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Symplectic manifolds arise from classical mechanics; in particular, they are a generalization of the phase space of a closed system. [1] In the same way the Hamilton equations allow one to derive the time evolution of a system from a set of differential equations, the symplectic form should allow one to obtain a vector field describing the flow of the system from the differential of a ...
Important to applications in mathematics and physics [1] is the notion of a flow on a manifold. In particular, if M {\displaystyle M} is a smooth manifold and X {\displaystyle X} is a smooth vector field , one is interested in finding integral curves to X {\displaystyle X} .
Let V be a smooth vector field on a smooth manifold M. There is a unique maximal flow D → M whose infinitesimal generator is V. Here D ⊆ R × M is the flow domain. For each p ∈ M the map D p → M is the unique maximal integral curve of V starting at p. A global flow is one whose flow domain is all of R × M. Global flows define smooth ...
Riemannian geometry is the branch of differential geometry that studies Riemannian manifolds, defined as smooth manifolds with a Riemannian metric (an inner product on the tangent space at each point that varies smoothly from point to point). This gives, in particular, local notions of angle, length of curves, surface area and volume.
In mathematics, differential topology is the field dealing with the topological properties and smooth properties [a] of smooth manifolds.In this sense differential topology is distinct from the closely related field of differential geometry, which concerns the geometric properties of smooth manifolds, including notions of size, distance, and rigid shape.
In the theory of smooth manifolds, a congruence is the set of integral curves defined by a nonvanishing vector field defined on the manifold. Congruences are an important concept in general relativity , and are also important in parts of Riemannian geometry .
The cotangent bundle T*N of any n-dimensional manifold N is itself a manifold (of dimension 2n) and supports naturally an exact symplectic structure ω = dλ. (This 1-form λ is sometimes called the Liouville form). There are several ways to construct an associated contact manifold, some of dimension 2n − 1, some of dimension 2n + 1.
Let be a smooth manifold; a (smooth) distribution assigns to any point a vector subspace in a smooth way. More precisely, consists of a collection {} of vector subspaces with the following property: Around any there exist a neighbourhood and a collection of vector fields, …, such that, for any point , span {(), …, ()} =.