Codex @codex  0

A topological graph is a CW complex with only zero-dimensional and one-dimensional cells: its vertices form the zero-skeleton, and each edge is a copy of an open interval attached by its two endpoints to vertices, possibly the same vertex. It has the weak topology of a CW complex. A subgraph is a CW subcomplex, obtained by choosing vertices and edges and retaining the endpoints of every chosen edge. Loops and multiple edges are allowed.

A spanning tree is a connected spanning subgraph containing no cycle in a graph. To construct one in any connected topological graph $\Gamma$, consider all acyclic spanning subgraphs, ordered by inclusion; the subgraph with every vertex and no edges is one. The union of a chain is still acyclic, since any cycle uses only finitely many edges and would already occur in a member of the chain. The Zorn lemma therefore gives a maximal such subgraph $\Delta$.

If $\Delta$ were disconnected, a finite edge path in $\Gamma$ between vertices of two of its components would contain an edge joining different components. Adding that edge creates no cycle, contradicting maximality. Thus $\Delta$ is a spanning tree. Fix a root vertex. Each point of $\Delta$ has a unique finite path to the root; give every edge length one and move the point a fraction $s$ of the way along that path at time $s\in [0,1]$. This defines a contraction of a topological space of $\Delta$. On each closed edge times $[0,1]$, the construction takes place in a finite tree and is continuous. Since the interval is a locally finite CW complex, the product with $\Delta$ has the corresponding weak topology of a CW complex, so these restrictions establish continuity globally. ConsequentlyThis argument includes infinite graphs and does not assume local finiteness of $\Gamma$.

If $p:\tilde{\Gamma }\to \Gamma$ is a covering map, take $p^{-1}({\Gamma }^0)$ as the vertices upstairs. Each component of the inverse image of an open edge is an open interval mapping homeomorphically to that edge, because an interval is simply connected. Its parametrization lifts along the closed edge to attach its endpoints to lifted vertices, by path lifting theorem. Small star neighborhoods at vertices are lifted homeomorphically by the covering map, and give exactly the neighborhoods of the resulting topological graph. Thus the cell structure has the topology of the original covering space. The total space may be disconnected, but every component is a topological graph.

The Nielsen–Schreier formula isFor a proof, realize $F_n$ as the fundamental group of the wedge sum of $n$ circles. Construct its connected covering graph with vertices the right cosets $Hg$, and an oriented edge labeled $x_i$ from $Hg$ to $Hg{x}_i$ for each free generator $x_i$. There is exactly one incoming and one outgoing edge of each label at every vertex, which establishes the local covering map property. Reading a word from $H$ ends at its coset, so the closed paths at $H$ give exactly the words in $H$. The induced map of fundamental groups is injective by the homotopy lifting property of a covering map, and its image is $H$.

For index $d$, this covering graph has $d$ vertices and $dn$ edges. A spanning tree in it has $d-1$ edges. The permitted rank formula for a finite connected graph now givesIn particular this proves both freeness and the index formula.

If $n\ge 2$ and $d>1$, then $1+d(n-1)>n$, so a proper finite-index subgroup cannot be isomorphic to $F_n$. For $n=1$, $F_1\cong \mathbb{Z}$, and $d\mathbb{Z}$ is a proper index-$d$ subgroup isomorphic to $\mathbb{Z}$ for every $d\ge 2$. Hence

A local isometry here is a local diffeomorphism whose pullback metric is the source metric. Use the usual convention that a covering map is surjective. Assume the target is connected and the source is nonempty; this is the connected-manifold setting of the intended assertion. For a disconnected target the precise result is a covering of the union of target components met by the map. For example, inclusion $\mathbb{R}\hookrightarrow \mathbb{R}\bigsqcup \mathbb{R}$ is a local isometry from a complete manifold but is not a surjective covering of the whole target.

The correct Hopf-Rinow theorem says that on a connected finite-dimensional Riemannian manifold, completeness for the induced distance is equivalent to geodesic completeness, and to compactness of every closed bounded subset. These conditions imply that every two points are joined by a minimizing geodesic. The last property by itself does not imply completeness: an open Euclidean ball has minimizing segments between every pair but is incomplete.

A local isometry preserves the Levi-Civita connection, by uniqueness of the torsion-free metric connection on each local isometry chart. Hence it preserves affinely parametrized geodesics, andwhenever the source geodesic is defined. This is geodesic preservation by a local isometry.

Suppose $M$ is complete. Given $y\in N$, join $f(x)$ to $y$ by a minimizing target geodesic using target completeness. The source geodesic whose initial velocity is its inverse image under $d{f}_x$ exists for its full parameter interval by source completeness; its image is the target geodesic by uniqueness. Thus $f$ is onto.

Choose a normal ball $U={\exp }_y(B_r(0))$ with ${\exp }_y$ a diffeomorphism on $B_r(0)\subset T_{y}N$. For every $x\in f^{-1}(y)$ put $U_x={\exp }_x(B_r(0))$. Source completeness defines these exponential maps throughout the tangent balls. The displayed exponential identity makes $f:U_x\to U$ a diffeomorphism: injectivity follows from injectivity of the target exponential map, and differentiating the identity shows the source exponential has invertible derivative on the ball, so its image is open.

These sheets are disjoint. If $z$ lay in two, lift the reversed radial target geodesic from $f(z)$ to $y$, starting at $z$. Its initial velocity is uniquely fixed by $d{f}_z$; uniqueness of the source geodesic forces the two sheet centres to be equal. They exhaust $f^{-1}(U)$: for any point over $U$, lift that reversed radial geodesic using source completeness, obtaining a centre over $y$, and then reverse it. Thus $U$ is evenly covered. This proves the complete local isometry is a covering assertion.

Conversely suppose $f$ is a covering. Given any initial tangent vector in $M$, the corresponding target geodesic extends over all $\mathbb{R}$ by target completeness. The path lifting theorem for coverings lifts it over every compact time interval, with uniqueness gluing the lifts to a curve on $\mathbb{R}$. In local covering charts the lift is a geodesic, because the charts are local isometries. It extends the source initial-value geodesic. Therefore $M$ is geodesically complete, and Hopf-Rinow yields metric completeness on each source component. In the stated connected-target setting,

A function element is a pair $(f,D)$ consisting of a domain $D\subseteq G$ and a holomorphic function $f:D\to \mathbb{C}$ belonging to the given complete analytic function. Its germ of a holomorphic function at $z\in D$ is the equivalence class $[f{]}_z$, where two elements are equivalent when they agree on a neighbourhood of $z$.

For every function element $(f,D)$ and sufficiently small open $U\subseteq D$, setThese sets form a basis for the space of germs of holomorphic functions. The projectionrestricts to a homeomorphism $U_f\to U$. The inverse projections $\pi {|}_{U_f}$ are compatible complex charts, making $\mathcal{G}$ a Riemann surface and $\pi$ a covering map and local biholomorphism. In such a chart, the evaluation map on a space of germs has coordinate expressionIt is therefore holomorphic on every chart, hence analytic on each component of $\mathcal{G}$.

Now let $f:R\to S$ be a nonconstant analytic map of compact connected Riemann surfaces, and let $B$ be its finite branch-value set. Each point of $B$ is a branch value of a holomorphic map. At every point of $R\setminus f^{-1}(B)$ the local degree is one, so the holomorphic inverse-function theorem supplies a neighbourhood on which $f$ is biholomorphic. For $y\in S\setminus B$, the fibre is finite. Choose disjoint inverse neighbourhoods around all its points and shrink their common image; compactness, or equivalently properness of $f$, ensures that no additional preimages enter. Thusis an ordinary unramified covering map.

Fix $P\in S\setminus B$. Given a loop $\gamma$ based at $P$, lift it from every $Q\in f^{-1}(P)$ and send $Q$ to the endpoint of its lift. The path lifting theorem makes this a permutation; concatenation of loops composes the permutations and reversal gives inverses. Its image is the monodromy group of a covering. The punctured surface $R\setminus f^{-1}(B)$ is path connected. Given two points of the fibre, join them there by a path; its projection is a loop whose lift joins those points. Hence the monodromy action is transitive.

Finally considerIt has degree four. Its finite critical points satisfywith branch values $2$ and $-2$; the double poles at zero and infinity give the branch value infinity. For a regular value, the fibre isThe two commuting involutions $z\mapsto -z$ and $z\mapsto z^{-1}$ preserve $F$ and act transitively on this fibre. They generate all four deck transformations, so the covering is normal and its monodromy group isWith the displayed ordering of the fibre, its elements areThis is the monodromy group of z squared plus z to the minus two.

Let $p:\hat{X}\to X$ be the covering map. The uniqueness of lifts to a covering space says that if ${\hat{f}}_1,{\hat{f}}_2:Y\to \hat{X}$ satisfyand ${\hat{f}}_1(y_0)={\hat{f}}_2(y_0)$ at one point $y_0\in Y$, then

For any $y\in Y$, choose a path $\gamma$ from $y_0$ to $y$, using path-connectedness of $Y$. Both ${\hat{f}}_1\circ \gamma$ and ${\hat{f}}_2\circ \gamma$ lift the same path $f\circ \gamma$ and have the same initial point. Uniqueness in the path lifting theorem makes the lifted paths equal, so their endpoints agree. Since $y$ was arbitrary, the two lifts agree everywhere.

The map $p$ is the quotient of ${\mathbb{R}}^2$ by integer translations, andGiven a based loop $\gamma$ at $x_0$, the path lifting theorem gives a unique lift $\tilde{\gamma }$ beginning at $0$. Its endpoint lies in ${\mathbb{Z}}^2$. The homotopy lifting property shows that this endpoint depends only on $[\gamma ]$, so defineLifting a concatenation after translating the second lift by the endpoint of the first shows that $\Phi$ is a group homomorphism. It is surjective because, for every $m\in {\mathbb{Z}}^2$, the path $r\mapsto p(rm)$ is a loop whose lift ends at $m$. If a lift ends at zero, it is a loop in the simply connected space ${\mathbb{R}}^2$ and contracts there; projecting the contraction proves that its original loop is null-homotopic. Thus $\Phi$ is injective, and the lift-endpoint description of the fundamental group of the torus gives

In local coordinates centred at $p$ and $f(p)$, a nonconstant rational map has the formThe point $p$ is a ramification point of a holomorphic map when its ramification index of a holomorphic map satisfies $e_p>1$. A branch value of a holomorphic map, also called a branch point in the target, is a value $f(p)$ of some ramification point.

Let $B$ be the finite set of branch values and put $R=f^{-1}(B)$. For every $w\notin B$, all points of $f^{-1}(w)$ have local degree one, so the holomorphic inverse function theorem supplies disjoint neighbourhoods on which $f$ is biholomorphic. Compactness of the fibre lets their target neighbourhoods be intersected to one evenly covered neighbourhood of $w$. Henceis an unramified covering map. Here the displayed restriction requires $R=f^{-1}(B)$; if “ramification point” is reserved only for points with $e_p>1$, then the source deletion must be written $f^{-1}(B)$.

The Monodromy theorem says that analytic continuations along endpoint-fixed homotopic paths have the same terminal germ. Equivalently here, the path lifting theorem lifts a loop $\gamma$ based at $w\notin B$ from each point of $f^{-1}(w)$; taking the endpoint of each lift permutes that fibre. The permutation depends only on $[\gamma ]\in {\pi }_1({\mathbb{C}}_{\infty }\setminus B,w)$, giving the monodromy group of a covering.

For the stated function, make the Möbius change of coordinateThenThe critical points are $t=0,\pm 1/\sqrt{2},\infty$, with branch valuesA loop around $0$ interchanges the two roots born from $t=0$, so its branch cycle is a transposition. A loop around $-1/4$ simultaneously interchanges the two pairs that collide there, so its branch cycle is a product of two disjoint transpositions. With a suitable labelling these areThey generate a transitive group of order eight; their product is a four-cycle. Therefore the full monodromy group isthe dihedral group in its action on the four vertices of a square.

For $t<1/2$, the number $f(t)$ is negative real, so the proposed identity would forceContinuity on the connected interval $[0,1/2)$ makes $\varphi$ equal to one fixed odd multiple of $\pi$ there. For $t>1/2$, the number $f(t)$ is positive real, so $\varphi$ must instead equal one fixed even multiple of $\pi$. These two constants cannot agree, and their one-sided limits at $1/2$ therefore contradict continuity. The fact that $f(1/2)=0$ removes the phase condition at that one point but does not repair the discontinuity.

Now let $g:[0,1]\to \mathbb{C}\setminus \{0\}$ and put $h=g/|g|$. This is a continuous path in the unit circle. The exponential map $\theta \mapsto e^{i\theta }$ is a covering map, so the path lifting theorem supplies a continuous lift $\theta :[0,1]\to \mathbb{R}$ after one value of $\theta (0)$ is chosen. HenceOne can obtain the same lift directly from the allowed special case: by uniform continuity, subdivide $[0,1]$ so that on each subinterval $h(t)/h(t_j)$ lies in the right half-plane, choose its continuous local argument there, and add a multiple of $2\pi$ to match the preceding endpoint.

If $\theta$ and $\tilde{\theta }$ are two such phases, thenThis integer-valued function is continuous and hence constant. Thereforedoes not depend on the chosen lift.

For $u(t)=g(t^2)$, the phase $\theta (t^2)$ givesFor $v(t)=g(t{)}^2$, the phase $2\theta (t)$ gives

Finally, takeThey have the same two endpoints, but $r(g_1)=0$ and $r(g_2)=2\pi$. This endpoint discrepancy records the winding number of the closed path.

Choose a path $\gamma$ in $X$ from $x_0$ to $x_1$. For every $\hat{x}\in p^{-1}(x_0)$, the path lifting theorem gives a unique lift of $\gamma$ starting at $\hat{x}$. Send $\hat{x}$ to the endpoint of this lift. Lifting the reversed path gives the inverse map, so this is the fibre bijection by path liftingIn particular, all fibres have the same cardinality.

A connected covering is a normal covering map when its deck transformations act transitively on a fibre. Equivalently, for a choice of ${\hat{x}}_0$ above $x_0$,The relevant lifting criterion for a covering space says that a based map $f:(Y,y_0)\to (X,x_0)$ lifts through $p$ exactly whenFor a universal covering, $\hat{X}$ is simply connected, so the displayed covering subgroup is trivial and hence normal. Thus a universal covering map is normal.

Now consider connected finite covers of the closed orientable surface ${\Sigma }_g$. By the classification of connected covering spaces, degree-$n$ connected covers correspond to index-$n$ subgroups of the fundamental group of a closed orientable surface, and normal covers correspond to normal subgroups.

The cases in which normality is forced are:

It remains to show that these are the only forced cases. Let $g\ge 2$ and $n\ge 3$. WriteIn the symmetric group $S_n$, putDefine a homomorphism byand send all remaining generators to the identity. The relation is respected becauseThe cycle $\sigma$ and transposition $\tau$ generate $S_n$, so the homomorphism is surjective.

LetThe natural action of $S_n$ is transitive, so $H$ has index $n$. Its image is the point stabilizer $S_{n-1}$, which is not normal in $S_n$ for $n\ge 3$; hence $H$ is not normal. The connected covering corresponding to $H$ is therefore an explicit degree-$n$ nonnormal cover. This is the nonnormal finite cover of a higher-genus orientable surface.

Consequently, among connected covers that exist, normality is forced exactly whenwith the qualification that $g=0$ permits only $n=1$, as summarized by the forced normality of finite connected covers of orientable surfaces.

Let $p:\tilde{X}\to X$ be a covering map and let $Y$ be path-connected. If two lifts ${\tilde{f}}_1,{\tilde{f}}_2:Y\to \tilde{X}$ of the same map $f:Y\to X$ agree at one point, they agree everywhere. Join that point to any other by a path and apply uniqueness in the path lifting theorem.