Exterior Covariant Differentiation
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In the mathematical field of
differential geometry Differential geometry is a mathematical discipline that studies the geometry of smooth shapes and smooth spaces, otherwise known as smooth manifolds. It uses the techniques of differential calculus, integral calculus, linear algebra and multili ...
, the exterior covariant derivative is an extension of the notion of
exterior derivative On a differentiable manifold, the exterior derivative extends the concept of the differential of a function to differential forms of higher degree. The exterior derivative was first described in its current form by Élie Cartan in 1899. The res ...
to the setting of a differentiable principal bundle or vector bundle with a connection.


Definition

Let ''G'' be a Lie group and be a principal ''G''-bundle on a smooth manifold ''M''. Suppose there is a connection on ''P''; this yields a natural direct sum decomposition T_u P = H_u \oplus V_u of each tangent space into the
horizontal Horizontal may refer to: *Horizontal plane, in astronomy, geography, geometry and other sciences and contexts *Horizontal coordinate system, in astronomy *Horizontalism, in monetary circuit theory *Horizontalism, in sociology *Horizontal market, ...
and vertical subspaces. Let h: T_u P \to H_u be the projection to the horizontal subspace. If ''ϕ'' is a ''k''-form on ''P'' with values in a vector space ''V'', then its exterior covariant derivative ''Dϕ'' is a form defined by :D\phi(v_0, v_1,\dots, v_k)= d \phi(h v_0 ,h v_1,\dots, h v_k) where ''v''''i'' are tangent vectors to ''P'' at ''u''. Suppose that is a
representation Representation may refer to: Law and politics *Representation (politics), political activities undertaken by elected representatives, as well as other theories ** Representative democracy, type of democracy in which elected officials represent a ...
of ''G'' on a vector space ''V''. If ''ϕ'' is
equivariant In mathematics, equivariance is a form of symmetry for functions from one space with symmetry to another (such as symmetric spaces). A function is said to be an equivariant map when its domain and codomain are acted on by the same symmetry group, ...
in the sense that :R_g^* \phi = \rho(g)^\phi where R_g(u) = ug, then ''Dϕ'' is a tensorial -form on ''P'' of the type ''ρ'': it is equivariant and horizontal (a form ''ψ'' is horizontal if .) By abuse of notation, the differential of ''ρ'' at the identity element may again be denoted by ''ρ'': :\rho: \mathfrak \to \mathfrak(V). Let \omega be the connection one-form and \rho(\omega) the representation of the connection in \mathfrak(V). That is, \rho(\omega) is a \mathfrak(V)-valued form, vanishing on the horizontal subspace. If ''ϕ'' is a tensorial ''k''-form of type ''ρ'', then :D \phi = d \phi + \rho(\omega) \cdot \phi, where, following the notation in ', we wrote : (\rho(\omega) \cdot \phi)(v_1, \dots, v_) = \sum_ \operatorname(\sigma)\rho(\omega(v_)) \phi(v_, \dots, v_). Unlike the usual
exterior derivative On a differentiable manifold, the exterior derivative extends the concept of the differential of a function to differential forms of higher degree. The exterior derivative was first described in its current form by Élie Cartan in 1899. The res ...
, which squares to 0, the exterior covariant derivative does not. In general, one has, for a tensorial zero-form ''ϕ'', :D^2\phi=F \cdot \phi.Proof: Since ''ρ'' acts on the constant part of ''ω'', it commutes with ''d'' and thus :d(\rho(\omega) \cdot \phi) = d(\rho(\omega)) \cdot \phi - \rho(\omega) \cdot d\phi = \rho(d \omega) \cdot \phi - \rho(\omega) \cdot d\phi. Then, according to the example at , :D^2 \phi = \rho(d \omega) \cdot \phi + \rho(\omega) \cdot (\rho(\omega) \cdot \phi) = \rho(d \omega) \cdot \phi + \rho( omega \wedge \omega \cdot \phi, which is \rho(\Omega) \cdot \phi by
E. Cartan's structure equation In differential geometry, the curvature form describes curvature of a connection on a principal bundle. The Riemann curvature tensor in Riemannian geometry can be considered as a special case. Definition Let ''G'' be a Lie group with Lie algebra ...
.
where is the representation in \mathfrak(V) of the curvature two-form Ω. The form F is sometimes referred to as the
field strength tensor In electromagnetism, the electromagnetic tensor or electromagnetic field tensor (sometimes called the field strength tensor, Faraday tensor or Maxwell bivector) is a mathematical object that describes the electromagnetic field in spacetime. Th ...
, in analogy to the role it plays in electromagnetism. Note that ''D''2 vanishes for a
flat connection In differential geometry, the curvature form describes curvature of a connection on a principal bundle. The Riemann curvature tensor in Riemannian geometry can be considered as a special case. Definition Let ''G'' be a Lie group with Lie algebra ...
(i.e. when ). If , then one can write :\rho(\Omega) = F = \sum _j _i where _j is the matrix with 1 at the -th entry and zero on the other entries. The matrix _j whose entries are 2-forms on ''P'' is called the curvature matrix.


For vector bundles

Given a smooth real vector bundle with a connection and rank , the exterior covariant derivative is a real-linear map on the
vector-valued differential forms In mathematics, a vector-valued differential form on a manifold ''M'' is a differential form on ''M'' with values in a vector space ''V''. More generally, it is a differential form with values in some vector bundle ''E'' over ''M''. Ordinary differe ...
which are valued in : :d^\nabla:\Omega^k(M,E)\to\Omega^(M,E). The covariant derivative is such a map for . The exterior covariant derivatives extends this map to general . There are several equivalent ways to define this object: * Suppose that a vector-valued differential 2-form is regarded as assigning to each a multilinear map which is completely anti-symmetric. Then the exterior covariant derivative assigns to each a multilinear map given by the formula ::\begin\nabla_(s(X_2,X_3))&-\nabla_(s(X_1,X_3))+\nabla_(s(X_1,X_2))\\ &-s( _1,X_2x_3)+s( _1,X_3x_2)-s( _2,X_3x_1).\end :where are arbitrary tangent vectors at which are extended to smooth locally-defined vector fields . The legitimacy of this definition depends on the fact that the above expression depends only on , and not on the choice of extension. This can be verified by the Leibniz rule for covariant differentiation and for the
Lie bracket of vector fields In the mathematical field of differential topology, the Lie bracket of vector fields, also known as the Jacobi–Lie bracket or the commutator of vector fields, is an operator that assigns to any two vector fields ''X'' and ''Y'' on a smooth m ...
. The pattern established in the above formula in the case can be directly extended to define the exterior covariant derivative for arbitrary . * The exterior covariant derivative may be characterized by the axiomatic property of defining for each a real-linear map which for is the covariant derivative and in general satisfies the Leibniz rule ::d^\nabla(\omega \wedge s) = (d\omega) \wedge s + (-1)^k \omega \wedge (d^\nabla s) :for any differential -form and any vector-valued form . This may also be viewed as a direct inductive definition. For instance, for any vector-valued differential 1-form and any local frame of the vector bundle, the coordinates of are locally-defined differential 1-forms . The above inductive formula then says that ::\begin d^\nabla s&=d^\nabla(\omega_1\wedge e_1+\cdots+\omega_r\wedge e_r)\\ &=d\omega_1\wedge e_1+\cdots+d\omega_r\wedge e_r-\omega_1\wedge \nabla e_1-\cdots-\omega_r\wedge\nabla e_r.\end :In order for this to be a legitimate definition of , it must be verified that the choice of local frame is irrelevant. This can be checked by considering a second local frame obtained by an arbitrary change-of-basis matrix; the inverse matrix provides the change-of-basis matrix for the 1-forms . When substituted into the above formula, the Leibniz rule as applied for the standard exterior derivative and for the covariant derivative cancel out the arbitrary choice. * A vector-valued differential 2-form may be regarded as a certain collection of functions assigned to an arbitrary local frame of over a local coordinate chart of . The exterior covariant derivative is then defined as being given by the functions ::(d^\nabla s)^\alpha_=\nabla_is^\alpha_-\nabla_js^\alpha_+\nabla_ks^\alpha_. :The fact that this defines a tensor field valued in is a direct consequence of the same fact for the covariant derivative. The further fact that it is a differential 3-form valued in asserts the full anti-symmetry in and is directly verified from the above formula and the contextual assumption that is a vector-valued differential 2-form, so that . The pattern in this definition of the exterior covariant derivative for can be directly extended to larger values of .
This definition may alternatively be expressed in terms of an arbitrary local frame of but without considering coordinates on . Then a vector-valued differential 2-form is expressed by differential 2-forms and the connection is expressed by the connection 1-forms, a skew-symmetric matrix of differential 1-forms . The exterior covariant derivative of , as a vector-valued differential 3-form, is expressed relative to the local frame by many differential 3-forms, defined by ::(d^\nabla s)^\alpha=d(s^\alpha)+\theta_\beta^\alpha\wedge s^\beta. In the case of the trivial real line bundle with its standard connection, vector-valued differential forms and differential forms can be naturally identified with one another, and each of the above definitions coincides with the standard
exterior derivative On a differentiable manifold, the exterior derivative extends the concept of the differential of a function to differential forms of higher degree. The exterior derivative was first described in its current form by Élie Cartan in 1899. The res ...
. Given a principal bundle, any linear representation of the structure group defines an associated bundle, and any connection on the principal bundle induces a connection on the associated vector bundle. Differential forms valued in the vector bundle may be naturally identified with fully anti-symmetric tensorial forms on the total space of the principal bundle. Under this identification, the notions of exterior covariant derivative for the principal bundle and for the vector bundle coincide with one another. The
curvature In mathematics, curvature is any of several strongly related concepts in geometry. Intuitively, the curvature is the amount by which a curve deviates from being a straight line, or a surface deviates from being a plane. For curves, the canonic ...
of a connection on a vector bundle may be defined as the composition of the two exterior covariant derivatives and , so that it is defined as a real-linear map . It is a fundamental but not immediately apparent fact that only depends on , and does so linearly. As such, the curvature may be regarded as an element of . Depending on how the exterior covariant derivative is formulated, various alternative but equivalent definitions of curvature (some without the language of exterior differentiation) can be obtained. It is a well-known fact that the composition of the standard exterior derivative with itself is zero: . In the present context, this can be regarded as saying that the standard connection on the trivial line bundle has zero curvature.


Example

*
Bianchi's second identity In differential geometry, the curvature form describes curvature of a connection on a principal bundle. The Riemann curvature tensor in Riemannian geometry can be considered as a special case. Definition Let ''G'' be a Lie group with Lie alge ...
, which says that the exterior covariant derivative of Ω is zero (that is, ) can be stated as: d\Omega + \operatorname(\omega) \cdot \Omega = d\Omega + omega \wedge \Omega= 0.


Notes


References

* * * * * * * * * * * * {{Tensors Connection (mathematics) Differential geometry Fiber bundles