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For the positive Laplace-Beltrami operator, the kernel solving $({\partial }_t+{\Delta }_x)H=0$ with initial Dirac delta distribution on the diagonal represents the heat semigroup. On a closed manifold with a Riemannian metric it is smooth for $t>0$, symmetric, nonnegative, preserves constants, and obeys the semigroup property.

A smooth local basis of vector fields whose inner products under a Riemannian metric are the identity matrix. Tracing the Riemannian Hessian in such a frame gives the Laplace-Beltrami operator, with the chosen sign.

For Riemannian manifolds $(M,g)$ and $(N,h)$, the product metric on $M\times N$ is $g\oplus h$. Its Levi-Civita connection and curvature split by factors, so its Ricci and scalar curvatures are the corresponding sums.

A Riemannian metric on a Lie group is right-invariant when every right translation is an isometry. It is determined by a positive-definite inner product at the identity, extended with a coframe of right-invariant differential forms. Its translation-generated Killing vector fields are left-invariant, rather than the right-invariant vector fields dual to that coframe.

On a closed manifold with a Riemannian metric, an orthonormal eigenbasis for the positive Laplace-Beltrami operator gives this formula, with eigenvalues counted with multiplicity. Polynomial elliptic bounds and exponential time decay give convergence of every derivative away from time zero. The conjugate is necessary for a complex basis.

On a compact smooth manifold without boundary of dimension at least two, a residual set of smooth Riemannian metrics consists of nowhere locally homogeneous metrics. Thus such metrics are dense in the smooth topology by the Baire category theorem. In dimension one, arclength coordinates always provide nontrivial local isometries.

The surface Laplacian is the Laplace-Beltrami operator of a surface with its induced Riemannian metric. It is ${\Delta }_{s}f={\nabla }_s\cdot {\nabla }_{s}f$, using the surface gradient and surface divergence. On a sphere of radius $a$, a degree-$l$ spherical harmonic has eigenvalue $-l(l+1)/a^2$.

For a compact connected oriented boundaryless $n$-dimensional smooth manifold, choose a Riemannian metric. Harmonic functions are constant because $⟨f,\Delta f⟩=\Vert df{\Vert }^2$, and Hodge star commutes with the Hodge Laplacian. Thus the Hodge star operator identifies the constant functions with the harmonic differential forms of top degree, exactly $\mathbb{R}{\omega }_g$. The Hodge decomposition theorem identifies these with the top de Rham cohomology. The metric volume form has nonzero class by Stokes theorem. The harmonic-representative theorem is stated in Denis Auroux's Hodge theory lecture.

Pointwise domination of Riemannian metrics gives domination of their distances. A Cauchy sequence for the larger distance is Cauchy for the complete smaller one. Smooth positive metrics induce the same manifold topology, so its limit is also a limit in the larger distance. The Hopf-Rinow theorem turns metric completeness into geodesic completeness. Mere positivity of the second metric, without domination, is insufficient.