frame bundle $FM$. A frame over $p$ is a linear isomorphism $u:{\mathbb{R}}^n\to T_{p}M$, and the right action $u\cdot A=u\circ A$ makes $FM$ a principal bundle with general linear group $GL(n,\mathbb{R})$ as its structure group. Given a group representation $\rho :GL(n,\mathbb{R})\to GL(V)$, the associated bundle $FM{\times }_{\rho }V$ is obtained from pairs $(u,v)$ by the relation $(uA,v)\sim (u,\rho (A)v)$. The standard representation reconstructs $TM$; dual, tensor and exterior representations reconstruct the associated bundles described above. A Riemannian metric reduces the frame bundle to the orthonormal frame bundle, with orthogonal group $O(n)$ as structure group; an orientation of a smooth manifold reduces it further to the special orthogonal group $SO(n)$. A global section of $FM$ is a global frame, so it exists exactly when $M$ is a parallelizable manifold. Local triviality does not imply a global trivialization: the Hairy ball theorem prevents even one nowhere-zero vector field on $S^2$.

A connection on a vector bundle differentiates its sections in tangent directions and defines parallel transport. For $TM$, the Levi-Civita connection is distinguished by compatibility with a Riemannian metric and vanishing torsion tensor. Its coefficients are not tensor components, because a coordinate change introduces second derivatives; the difference of two connections is a section of $T^{\ast }M\otimes \mathrm{End}(TM)$. The Riemann curvature tensor is a genuine tensor measuring the failure of covariant derivatives to commute.

Finally, a smooth map $f:M\to N$ gives the pullback tangent bundle $f^{\ast }TN$. Its sections are vector fields along a map, including the velocity of a curve and Jacobi fields along a geodesic. For an embedded submanifold $i:M\hookrightarrow N$, the derivative identifies $TM$ with a subbundle of $i^{\ast }TN$, and the quotient is the normal bundle. With an ambient Riemannian metric, the normal bundle is identified with the orthogonal complement of $TM$ in $i^{\ast }TN$; the second fundamental form records the normal component of the ambient derivative of tangent fields. These constructions connect the bundle description to both intrinsic and extrinsic differential geometry.

A principal bundle with structural Lie group $G$ is locally a product $U\times G$, with changes of trivialization of the form $(x,g)\mapsto (x,t(x)g)$. Define a right action locally by $(x,g)\cdot h=(x,gh)$. It is independent of trivialization because $t(x)(gh)=(t(x)g)h$. It is smooth and obeys the group-action law. Right multiplication in $G$ is free and transitive, so the global action is free and each fiber is a single orbit. Equivalently these properties and equivariant local triviality can be included in the definition of a principal bundle.

For a representation $\rho :G\to GL(V)$, form the associated vector bundleProjection sends $[p,v]$ to the base point of $p$. A local section $s(x)$ gives coordinates $[s(x),v]$ and hence a local product $U\times V$; on overlaps the principal transition functions act through $\rho$. Because these maps are linear in $v$, the fibers have well-defined vector-space structures.

For an $n$-dimensional manifold, its frame bundle has points $u:{\mathbb{R}}^n\to T_{x}M$ that are linear isomorphisms. Right action is composition $u\cdot A=u\circ A$ for $A\in GL(n,\mathbb{R})$. Coordinate frames provide local trivializations. Its associated bundle for the defining representation is the tangent bundle, by the well-defined map $[u,v]\mapsto u(v)$. A metric restricts the frames to linear isometries and reduces the group to $O(r,s)$; choosing orientation gives the corresponding special-orthogonal reduction.

In Minkowski spacetime choose a reference oriented pseudo-orthonormal frame at the origin. Every such frame is specified by its base point $a\in {\mathbb{R}}^{3,1}$ and a Lorentz transformation $L\in SO(3,1)$. The Poincaré group has multiplicationand its right Lorentz action is $(a,L)\cdot h=(a,Lh)$. Henceis the oriented orthonormal frame bundle of Minkowski spacetime. The same argument with $O(3,1)$ gives the full unoriented bundle. If time orientation is fixed, use the orthochronous components throughout; the use of $SO$ in the printed quotient is an orientation reduction.

For four-dimensional de Sitter spacetime, use the spacelike hyperboloid $x\cdot x={\ell }^2$ in ${\mathbb{R}}^{4,1}$. An element of $SO(4,1)$ maps a fixed unit spacelike vector to $x/\ell$, and its other columns give an oriented pseudo-orthonormal tangent frame. The stabilizer of that unit vector is $SO(3,1)$. This identifies the oriented frame bundle of de Sitter spacetime and its projection:The right stabilizer action changes the tangent frame without changing $x$.

For Anti-de Sitter spacetime, take $x\cdot x=-{\ell }^2$ in ${\mathbb{R}}^{3,2}$. A unit timelike normal has orthogonal complement of signature $(3,1)$, so its stabilizer is again $SO(3,1)$. Appending this normal to a tangent frame realizes the oriented orthonormal frame bundle of anti-de Sitter spacetime asConnected components or orientation/time-orientation restrictions must be chosen consistently. This quotient is the anti-de Sitter quadric, which has a periodic timelike coordinate. If “anti-de Sitter spacetime” denotes its universal cover, pull the frame bundle back to that cover, rather than identify the covered spacetime with the unmodified quotient.

Take a locally finite trivializing cover $(U_{\alpha })$ of the real vector bundle $E$, and a subordinate smooth partition of unity $({\rho }_{\alpha })$. Each trivialization identifies its fibers with ${\mathbb{R}}^m$ and hence supplies a smooth Euclidean inner product $g_{\alpha }$ there. DefineEach weighted term extends by zero outside its chart, since the weight has support within that chart. Local finiteness makes the sum smooth in every bundle chart. At each $b$ at least one weight is positive; for $v\ne 0$ every nonzero contribution to $g_b(v,v)$ is positive. Thus $g$ is a smooth positive-definite fiber metric, which is precisely an inner product varying smoothly with the fibers.

A G-structure on a vector bundle is a reduction of its frame bundle from $GL(m,\mathbb{R})$ to $G$: a principal $G$-subbundle $P\subseteq \mathrm{Fr}(E)$ whose extension of structure group is the full frame bundle. Equivalently, it is a choice of smooth local frames with transition matrices in $G$, and the reduction consists of the right $G$-orbits of these frames. The adapted frames are part of the structure, not merely a statement that an individual fiber has a basis.

Given a fiber metric, the Gram-Schmidt process transforms any smooth local frame into Euclidean orthonormal frames. At each step the squared norm to be divided out is positive, so the divisions and positive square roots depend smoothly on the base point. Two such frames differ by an orthogonal matrix. All the orthonormal frames therefore form a principal $O(m)$ reduction, an orthogonal structure on a real vector bundle.

Conversely, let $P$ be an $O(m)$ reduction. A frame $u:{\mathbb{R}}^m\to E_b$ in $P_b$ definesReplacing $u$ by $uq$ for $q\in O(m)$ leaves this rule unchanged, since $q$ preserves the Euclidean inner product. It is consequently independent of the adapted frame and defines a positive-definite fiber metric. Its coefficients are smooth in local adapted frames. These constructions are mutually inverse. An $O(m)$-structure is equivalent to a smooth fiberwise inner product.

For $SO(m)$, the additional condition is an orientation of a vector bundle. Such a reduction supplies consistently oriented orthonormal frames, since its transition determinants are $+1$. Conversely an orientation together with a fiber metric selects the oriented Euclidean orthonormal frames and gives an $SO(m)$ reduction. ThusIt is not true for every real bundle. The Möbius line bundle is obtained from $[0,2\pi ]\times \mathbb{R}$ by $(2\pi ,v)\sim (0,-v)$. If it had an orientation, hence a nowhere-zero continuous section, its coefficient on the interval would satisfy $f(2\pi )=-f(0)$ while staying nonzero. The intermediate value theorem makes that impossible. Since $SO(1)=\{1\}$, it has no $SO(1)$ reduction. For each $m\ge 1$, its direct sum with a trivial rank-$(m-1)$ bundle has transition matrix $\mathrm{diag}(-1,1,\dots ,1)$ and determinant line equal to the Möbius line. It is also nonorientable and has no $SO(m)$-structure. This obstruction concerns the bundle's orientation, independently of the existence of a metric.

A connection on a vector bundle specifies how to compare nearby fibers without identifying them globally. Several equivalent descriptions expose its algebra, local calculations and geometry.

The first description is a vector bundle covariant derivative, a real-linear mapEquivalently ${\nabla }_{X}s$ is linear over smooth functions in the vector field $X$, and obeys ${\nabla }_X(fs)=X(f)s+f{\nabla }_{X}s$ in the section. The derivative term distinguishes a connection from a bundle homomorphism. The Leibniz rule also makes it local: use a smooth cutoff equal to one near a point to see that its value depends only on the section near that point. Thus a connection restricts consistently to all open subsets.

The second description is a family of connection matrices in local frames. Write a frame as a row $e=(e_1,\dots ,e_m)$, so a section is $s=eu$ with coefficient column $u$. The connection is thenwhere $A$ is a matrix of one-forms determined by $\nabla e_j={\sum }_i{e}_i{A}^i{}_j$. If $e^{\prime }=eg$, the same section has $u=g{u}^{\prime }$. Expanding the Leibniz rule givesHence the change of frame of a vector-bundle connection isConversely, matrices of one-forms satisfying this transformation rule define $\nabla (eu)=e(du+Au)$ in each frame. The displayed calculation proves that these local formulas agree on overlaps; they therefore glue to a connection and obey its Leibniz rule. This proves equivalence of the first two descriptions in both directions.

A third description is parallel transport. Along a smooth curve $\gamma :[a,b]\to B$, a parallel section $s(t)=e(\gamma (t))u(t)$ satisfiesExistence and uniqueness for linear ordinary differential equations supply a unique solution for each initial fiber vector, smoothly dependent on that vector and on smooth families of curves. The frame transformation law makes these local solutions glue. The resulting map $P_{\gamma ,a,b}:E_{\gamma (a)}\to E_{\gamma (b)}$ is linear and invertible; reversing the curve gives its inverse, and concatenating curves composes the maps. It is generally dependent on the path, not just its endpoints.

One can recover the covariant derivative from this transport. For $\gamma (0)=b$ and $\dot{\gamma }(0)=X$, let $P_{0,t}$ be its transport from $0$ to $t$. ThenTo verify the formula rather than assume it, use a local frame and a fundamental solution matrix $P(t)$ with $P(0)=I$ and $\dot{P}=-A(\dot{\gamma })P$. Differentiation gives $(P^{-1}u{)}^{\prime }{|}_0=\dot{u}(0)+A_b(X)u(0)$, exactly the local covariant-derivative formula. Conversely the connection reconstructed from transport defined by this equation has the same differential equation and, by uniqueness, the same transport. Thus this viewpoint is also equivalent for the transport rules arising from a connection.

A fourth description is a linear horizontal distribution on a vector bundle. In a trivialization $E{|}_U=U\times {\mathbb{R}}^m$, putProjection maps this subspace isomorphically to $T_{b}B$, and it complements the vertical tangent space. Under the coordinate change $v=g{v}^{\prime }$, differentiation gives $\dot{v}=(dg)(X)v^{\prime }+g{\dot{v}}^{\prime }$. Thus the horizontal equation transforms into ${\dot{v}}^{\prime }=-A^{\prime }(X)v^{\prime }$, with exactly the same frame-change law. The subspaces consequently glue independently of trivializations. Their fiberwise linear dependence on $v$ is essential: an arbitrary horizontal complement can describe a nonlinear connection on the total space and need not define a vector-bundle connection. Conversely a horizontal complement with this linearity has a unique local expression of the displayed form, recovering the matrices $A$. Its horizontal lifts are precisely the parallel sections just described.

One can also express the geometry on the frame bundle as a principal connection. In local frame-bundle coordinates $(b,g)$, its Lie-algebra-valued form isIt is equivariant under right translation, $R_h^{\ast }\omega ={\mathrm{Ad}}_{h^{-1}}\omega$, and equals $\xi$ on the vertical vector generated by $\xi$. These properties define a principal connection; its kernel is the horizontal distribution on the frame bundle. Pulling back by a local frame section gives $A$, and its frame-change rule is once again the same formula. This identifies the principal viewpoint with the earlier descriptions.

Connections are not a vector space with a distinguished origin. The difference of two connections is linear over smooth functions in both $X$ and $s$, because their Leibniz terms cancel. It is a one-form with values in $\mathrm{End}E$. Conversely adding any such form to a connection gives another connection. Thus the collection is an affine space of vector-bundle connections modeled on ${\Omega }^1(B;\mathrm{End}E)$. The local curvature in the usual vector-bundle convention is $F=dA+A\wedge A$, representing ${\nabla }_X{\nabla }_Y-{\nabla }_Y{\nabla }_X-{\nabla }_{[X,Y]}$. It records the infinitesimal failure of path-independent parallel transport. Question 6 uses the opposite curvature sign, which will be stated explicitly there.

A smooth fiber bundle $\pi :E\to M$ with typical fiber $F$ is locally a product: every base point has a neighborhood $U$ and a local trivialization ${\pi }^{-1}(U)\cong U\times F$ commuting with projection to $U$. Its overlap maps act smoothly on $F$. A principal bundle with structure Lie group $G$ has a free right $G$-action, each fiber is one orbit, and the local trivializations are equivariant for right multiplication on $G$. A smooth section of a fiber bundle is a map $s:M\to E$ with $\pi \circ s={\mathrm{id}}_M$.

For a principal bundle, a global section of a fiber bundle gives the mapThe free transitive action on each fiber makes $\Phi$ bijective. In a local trivialization, write $s(x)=(x,a(x))$; then $\Phi (x,g)=(x,a(x)g)$ and its inverse is $(x,k)\mapsto (x,a(x{)}^{-1}k)$. Both are smooth and $\Phi$ is equivariant. Conversely, a product principal bundle has the section $x\mapsto (x,e)$. This proves a principal bundle is trivial exactly when it has a global section. The argument depends on the free transitive action: an arbitrary bundle section need not trivialize its bundle.

For an $n$-dimensional smooth manifold, the frame bundle has fiber over $x$ consisting of ordered bases of $T_{x}M$, equivalently linear isomorphisms $u:{\mathbb{R}}^n\to T_{x}M$. Right composition by $GL(n,\mathbb{R})$ makes it a principal bundle. If a metric has signature $(p,q)$, its pseudo-orthonormal frame bundle consists of the isometries $u:{\mathbb{R}}^{p,q}\to T_{x}M$, with structure group $O(p,q)$. In the positive-definite case this is the usual orthonormal frame bundle. Choosing space and time orientations reduces the Lorentzian structure group to its corresponding connected subgroup.

For Minkowski spacetime, use a fixed origin and a standard Lorentzian frame. Every pair consisting of a point and a pseudo-orthonormal frame is the image of this reference pair under a unique affine isometry. Thus, for the full groups,Here the first expression denotes the total space of the orthonormal frame bundle, not merely the Lorentz group. Projection sends an affine isometry to the image of the reference point, and the right action of the stabilizer changes its frame.

Realize de Sitter spacetime of radius $\ell$ as ${\eta }_{AB}{X}^A{X}^B={\ell }^2$ in ${\mathbb{R}}^{1,4}$. The ambient orthogonal group is transitive on this hyperboloid. Its point stabilizer acts on the Lorentzian tangent space as $O(1,3)$; choosing a tangent orthonormal frame removes that stabilizer completely. ConsequentlyFor oriented, time-oriented frames, replace these groups by $S{O}_0(1,4)$ and $S{O}_0(1,3)$, and similarly use the proper orthochronous Poincaré group for Minkowski spacetime. The isometries are uniquely determined by their action on a point and its frame, which explains these bundle identifications.

Finally, choose a basis $v_1,\dots ,v_n$ of the Lie algebra $T_{e}G$. The left-invariant vector fields $X_i(g)=(d{L}_g{)}_e{v}_i$ form a basis at every $g$, because $L_g$ is a diffeomorphism. They give a global section of a fiber bundle of the frame bundle, so that bundle is trivial. More explicitly,Thus every Lie group is a parallelizable manifold; connectedness is not needed for this construction.