Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 iii Paper 309 1 b Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
At , the differential of a smooth map defines the pushforward of a vector field byThis is a tangent vector at , and varies smoothly as a section of the pullback tangent bundle. In local coordinates its components are .
For a general smooth map between manifolds, this is a vector field along a map, rather than an intrinsic vector field on all of . A vector field on the image can be defined only if these vectors agree whenever two points have the same image, and the resulting field must also be smooth; a projectable vector field must meet that requirement. For a diffeomorphism, there is no ambiguity and . For example, on and give , with opposite nonzero values at the two preimages of . Thus the source's notation must be read with this qualification.