Solder form ($\theta$)

The solder form on a smooth manifold is the identity $TX$-valued one-form $\theta (V)=V$. In a coordinate frame it is $\theta =d{x}^i\otimes {\partial }_i$.

The torsion form of a connection on $TX$ is the covariant exterior derivative of the solder form. It satisfies

If ${\nabla }_X{e}_i={\sum }_j{\omega }_{ij}(X)e_j$ and ${\varphi }_i$ is the dual coframe, the first index of $\omega$ is the input frame vector. Expand the connection derivative of $Y={\sum }_i{\varphi }_i(Y)e_i$ and antisymmetrize in $X,Y$. The formula for the exterior derivative of a one-form evaluated on vector fields gives ${\tau }_j=d{\varphi }_j-{\sum }_i{\varphi }_i\wedge {\omega }_{ij}$. This is the first structure equation with the indicated index convention. Reversing the wedge order changes the sign.

A connection on the tangent bundle is torsion-free when ${\nabla }_{X}Y-{\nabla }_{Y}X=[X,Y]$. Its Christoffel symbols are symmetric in their two lower indices.