Differential Geometry (MATH 230A)

Differential Geometry (MATH 230A)

Fan Ye | Fall 2022 | Harvard University
Basic properties and examples of smooth manifolds, Lie groups, and vector bundles; Riemannian geometry (metrics, geodesics, Levi-Civita connections, and Riemann curvature tensors); principal bundles and associated vector bundles with their connections and characteristic classes.

General

References

Differential Geometry: Bundles, Connections, Metrics, and Curvature, Chapters 1-16 - Clifford H. Taubes
Differential Forms in Algebraic Geometry - Raoul Bott and Loring W. Tu

Week-by-Week Lecture

  • Class 1: Introduction to Manifolds (Cliff, Chap. 1)
  • Class 2: Smooth Manifolds (Chap. 1)
  • Class 3: Lie Group (Chap. 2)
  • Class 4: Vector Bundle (Chap. 3)
  • Class 5: Tangent Bundle
  • Class 6: Tangent Bundle and Cotangent Bundle
  • Class 7: Bundle Algebra and Bundle Maps (Chap. 4-5)
  • Class 8 Metrics on Vector Bundles
  • Class 9 Riemannian Metric
  • Class 10: Geodesic (Chap. 8)
  • Class 11: Geodesic Theorem (Chap. 9)
  • Class 12: de Rham Cohomology (Chap. 12)
  • Class 13: Exterior Derivative and Lie Derivative
  • Class 14: Covariant Derivative (Chap. 11)
  • Class 18: Covariantly Constant Section and Curvature
  • Class 19: Bianchi Identity and Chern Class (Chap. 14)
  • Class 20: Principal Bundle (Chap. 10)
  • Class 21: Review
  • Class 22: Connection on Principal Bundle (Chap. 11.4)
  • Class 23: Connection and Covariant Derivative
  • Class 24: Horizontal Lift and Yang-Mills Equation
  • Class 25/26: Topological Invariants from Yang-Mills Equation

Assignments

Exam