formulasearchengine - User contributions [en]

MurmurHash

2014-11-05T09:22:57Z

89.15.107.182: Replaced broken link for an old Java implementation with a newer open source project

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Willmore energy

2013-11-28T16:08:37Z

89.15.51.191: /* Critical points */

{{Other uses|Manifold (disambiguation)}}
[[File:Boy Surface-animation-small.gif|thumb|right|The [[real projective plane]] is a two-dimensional manifold that cannot be realized in three dimensions without self-intersection, shown here as [[Boy's surface]].]]
[[File:Polar stereographic projections.jpg|thumb|right|The surface of the Earth requires (at least) two charts to include every point. Here the [[globe]] is decomposed into charts around the [[North pole|North]] and [[South Pole]]s.]]

In [[mathematics]], a '''manifold''' is a [[topological space]] that resembles [[Euclidean space]] near each point. More precisely, each point of an ''n''-dimensional manifold has a [[neighbourhood (mathematics)|neighbourhood]] that is [[homeomorphic]] to the Euclidean space of dimension ''n''. [[Line (geometry)|Line]]s and [[circle]]s, but not [[Lemniscate|figure eights]], are one-dimensional manifolds. Two-dimensional manifolds are also called [[surface]]s. Examples include the [[Plane (geometry)|plane]], the [[sphere]], and the [[torus]], which can all be realized in three dimensions, but also the [[Klein bottle]] and [[real projective plane]] which cannot.

Although near each point, a manifold resembles Euclidean space, globally a manifold might not. For example, the surface of the [[sphere]] is not a Euclidean space, but in a region it can be charted by means of geographic [[map]]s: [[map projection]]s of the region into the [[Euclidean plane]]. When a region appears in two neighbouring maps (in the context of manifolds they are called ''[[Atlas_(topology)#Charts|charts]]''), the two representations do not coincide exactly and a transformation is needed to pass from one to the other, called a ''transition map''.

The concept of a manifold is central to many parts of [[geometry]] and modern [[mathematical physics]] because it allows more complicated structures to be described and understood in terms of the relatively well-understood properties of Euclidean space. Manifolds naturally arise as solution sets of [[systems of equations]] and as [[Graph of a function|graphs]] of functions. Manifolds may have additional features. One important class of manifolds is the class of [[differentiable manifold]]s.
This [[differentiable structure]] allows [[calculus]] to be done on manifolds. A [[Riemannian metric]] on a manifold allows [[distance]]s and [[angle]]s to be measured. [[Symplectic manifold]]s serve as the [[phase space]]s in the [[Hamiltonian mechanics|Hamiltonian formalism]] of [[classical mechanics]], while four-dimensional [[Lorentzian manifold]]s model [[spacetime]] in [[general relativity]].

== Motivational examples ==
=== Circle ===
{{Main|Circle}}

[[File:Circle with overlapping manifold charts.svg|right|thumb|Figure 1: The four charts each map part of the circle to an open interval, and together cover the whole circle.]]
After a line, the [[circle]] is the simplest example of a topological manifold. Topology ignores bending, so a small piece of a circle is treated exactly the same as a small piece of a line. Consider, for instance, the top part of the [[unit circle]], ''x''2 + ''y''2 = 1, where the [[Cartesian coordinate system|''y''-coordinate]] is positive (indicated by the yellow circular arc in ''Figure 1''). Any point of this arc can be uniquely described by its ''x''-coordinate. So, [[Projection (mathematics)|projection]] onto the first coordinate is a [[Continuous function (topology)|continuous]], and [[inverse function|invertible]], [[mapping (mathematics)|mapping]] from the upper arc to the [[open interval]] (−1,1):

:<math> \chi_{\mathrm{top}}(x,y) = x . \, </math>


Such functions along with the open regions they map are called ''chart''s. Similarly, there are charts for the bottom (red), top (yellow), left (blue), and right (green) parts of the circle. Together, these parts cover the whole circle and the four charts form an [[Atlas (topology)|atlas]] for the circle.

The top and right charts overlap: their intersection lies in the quarter of the circle where both the ''x''- and the ''y''-coordinates are positive. The two charts χtop and χright each map this part into the interval (0, 1). Thus a function ''T'' from (0, 1) to itself can be constructed, which first uses the [[inverse function|inverse]] of the top chart to reach the circle and then follows the right chart back to the interval. Let ''a'' be any number in (0, 1), then:

:<math>\begin{align}
T(a) &= \chi_{\mathrm{right}}\left(\chi_{\mathrm{top}}^{-1}\left[a\right]\right) \\
&= \chi_{\mathrm{right}}\left(a, \sqrt{1-a^2}\right) \\
&= \sqrt{1-a^2}
\end{align}</math>

Such a function is called a ''transition map''.

[[File:Circle manifold chart from slope.svg|right|thumb|Figure 2: A circle manifold chart based on slope, covering all but one point of the circle.]]

The top, bottom, left, and right charts show that the circle is a manifold, but they do not form the only possible atlas. Charts need not be geometric projections, and the number of charts is a matter of some choice. Consider the charts
: <math>\chi_{\mathrm{minus}}(x,y) = s = \frac{y}{1+x}</math>

and
: <math>\chi_{\mathrm{plus}}(x,y) = t = \frac{y}{1-x}{}</math>

Here ''s'' is the slope of the line through the point at coordinates (''x'',''y'') and the fixed pivot point (−1, 0); ''t'' is the mirror image, with pivot point (+1, 0). The inverse mapping from ''s'' to (''x'', ''y'') is given by

: <math>\begin{align}
x &= \frac{1-s^2}{1+s^2} \\
y &= \frac{2s}{1+s^2}
\end{align}</math>

It can easily be confirmed that ''x''2 + ''y''2 = 1 for all values of the slope ''s''. These two charts provide a second atlas for the circle, with

: <math>t = \frac{1}{s}</math>

Each chart omits a single point, either (−1, 0) for ''s'' or (+1, 0) for ''t'', so neither chart alone is sufficient to cover the whole circle. It can be proved that it is not possible to cover the full circle with a single chart. For example, although it is possible to construct a circle from a single line interval by overlapping and "gluing" the ends, this does not produce a chart; a portion of the circle will be mapped to both ends at once, losing invertibility.

=== Other curves ===
[[File:Conics and cubic.svg|right|thumb|Four manifolds from algebraic curves: ■ circles, ■ parabola, ■ hyperbola, ■ cubic.]]
Manifolds need not be [[connected space|connected]] (all in "one piece"); an example is a pair of separate circles.

Manifolds need not be [[closed manifold|closed]]; thus a line segment without its end points is a manifold. And they are never countable, unless the dimension of the manifold is 0. Putting these freedoms together, other examples of manifolds are a [[parabola]], a [[hyperbola]] (two open, infinite pieces) and the [[locus (mathematics)|locus]] of points on a [[cubic curve]] ''y''2 = ''x''3−''x'' (a closed loop piece and an open, infinite piece).

However, we exclude examples like two touching circles that share a point to form a figure-8; at the shared point we cannot create a satisfactory chart. Even with the bending allowed by topology, the vicinity of the shared point looks like a "+", not a line. A "+" is not homeomorphic to a closed interval (line segment) since deleting the center point from the "+" gives a space with four [[Locally connected space|components]] (i.e. pieces) whereas deleting a point from a closed interval gives a space with at most two pieces; [[homeomorphism|topological operations]] always preserve the number of pieces.

=== Enriched circle ===
Viewed using [[calculus]], the circle transition function ''T'' is simply a function between open intervals, which gives a meaning to the statement that ''T'' is [[derivative|differentiable]]. The transition map ''T'', and all the others, are differentiable on (0, 1); therefore, with this atlas the circle is a ''[[differentiable manifold]]''. It is also ''smooth'' and ''analytic'' because the transition functions have these properties as well.

Other circle properties allow it to meet the requirements of more specialized types of manifold. For example, the circle has a notion of distance between two points, the arc-length between the points; hence it is a ''[[Riemannian manifold]]''.

== History ==
{{Details|History of manifolds and varieties}}

The study of manifolds combines many important areas of mathematics: it generalizes concepts such as [[curve]]s and [[surfaces]] as well as ideas from [[linear algebra]] and [[topology]].

===Early development===
Before the modern concept of a manifold there were several important results.

[[Non-Euclidean geometry]] considers spaces where [[Euclid]]'s [[parallel postulate]] fails. [[Giovanni Gerolamo Saccheri|Saccheri]] first studied them in 1733. [[Nikolai Ivanovich Lobachevsky|Lobachevsky]], [[János Bolyai|Bolyai]], and [[Bernhard Riemann|Riemann]] developed them 100 years later. Their research uncovered two types of spaces whose geometric structures differ from that of classical [[Euclidean space]]; these gave rise to [[hyperbolic geometry]] and [[elliptic geometry]]. In the modern theory of manifolds, these notions correspond to [[Riemannian manifold]]s with constant negative and positive [[curvature]], respectively.

[[Carl Friedrich Gauss]] may have been the first to consider abstract spaces as mathematical objects in their own right. His [[theorema egregium]] gives a method for computing the [[curvature]] of a [[surface]] without considering the [[ambient space]] in which the surface lies. Such a surface would, in modern terminology, be called a manifold; and in modern terms, the theorem proved that the curvature of the surface is an intrinsic property. Manifold theory has come to focus exclusively on these intrinsic properties (or invariants), while largely ignoring the extrinsic properties of the ambient space.

Another, more [[topology|topological]] example of an intrinsic [[topological property|property]] of a manifold is its [[Euler characteristic]]. [[Leonhard Euler]] showed that for a convex [[polytope]] in the three-dimensional Euclidean space with ''V'' [[vertex (geometry)|vertices]] (or corners), ''E'' edges, and ''F'' faces,

:<math>V - E + F = 2.\ </math>

The same formula will hold if we project the vertices and edges of the polytope onto a [[sphere]], creating a [[topological map]] with ''V'' vertices, ''E'' edges, and ''F'' faces, and in fact, will remain true for any spherical map, even if it does not arise from any convex polytope.<ref>The notion of a map can formalized as a [[cell decomposition]].</ref> Thus 2 is a topological invariant of the sphere, called its '''Euler characteristic'''. On the other hand, a [[torus]] can be sliced open by its 'parallel' and 'meridian' circles, creating a map with ''V'' = 1 [[vertex (geometry)|vertex]], ''E'' = 2 edges, and ''F'' = 1 face. Thus the Euler characteristic of the torus is 1 − 2 + 1 = 0. The Euler characteristic of other surfaces is a useful [[topological invariant]], which can be extended to higher dimensions using [[Betti number]]s. In the mid nineteenth century, the [[Gauss–Bonnet theorem]] linked the Euler characteristic to the Gaussian curvature.

===Synthesis===
Investigations of [[Niels Henrik Abel]] and [[Carl Gustav Jacobi]] on inversion of [[elliptic integral]]s in the first half of 19th century led them to consider special types of [[complex manifold]]s, now known as [[Abelian variety|Jacobians]]. [[Bernhard Riemann]] further contributed to their theory, clarifying the geometric meaning of the process of [[analytic continuation]] of functions of complex variables.

Another important source of manifolds in 19th century mathematics was [[analytical mechanics]], as developed by [[Siméon Poisson]], Jacobi, and [[William Rowan Hamilton]]. The possible states of a mechanical system are thought to be points of an abstract space, [[phase space]] in [[Lagrangian mechanics|Lagrangian]] and [[Hamiltonian mechanics|Hamiltonian]] formalisms of classical mechanics. This space is, in fact, a high-dimensional manifold, whose [[dimension]] corresponds to the degrees of freedom of the system and where the points are specified by their [[generalized coordinate]]s. For an unconstrained movement of free particles the manifold is equivalent to the Euclidean space, but various [[conservation laws]] constrain it to more complicated formations, e.g. [[Liouville tori]]. The theory of a rotating solid body, developed in the 18th century by [[Leonhard Euler]] and [[Joseph-Louis Lagrange]], gives another example where the manifold is nontrivial. Geometrical and topological aspects of classical mechanics were emphasized by [[Henri Poincaré]], one of the founders of [[topology]].

Riemann was the first one to do extensive work generalizing the idea of a surface to higher dimensions. The name ''manifold'' comes from Riemann's original [[German language|German]] term, ''Mannigfaltigkeit'', which [[William Kingdon Clifford]] translated as "manifoldness". In his Göttingen inaugural lecture, Riemann described the set of all possible values of a variable with certain constraints as a ''Mannigfaltigkeit'', because the variable can have ''many'' values. He distinguishes between ''stetige Mannigfaltigkeit'' and ''diskrete'' ''Mannigfaltigkeit'' (''continuous manifoldness'' and ''discontinuous manifoldness''), depending on whether the value changes continuously or not. As continuous examples, Riemann refers to not only colors and the locations of objects in space, but also the possible shapes of a spatial figure. Using [[Mathematical induction|induction]], Riemann constructs an ''n-fach ausgedehnte Mannigfaltigkeit'' (''n times extended manifoldness'' or ''n-dimensional manifoldness'') as a continuous stack of (n−1) dimensional manifoldnesses. Riemann's intuitive notion of a ''Mannigfaltigkeit'' evolved into what is today formalized as a manifold. [[Riemannian manifold]]s and [[Riemann surface]]s are named after Riemann.

===Poincaré's definition===
In his very influential paper, [[Analysis Situs (paper)|Analysis Situs]],<ref>Poincaré, H.: Analysis Situs. (French) ''Journal de l'Ecole Polytechnique'', Serié 11 Gauthier-Villars (1895).</ref> [[Henri Poincaré]] gave a definition of a (differentiable) manifold (''variété'') which served as a precursor to the modern concept of a manifold.<ref>Arnolʹd, V. I.: On the teaching of mathematics.(Russian) Uspekhi Mat. Nauk 53 (1998), no. 1(319), 229–234; translation in Russian Math. Surveys 53 (1998), no. 1, 229–236</ref>

In the first section of Analysis Situs, Poincaré defines a manifold as the level set of a [[continuously differentiable]] function between Euclidean spaces that satisfies the nondegeneracy hypothesis of the [[implicit function theorem]]. In the third section, he begins by remarking that the [[graph of a function|graph]] of a continuously differentiable function is a manifold in the latter sense. He then proposes a new, more general, definition of manifold based on a 'chain of manifolds' (''une chaîne des variétés'').

Poincaré's notion of a 'chain of manifolds' is a precursor to the modern notion of [[#Atlases|atlas]]. In particular, he considers two manifolds defined respectively as graphs of functions <math> \theta(y) </math> and <math> \theta'(y') </math>. If these manifolds overlap (''a une partie commune''), then he requires that the coordinates <math> y</math> depend continuously differentiably on the coordinates <math> y'</math> and vice versa ('<nowiki/>''...les <math> y </math> sont fonctions analytiques des <math>y'</math> et inversement''<nowiki/>'). In this way he introduces a precursor to the notion of a [[#Charts|chart]] and of a [[#Transition maps|transition map]]. Note that it is implicit in Analysis Situs that a manifold obtained as a 'chain' is a subset of Euclidean space.

For example, the unit circle in the plane can be thought of as the graph of the function <math>y=\sqrt{1-x^2}</math> or else the function <math>y=-\sqrt{1-x^2}</math> in a neighborhood of every point except the points (1,0) and (−1,0); and in a neighborhood of those points, it can be thought of as the graph of, respectively, <math>x=\sqrt{1-y^2}</math> and <math>x=-\sqrt{1-y^2}</math>. The reason the circle can be represented by a graph in the neighborhood of every point is because the left hand side of its defining equation <math>x^2+y^2-1=0</math> has nonzero gradient at every point of the circle. By the [[implicit function theorem]], every submanifold of Euclidean space is locally the graph of a function.

[[Hermann Weyl]] gave an intrinsic definition for differentiable manifolds in his lecture course on Riemann surfaces in 1911–1912, opening the road to the general concept of a [[topological space]] that followed shortly. During the 1930s [[Hassler Whitney]] and others clarified the [[foundations of mathematics|foundational]] aspects of the subject, and thus intuitions dating back to the latter half of the 19th century became precise, and developed through [[differential geometry]] and [[Lie group]] theory. Notably, the [[Whitney embedding theorem]]<ref>Whitney H., ''Differentiable manifolds'', Ann. of Math. (2), '''37''' (1936), 645–680.</ref> showed that the intrinsic definition in terms of charts was equivalent to Poincaré's definition in terms of subsets of Euclidean space.

=== Topology of manifolds: highlights ===
Two-dimensional manifolds, also known as a 2D ''surfaces'' embedded in our common 3D space, were considered by Riemann under the guise of [[Riemann surface]]s, and rigorously classified in the beginning of the 20th century by [[Poul Heegaard]] and [[Max Dehn]]. [[Henri Poincaré]] pioneered the study of three-dimensional manifolds and raised a fundamental question about them, today known as the [[Poincaré conjecture]]. After nearly a century of effort by many mathematicians, starting with Poincaré himself, a consensus among experts (as of 2006) is that [[Grigori Perelman]] has proved the Poincaré conjecture (see the [[Solution of the Poincaré conjecture]]). [[William Thurston]]'s [[geometrization conjecture|geometrization program]], formulated in the 1970s, provided a far-reaching extension of the Poincaré conjecture to the general three-dimensional manifolds. Four-dimensional manifolds were brought to the forefront of mathematical research in the 1980s by [[Michael Freedman]] and in a different setting, by [[Simon Donaldson]], who was motivated by the then recent progress in theoretical physics ([[Yang–Mills theory]]), where they serve as a substitute for ordinary 'flat' [[spacetime]]. [[Andrey Markov (Soviet mathematician)|Andrey Markov Jr.]] showed in 1960 that no algorithm exists for classifying four-dimensional manifolds. Important work on higher-dimensional manifolds, including [[Generalized Poincaré conjecture|analogues of the Poincaré conjecture]], had been done earlier by [[René Thom]], [[John Milnor]], [[Stephen Smale]] and [[Sergei Novikov (mathematician)|Sergei Novikov]]. One of the most pervasive and flexible techniques underlying much work on the [[differential topology|topology of manifolds]] is [[Morse theory]].

== Mathematical definition ==
{{Details|Categories of manifolds}}
Informally, a manifold is a [[topological space|space]] that is "modeled on" [[Euclidean space]].

There are many different kinds of manifolds and generalizations.
In [[geometry and topology]], all manifolds are [[topological manifold]]s, possibly with additional structure, most often a [[differentiable manifold|differentiable structure]]. In terms of constructing manifolds via patching, a manifold has an additional structure if the transition maps between different patches satisfy axioms beyond just continuity. For instance, [[differentiable manifold]]s have homeomorphisms on overlapping neighborhoods [[diffeomorphic]] with each other, so that the manifold has a well-defined set of functions which are differentiable in each neighborhood, and so differentiable on the manifold as a whole.

Formally, a '''topological manifold'''<ref>In the narrow sense of requiring point-set axioms and finite dimension.</ref> is a [[second countable]] [[Hausdorff space|Hausdorff]] [[topological space|space]] that is [[locally homeomorphic]] to Euclidean space.

''Second countable'' and ''Hausdorff'' are [[point-set topology|point-set]] conditions;
''second countable'' excludes spaces which are in some sense 'too large' such as the [[Long line (topology)|long line]], while ''Hausdorff'' excludes spaces such as "the line with two origins" (these generalizations of manifolds are discussed in [[non-Hausdorff manifold]]s).

''Locally homeomorphic'' to Euclidean space means<ref>Formally, locally homeomorphic means that each point ''m'' in the manifold ''M'' has a neighborhood homeomorphic to a ''neighborhood'' in Euclidean space, not to the unit ball specifically. However, given such a homeomorphism, the pre-image of an <math>\epsilon</math>-ball gives a homeomorphism between the unit ball and a smaller neighborhood of ''m'', so this is no loss of generality. For topological or differentiable manifolds, one can also ask that every point have a neighborhood homeomorphic to all of Euclidean space (as this is diffeomorphic to the unit ball), but this cannot be done for [[complex manifold]]s, as the complex unit ball is not [[holomorphic]] to complex space.</ref> that every point has a neighborhood [[homeomorphic]] to an open [[Ball (mathematics)|Euclidean ''n''-ball]],

:<math>\mathbf{B}^n = \{ (x_1, x_2, \dots, x_n)\in\mathbb{R}^n \mid x_1^2 + x_2^2 + \cdots + x_n^2 < 1 \}.</math>

Generally manifolds are taken to have a fixed dimension (the space must be locally homeomorphic to a fixed ''n''-ball), and such a space is called an '''''n''-manifold'''; however, some authors {{citation needed
|date=July 2012}} admit manifolds where different points can have different [[dimension]]s. If a manifold has a fixed dimension, it is called a '''[[pure manifold]]'''. For example, the sphere has a constant dimension of 2 and is therefore a pure manifold whereas the [[disjoint union]] of a sphere and a line in three-dimensional space is ''not'' a pure manifold. Since dimension is a local invariant (i.e. the map sending each point to the dimension of its neighbourhood over which a chart is defined, is [[locally constant]]), each [[connected space|connected component]] has a fixed dimension.

[[Scheme (mathematics)|Scheme-theoretically]], a manifold is a [[locally ringed space]], whose structure sheaf is locally isomorphic to the sheaf of continuous (or differentiable, or complex-analytic, etc.) functions on Euclidean space. This definition is mostly used when discussing [[analytic manifold]]s in [[algebraic geometry]].

=== Broad definition ===
{{Main|Banach manifold}}

The broadest common definition of manifold is a topological space locally homeomorphic to a [[topological vector space]] over the reals. This omits the point-set axioms, allowing higher cardinalities and [[non-Hausdorff manifold]]s; and it omits finite dimension, allowing structures such as [[Hilbert manifold]]s to be modeled on [[Hilbert spaces]], [[Banach manifold]]s to be modeled on [[Banach space]]s, and [[Fréchet manifold]]s to be modeled on [[Fréchet space]]s. Usually one relaxes one or the other condition: manifolds with the point-set axioms are studied in [[general topology]], while infinite-dimensional manifolds are studied in [[functional analysis]].

==Charts, atlases, and transition maps==
{{Main|Atlas (topology)}}
{{See also|Differentiable manifold#Definition|l1=Differentiable manifold}}

The spherical Earth is navigated using flat maps or charts, collected in an atlas. Similarly, a differentiable manifold can be described using [[map (mathematics)|mathematical maps]], called ''coordinate charts'', collected in a mathematical ''atlas''. It is not generally possible to describe a manifold with just one chart, because the global structure of the manifold is different from the simple structure of the charts. For example, no single flat map can represent the entire Earth without separation of adjacent features across the map's boundaries or duplication of coverage. When a manifold is constructed from multiple overlapping charts, the regions where they overlap carry information essential to understanding the global structure.

===Charts===
A '''coordinate map''', a '''coordinate chart''', or simply a '''chart''', of a manifold is an invertible [[map (mathematics)|map]] between a subset of the manifold and a simple space such that both the map and its inverse preserve the desired structure.<ref name=Morita>{{cite book |title=Geometry of Differential Forms |author=Shigeyuki Morita, Teruko Nagase, Katsumi Nomizu |page=12 |url=http://books.google.com/books?id=5N33Of2RzjsC&pg=PA12&dq=geometry++axiom+%22coordinate+system%22&lr=&as_brr=0&sig=ACfU3U3Vi7xsLiYiWCK0erF6X2gczHOkJA#PPA12,M1
|isbn=0-8218-1045-6 |year=2001 |publisher=American Mathematical Society Bookstore }}</ref> For a topological manifold, the simple space is some [[Euclidean space]] '''R'''''n'' and interest focuses on the topological structure. This structure is preserved by [[homeomorphisms]], invertible maps that are continuous in both directions.

In the case of a [[differentiable manifold]], a set of '''charts''' called an '''atlas''' allows us to do calculus on manifolds. [[Polar coordinates]], for example, form a chart for the plane '''R'''2 minus the positive ''x''-axis and the origin. Another example of a chart is the map χtop mentioned in the section above, a chart for the circle.

===Atlases===
The description of most manifolds requires more than one chart (a single chart is adequate for only the simplest manifolds). A specific collection of charts which covers a manifold is called an '''[[Atlas (topology)|atlas]]'''. An atlas is not unique as all manifolds can be covered multiple ways using different combinations of charts. Two atlases are said to be '''Ck''' equivalent if their union is also a '''Ck''' atlas.

The atlas containing all possible charts consistent with a given atlas is called the '''maximal atlas''' (i.e. an equivalence class containing that given atlas (under the already defined equivalence relation given in the previous paragraph)). Unlike an ordinary atlas, the maximal atlas of a given manifold is unique. Though it is useful for definitions, it is an abstract object and not used directly (e.g. in calculations).

===Transition maps===
Charts in an atlas may overlap and a single point of a manifold may be represented in several charts. If two charts overlap, parts of them represent the same region of the manifold, just as a map of Europe and a map of Asia may both contain Moscow. Given two overlapping charts, a '''transition function''' can be defined which goes from an open ball in '''R'''''n'' to the manifold and then back to another (or perhaps the same) open ball in '''R'''''n''. The resultant map, like the map ''T'' in the circle example above, is called a '''change of coordinates''', a '''coordinate transformation''', a '''transition function''', or a '''transition map'''.

===Additional structure===
An atlas can also be used to define additional structure on the manifold. The structure is first defined on each chart separately. If all the transition maps are compatible with this structure, the structure transfers to the manifold.

This is the standard way differentiable manifolds are defined. If the transition functions of an atlas for a topological manifold preserve the natural differential structure of '''R'''''n'' (that is, if they are [[diffeomorphism]]s), the differential structure transfers to the manifold and turns it into a differentiable manifold. [[Complex manifold]]s are introduced in an analogous way by requiring that the transition functions of an atlas are [[holomorphic]] functions. For [[symplectic manifold]]s, the transition functions must be [[symplectomorphism]]s.

The structure on the manifold depends on the atlas, but sometimes different atlases can be said to give rise to the same structure. Such atlases are called '''compatible'''.

These notions are made precise in general through the use of [[pseudogroup]]s.

== Manifold with boundary ==
{{See also|Topological manifold#Manifolds with boundary}}

A '''manifold with boundary''' is a manifold with an edge. For example a sheet of paper is a [[2-manifold]] with a 1-dimensional boundary. The boundary of an ''n''-manifold with boundary is an (''n'' − 1)-manifold. A [[disk (mathematics)|disk]] (circle plus interior) is a 2-manifold with boundary. Its boundary is a circle, a [[1-manifold]]. A [[square]] with interior is also a 2-manifold with boundary. A [[ball (mathematics)|ball]] (sphere plus interior) is a 3-manifold with boundary. Its boundary is a sphere, a 2-manifold. (See also [[Boundary (topology)]]).

In technical language, a manifold with boundary is a space containing both interior points and boundary points. Every interior point has a neighborhood homeomorphic to the open ''n''-ball {(''x''1, ''x''2, …, ''x''''n'') | Σ ''x''''i''2 < 1}. Every boundary point has a neighborhood homeomorphic to the "half" ''n''-ball {(''x''1, ''x''2, …, ''x''''n'') | Σ ''x''''i''2 < 1 and ''x''1 ≥ 0}. The homeomorphism must send each boundary point to a point with ''x''1 = 0.

=== Boundary and interior ===
Let ''M'' be a manifold with boundary. The '''interior''' of ''M'', denoted Int ''M'', is the set of points in ''M'' which have neighborhoods homeomorphic to an open subset of '''R'''''n''. The '''boundary''' of ''M'', denoted ∂''M'', is the [[complement (set theory)|complement]] of Int ''M'' in ''M''. The boundary points can be characterized as those points which land on the boundary hyperplane (''x''''n'' = 0) of '''R'''''n''+ under some coordinate chart.

If ''M'' is a manifold with boundary of dimension ''n'', then Int ''M'' is a manifold (without boundary) of dimension ''n'' and ∂''M'' is a manifold (without boundary) of dimension ''n'' − 1.

== Construction ==
A single manifold can be constructed in different ways, each stressing a different aspect of the manifold, thereby leading to a slightly different viewpoint.

=== Charts ===
[[File:Sphere with chart.svg|right|thumb|The chart maps the part of the sphere with positive ''z'' coordinate to a disc.]]
Perhaps the simplest way to construct a manifold is the one used in the example above of the circle. First, a subset of '''R'''2 is identified, and then an atlas covering this subset is constructed. The concept of ''manifold'' grew historically from constructions like this. Here is another example, applying this method to the construction of a sphere:

==== Sphere with charts ====
A [[sphere]] can be treated in almost the same way as the circle. In mathematics a sphere is just the surface (not the solid interior), which can be defined as a subset of '''R'''3:
: <math> S = \{ (x,y,z) \in \mathbf{R}^3 | x^2 + y^2 + z^2 = 1 \}. </math>
The sphere is two-dimensional, so each chart will map part of the sphere to an open subset of '''R'''2. Consider the northern hemisphere, which is the part with positive ''z'' coordinate (coloured red in the picture on the right). The function χ defined by
:<math> \chi(x,y,z) = (x,y),\ </math>
maps the northern hemisphere to the open [[unit disc]] by projecting it on the (''x'', ''y'') plane. A similar chart exists for the southern hemisphere. Together with two charts projecting on the (''x'', ''z'') plane and two charts projecting on the (''y'', ''z'') plane, an atlas of six charts is obtained which covers the entire sphere.

This can be easily generalized to higher-dimensional spheres.

=== Patchwork ===
A manifold can be constructed by gluing together pieces in a consistent manner, making them into overlapping charts. This construction is possible for any manifold and hence it is often used as a characterisation, especially for differentiable and Riemannian manifolds. It focuses on an atlas, as the patches naturally provide charts, and since there is no exterior space involved it leads to an intrinsic view of the manifold.

The manifold is constructed by specifying an atlas, which is itself defined by transition maps. A point of the manifold is therefore an [[equivalence class]] of points which are mapped to each other by transition maps. Charts map equivalence classes to points of a single patch. There are usually strong demands on the consistency of the transition maps. For topological manifolds they are required to be [[homeomorphism]]s; if they are also [[diffeomorphism]]s, the resulting manifold is a differentiable manifold.

This can be illustrated with the transition map ''t'' = 1⁄''s'' from the second half of the circle example. Start with two copies of the line. Use the coordinate ''s'' for the first copy, and ''t'' for the second copy. Now, glue both copies together by identifying the point ''t'' on the second copy with the point ''s'' = 1⁄''t'' on the first copy (the points ''t'' = 0 and ''s'' = 0 are not identified with any point on the first and second copy, respectively). This gives a circle.

==== Intrinsic and extrinsic view ====
The first construction and this construction are very similar, but they represent rather different points of view. In the first construction, the manifold is seen as [[embedding|embedded]] in some Euclidean space. This is the ''extrinsic view''. When a manifold is viewed in this way, it is easy to use intuition from Euclidean spaces to define additional structure. For example, in a Euclidean space it is always clear whether a vector at some point is [[tangential]] or [[normal vector|normal]] to some surface through that point.

The patchwork construction does not use any embedding, but simply views the manifold as a topological space by itself. This abstract point of view is called the ''intrinsic view''. It can make it harder to imagine what a tangent vector might be, and there is no intrinsic notion of a normal bundle, but instead there is an intrinsic [[stable normal bundle]].

==== ''n''-Sphere as a patchwork ====
The [[Hypersphere|''n''-sphere]] '''S'''''n'' is a generalisation of the idea of a circle (1-sphere) and sphere (2-sphere) to higher dimensions. An ''n''-sphere '''S'''''n'' can be constructed by gluing together two copies of '''R'''''n''. The transition map between them is defined as
:<math>\mathbf{R}^n \setminus \{0\} \to \mathbf{R}^n \setminus \{0\}: x \mapsto x/\|x\|^2.</math>
This function is its own inverse and thus can be used in both directions. As the transition map is a [[smooth function]], this atlas defines a smooth manifold.
In the case ''n'' = 1, the example simplifies to the circle example given earlier.

=== Identifying points of a manifold ===
{{Main|Orbifold|Group action}}

It is possible to define different points of a manifold to be same. This can be visualized as gluing these points together in a single point, forming a [[quotient space]]. There is, however, no reason to expect such quotient spaces to be manifolds. Among the possible quotient spaces that are not necessarily manifolds, [[orbifold]]s and [[CW complex]]es are considered to be relatively [[well-behaved]]. An example of a quotient space of a manifold that is also a manifold is the [[real projective space]] identified as a quotient space of the corresponding sphere.

One method of identifying points (gluing them together) is through a right (or left) action of a [[group (mathematics)|group]], which [[group action|acts]] on the manifold. Two points are identified if one is moved onto the other by some group element. If ''M'' is the manifold and ''G'' is the group, the resulting quotient space is denoted by ''M'' / ''G'' (or ''G'' \ ''M'').

Manifolds which can be constructed by identifying points include [[Torus#Topology|tori]] and [[real projective space]]s (starting with a plane and a sphere, respectively).

=== Gluing along boundaries ===
{{Main|Quotient space}}

Two manifolds with boundaries can be glued together along a boundary. If this is done the right way, the result is also a manifold. Similarly, two boundaries of a single manifold can be glued together.

Formally, the gluing is defined by a [[bijection]] between the two boundaries{{Dubious|gluing manifolds with boundary|date=February 2010}}. Two points are identified when they are mapped onto each other. For a topological manifold this bijection should be a homeomorphism, otherwise the result will not be a topological manifold. Similarly for a differentiable manifold it has to be a [[diffeomorphism]]. For other manifolds other structures should be preserved.

A finite cylinder may be constructed as a manifold by starting with a strip [0, 1] × [0, 1] and gluing a pair of opposite edges on the boundary by a suitable diffeomorphism. A [[projective plane]] may be obtained by gluing a sphere with a hole in it to a [[Möbius strip]] along their respective circular boundaries.

=== Cartesian products ===
The [[Cartesian product]] of manifolds is also a manifold.

The dimension of the product manifold is the sum of the dimensions of its factors. Its topology is the [[product topology]], and a Cartesian product of charts is a chart for the product manifold. Thus, an atlas for the product manifold can be constructed using atlases for its factors. If these atlases define a differential structure on the factors, the corresponding atlas defines a differential structure on the product manifold. The same is true for any other structure defined on the factors. If one of the factors has a boundary, the product manifold also has a boundary. Cartesian products may be used to construct tori and finite [[cylinder (geometry)|cylinder]]s, for example, as '''S'''1 × '''S'''1 and '''S'''1 × [0, 1], respectively.
[[File:Red cylinder.svg|right|thumb|A finite cylinder is a manifold with boundary.]]

== Manifolds with additional structure ==
{{Main|Categories of manifolds}}

=== Topological manifolds ===
{{Main|topological manifold}}

The simplest kind of manifold to define is the topological manifold, which looks locally like some "ordinary" [[Euclidean space]] '''R'''''n''. Formally, a topological manifold is a [[topological space]] [[Local homeomorphism|locally homeomorphic]] to a Euclidean space. This means that every point has a neighbourhood for which there exists a [[homeomorphism]] (a [[bijection|bijective]] [[continuous function (topology)|continuous function]] whose inverse is also continuous) mapping that neighbourhood to '''R'''''n''. These homeomorphisms are the charts of the manifold.

It is to be noted that a ''topological'' manifold looks locally like a Euclidean space in a rather weak manner: while for each individual chart it is possible to distinguish differentiable functions or measure distances and angles, merely by virtue of being a topological manifold a space does not have any ''particular'' and ''consistent'' choice of such concepts. In order to discuss such properties for a manifold, one needs to specify further structure and consider [[#Differentiable manifolds|differentiable manifolds]] and [[#Riemannian manifolds|Riemannian manifolds]] discussed below. In particular, the same underlying topological manifold can have several mutually incompatible classes of differentiable functions and an infinite number of ways to specify distances and angles.

Usually additional technical assumptions on the topological space are made to exclude pathological cases. It is customary to require that the space be [[Hausdorff space|Hausdorff]] and [[second-countable space|second countable]].

The ''dimension'' of the manifold at a certain point is the dimension of the Euclidean space that the charts at that point map to (number ''n'' in the definition). All points in a [[connected space|connected]] manifold have the same dimension. Some authors require that all charts of a topological manifold map to Euclidean spaces of same dimension. In that case every topological manifold has a topological invariant, its dimension. Other authors allow disjoint unions of topological manifolds with differing dimensions to be called manifolds.

=== Differentiable manifolds ===
{{Main|Differentiable manifold}}

For most applications a special kind of topological manifold, a '''differentiable manifold''', is used. If the local charts on a manifold are compatible in a certain sense, one can define directions, tangent spaces, and differentiable functions on that manifold. In particular it is possible to use [[calculus]] on a differentiable manifold. Each point of an ''n''-dimensional differentiable manifold has a [[tangent space]]. This is an ''n''-dimensional Euclidean space consisting of the [[tangent vectors]] of the curves through the point.

Two important classes of differentiable manifolds are '''smooth''' and '''[[analytic manifold]]s'''. For smooth manifolds the transition maps are [[smooth function|smooth]], that is infinitely differentiable. Analytic manifolds are smooth manifolds with the additional condition that the transition maps are [[analytic function|analytic]] (they can be expressed as [[power series]]). The sphere can be given analytic structure, as can most familiar curves and surfaces.

There are also topological manifolds, i.e., locally Euclidean spaces, which possess no differentiable structures at all.<ref>Kervaire M., ''A Manifold which does not admit any differentiable structure,'' Comment. Math. Helv., '''35''' (1961), 1–14.</ref>

A [[rectifiable set]] generalizes the idea of a piecewise smooth or [[rectifiable curve]] to higher dimensions; however, rectifiable sets are not in general manifolds.

=== Riemannian manifolds ===
{{Main|Riemannian manifold}}

To measure distances and angles on manifolds, the manifold must be Riemannian. A 'Riemannian manifold' is a differentiable manifold in which each [[tangent space]] is equipped with an [[Inner product space|inner product]] ⟨⋅,⋅⟩ in a manner which varies smoothly from point to point. Given two tangent vectors '''u''' and '''v''', the inner product ⟨'''u''','''v'''⟩ gives a real number. The [[dot product|dot]] (or scalar) product is a typical example of an inner product. This allows one to define various notions such as [[length]], [[angle]]s, [[area]]s (or [[volume]]s), [[curvature]], [[gradient]]s of functions and [[divergence]] of [[vector field]]s.

All differentiable manifolds (of constant dimension) can be given the structure of a Riemannian manifold. The Euclidean space itself carries a natural structure of Riemannian manifold (the tangent spaces are naturally identified with the Euclidean space itself and carry the standard scalar product of the space). Many familiar curves and surfaces, including for example all ''n''-spheres, are specified as subspaces of a Euclidean space and inherit a metric from their embedding in it.

=== Finsler manifolds ===
{{Main|Finsler manifold}}

A '''Finsler manifold''' allows the definition of distance but does not require the concept of angle; it is an analytic manifold in which each [[tangent space]] is equipped with a [[normed space|norm]], ||·||, in a manner which varies smoothly from point to point. This norm can be extended to a [[Metric (mathematics)|metric]], defining the length of a curve; but it cannot in general be used to define an inner product.

Any Riemannian manifold is a Finsler manifold.

=== Lie groups ===
{{Main|Lie group}}

'''Lie groups''', named after [[Sophus Lie]], are differentiable manifolds that carry also the structure of a [[group (mathematics)|group]] which is such that the group operations are defined by smooth maps.

A Euclidean vector space with the group operation of vector addition is an example of a non-compact Lie group.
A simple example of a [[compact space|compact]] Lie group is the circle: the group operation is simply rotation. This group, known as U(1), can be also characterised as the group of [[complex number]]s of [[Absolute value|modulus]] 1 with multiplication as the group operation.
Other examples of Lie groups include special groups of [[Matrix (mathematics)|matrices]], which are all subgroups of the [[general linear group]], the group of ''n'' by ''n'' matrices with non-zero determinant. If the matrix entries are [[real number]]s, this will be an ''n''2-dimensional disconnected manifold. The [[orthogonal group]]s, the [[symmetry group]]s of the [[sphere]] and [[hypersphere]]s, are ''n''(''n''−1)/2 dimensional manifolds, where ''n''−1 is the dimension of the sphere. Further examples can be found in the [[table of Lie groups]].

=== Other types of manifolds ===
{{Main|Complex manifold|Symplectic manifold}}

* A '[[complex manifold]]' is a manifold modeled on <math>\C^n</math> with [[holomorphic]] transition functions on [[chart (topology)|chart]] overlaps. These manifolds are the basic objects of study in complex geometry. A one-complex-dimensional manifold is called a [[Riemann surface]]. Note that an ''n''-dimensional complex manifold has dimension 2''n'' as a real differentiable manifold.
* A '[[CR manifold]]' is a manifold modeled on boundaries of domains in <math>\C^n</math>.
* 'Infinite dimensional manifolds': to allow for infinite dimensions, one may consider [[Banach manifold]]s which are locally homeomorphic to [[Banach space]]s. Similarly, Fréchet manifolds are locally homeomorphic to [[Fréchet space]]s.
* A '[[symplectic manifold]]' is a kind of manifold which is used to represent the phase spaces in [[classical mechanics]]. They are endowed with a [[differential form|2-form]] that defines the [[Poisson bracket]]. A closely related type of manifold is a [[Contact geometry|contact manifold]].
* A '[[combinatorial manifold]]' is a kind of manifold which is discretization of a manifold. It usually means a [[piecewise linear manifold]] made by [[simplicial complexes]].
* A '[[digital manifold]]' is a special kind of combinatorial manifold which is defined in digital space. See [[digital topology]]

== Classification and invariants ==
{{details|Classification of manifolds}}

Different notions of manifolds have different notions of classification and invariant; in this section we focus on smooth closed manifolds.

The classification of smooth closed manifolds is well-understood ''in principle'', except in [[4-manifold|dimension 4]]: in low dimensions (2 and 3) it is geometric, via the [[uniformization theorem]] and the [[Solution of the Poincaré conjecture]], and in high dimension (5 and above) it is algebraic, via [[surgery theory]]. This is a classification in principle: the general question of whether two smooth manifolds are diffeomorphic is [[classification of manifolds#Computability|not computable in general]]. Further, specific computations remain difficult, and there are many open questions.

Orientable surfaces can be visualized, and their diffeomorphism classes enumerated, by genus. Given two orientable surfaces, one can determine if they are diffeomorphic by computing their respective genera and comparing: they are diffeomorphic if and only if the genera are equal, so the genus forms a [[complete set of invariants]].

This is much harder in higher dimensions: higher dimensional manifolds cannot be directly visualized (though visual intuition is useful in understanding them), nor can their diffeomorphism classes be enumerated, nor can one in general determine if two different descriptions of a higher-dimensional manifold refer to the same object.

However, one can determine if two manifolds are ''different'' if there is some intrinsic characteristic that differentiates them. Such criteria are commonly referred to as '''[[invariant (mathematics)|invariants]]''', because, while they may be defined in terms of some presentation (such as the genus in terms of a triangulation), they are the same relative to all possible descriptions of a particular manifold: they are ''invariant'' under different descriptions.

Naively, one could hope to develop an arsenal of invariant criteria that would definitively classify all manifolds up to isomorphism. Unfortunately, it is known that for manifolds of dimension 4 and higher, [[classification of manifolds#Computability|no program exists]] that can decide whether two manifolds are diffeomorphic.

Smooth manifolds have [[Classification of manifolds#Enumeration_versus_invariants|a rich set of invariants]], coming from [[point-set topology]],
classic [[algebraic topology]], and [[geometric topology]]. The most familiar invariants, which are visible for surfaces, are [[orientability]] (a normal invariant, also detected by [[singular homology|homology]]) and [[genus (mathematics)|genus]] (a homological invariant).

Smooth closed manifolds have no local invariants (other than dimension), though geometric manifolds have local invariants, notably the [[curvature of Riemannian manifolds|curvature of a Riemannian manifold]] and the [[torsion (differential geometry)|torsion]] of a manifold equipped with an [[affine connection]].
This distinction between local invariants and no local invariants is a common way to distinguish between [[Geometry and topology#Local_versus_global_structure|geometry and topology]]. All invariants of a smooth closed manifold are thus global.

[[Algebraic topology]] is a source of a number of important global invariant properties. Some key criteria include the ''[[simply connected]]'' property and orientability (see below). Indeed several branches of mathematics, such as [[homology (mathematics)|homology]] and [[homotopy]] theory, and the theory of [[characteristic classes]] were founded in order to study invariant properties of manifolds.

== Examples of surfaces ==
=== Orientability ===
{{Main|Orientable manifold}}

In dimensions two and higher, a simple but important invariant criterion is the question of whether a manifold admits a meaningful orientation.
Consider a topological manifold with charts mapping to '''R'''''n''. Given an [[basis (linear algebra)#Ordered bases and coordinates|ordered basis]] for '''R'''''n'', a chart causes its piece of the manifold to itself acquire a sense of ordering, which in 3-dimensions can be viewed as either right-handed or left-handed. Overlapping charts are not required to agree in their sense of ordering, which gives manifolds an important freedom. For some manifolds, like the sphere, charts can be chosen so that overlapping regions agree on their "handedness"; these are ''[[Orientability|orientable]]'' manifolds. For others, this is impossible. The latter possibility is easy to overlook, because any closed surface embedded (without self-intersection) in three-dimensional space is orientable.

Some illustrative examples of non-orientable manifolds include: (1) the [[Möbius strip]], which is a manifold with boundary, (2) the [[Klein bottle]], which must intersect itself in 3-space, and (3) the [[real projective plane]], which arises naturally in [[geometry]]. 
[[File:Moebius strip.svg|right|thumb|150px|Möbius strip]]

====Möbius strip====
{{Main|Möbius strip}}

Begin with an infinite circular cylinder standing vertically, a manifold without boundary. Slice across it high and low to produce two circular boundaries, and the cylindrical strip between them. This is an orientable manifold with boundary, upon which "surgery" will be performed. Slice the strip open, so that it could unroll to become a rectangle, but keep a grasp on the cut ends. Twist one end 180°, making the inner surface face out, and glue the ends back together seamlessly. This results in a strip with a permanent half-twist: the [[Möbius strip]]. Its boundary is no longer a pair of circles, but (topologically) a single circle; and what was once its "inside" has merged with its "outside", so that it now has only a ''single'' side.

==== Klein bottle ====
{{Main|Klein bottle}}

[[File:Klein bottle.svg|thumb|120px|right|The Klein bottle immersed in three-dimensional space]]
Take two Möbius strips; each has a single loop as a boundary. Straighten out those loops into circles, and let the strips distort into [[cross-cap]]s. Gluing the circles together will produce a new, closed manifold without boundary, the [[Klein bottle]]. Closing the surface does nothing to improve the lack of orientability, it merely removes the boundary. Thus, the Klein bottle is a closed surface with no distinction between inside and outside. Note that in three-dimensional space, a Klein bottle's surface must pass through itself. Building a Klein bottle which is not self-intersecting requires four or more dimensions of space.

==== Real projective plane ====
{{Main|Real projective space}}

Begin with a sphere centered on the origin. Every line through the origin pierces the sphere in two opposite points called ''antipodes''. Although there is no way to do so physically, it is possible (by considering a [[quotient space]]) to mathematically merge each antipode pair into a single point. The closed surface so produced is the [[real projective plane]], yet another non-orientable surface. It has a number of equivalent descriptions and constructions, but this route explains its name: all the points on any given line through the origin project to the same "point" on this "plane".

=== Genus and the Euler characteristic ===
For two dimensional manifolds a key invariant property is the [[genus (mathematics)|genus]], or the "number of handles" present in a surface. A torus is a sphere with one handle, a double torus is a sphere with two handles, and so on. Indeed it is possible to fully characterize compact, two-dimensional manifolds on the basis of genus and orientability. In higher-dimensional manifolds genus is replaced by the notion of [[Euler characteristic]], and more generally [[Betti numbers]] and [[homology (mathematics)|homology]] and [[cohomology]].

== Maps of manifolds ==
[[File:MorinSurfaceAsSphere'sInsideVersusOutside.PNG|thumb|A [[Morin surface]], an [[immersion (mathematics)|immersion]] used in [[sphere eversion]]]]
{{Main|Maps of manifolds}}
Just as there are various types of manifolds, there are various types of [[maps of manifolds]]. In addition to continuous functions and [[smooth functions]] generally, there are maps with special properties. In [[geometric topology]] a basic type are [[embedding]]s, of which [[knot theory]] is a central example, and generalizations such as [[immersion (mathematics)|immersion]]s, [[Submersion (mathematics)|submersions]], [[covering space]]s, and [[ramified covering space]]s.
Basic results include the [[Whitney embedding theorem]] and [[Whitney immersion theorem]].

In Riemannian geometry, one may ask for maps to preserve the Riemannian metric, leading to notions of [[isometric embedding]]s, [[isometric immersion]]s, and [[Riemannian submersion]]s; a basic result is the [[Nash embedding theorem]].

=== Scalar-valued functions ===
[[File:Spherical harmonics.png|300px|thumb|right|3D color plot of the [[spherical harmonics]] of degree <math>n=5</math>]]
A basic example of maps between manifolds are scalar-valued functions on a manifold,
:<math>f\colon M \to \mathbf{R}</math> or <math>f\colon M \to \mathbf{C},</math>
sometimes called [[regular function]]s or [[functional (mathematics)|functional]]s, by analogy with algebraic geometry or linear algebra. These are of interest both in their own right, and to study the underlying manifold.

In geometric topology, most commonly studied are [[Morse function]]s, which yield [[handlebody]] decompositions, while in [[mathematical analysis]], one often studies solution to [[partial differential equations]], an important example of which is [[harmonic analysis]], where one studies [[harmonic function]]s: the kernel of the [[Laplace operator]]. This leads to such functions as the [[spherical harmonics]], and to [[heat kernel]] methods of studying manifolds, such as [[hearing the shape of a drum]] and some proofs of the [[Atiyah–Singer index theorem]].

== Generalizations of manifolds ==
* '''Orbifolds''': An [[orbifold]] is a generalization of manifold allowing for certain kinds of "[[mathematical singularity|singularities]]" in the topology. Roughly speaking, it is a space which locally looks like the quotients of some simple space (''e.g.'' [[Euclidean space]]) by the [[group action|action]]s of various [[finite group]]s. The singularities correspond to fixed points of the group actions, and the actions must be compatible in a certain sense.

* '''Algebraic varieties and schemes''': [[Non-singular]] algebraic varieties over the real or complex numbers are manifolds. One generalizes this first by allowing singularities, secondly by allowing different fields, and thirdly by emulating the patching construction of manifolds: just as a manifold is glued together from open subsets of Euclidean space, an [[algebraic variety]] is glued together from affine algebraic varieties, which are zero sets of polynomials over algebraically closed fields. [[Scheme (mathematics)|Schemes]] are likewise glued together from affine schemes, which are a generalization of algebraic varieties. Both are related to manifolds, but are constructed algebraically using [[sheaf (mathematics)|sheaves]] instead of atlases.
:Because of [[Mathematical singularity|singular point]]s, a variety is in general not a manifold, though linguistically the French ''variété'', German ''Mannigfaltigkeit'' and English ''manifold'' are largely [[synonymous]]. In French an algebraic variety is called ''une [[:fr:variété algébrique|variété algébrique]]'' (an ''algebraic variety''), while a smooth manifold is called ''une [[:fr:variété différentielle|variété différentielle]]'' (a ''differential variety'').

* '''Stratified space''': A "stratified space" is a space that can be divided into pieces ("strata"), with each strata a manifold, with the strata fitting together in prescribed ways (formally, a [[Filtration (mathematics)|filtration]] by closed subsets). There are various technical definitions, notably a Whitney stratified space (see [[Whitney conditions]]) for smooth manifolds and a [[topologically stratified space]] for topological manifolds. Basic examples include [[manifold with boundary]] (top dimensional manifold and codimension 1 boundary) and [[manifold with corners]] (top dimensional manifold, codimension 1 boundary, codimension 2 corners). Whitney stratified spaces are a broad class of spaces, including algebraic varieties, analytic varieties, [[semialgebraic set]]s, and [[subanalytic set]]s.

* '''CW-complexes''': A [[CW complex]] is a topological space formed by gluing disks of different dimensionality together. In general the resulting space is singular, and hence not a manifold. However, they are of central interest in [[algebraic topology]], especially in [[homotopy theory]], as they are easy to compute with and singularities are not a concern.

* '''Homology manifolds''': A [[homology manifold]] is a space that behaves like a manifold from the point of view of homology theory. These are not all manifolds, but (in high dimension) can be analyzed by [[surgery theory]] similarly to manifolds, and failure to be a manifold is a local obstruction, as in surgery theory.<ref name="bfmw" />

=== Centrality of manifolds ===
Why does one study manifolds? Manifolds, and generalized spaces composed of manifolds such as stratified spaces, occupy a central role in topology. This is for a variety of reasons, including that they often arise in practice, as solution sets of equations (elaborated above by the fact that algebraic varieties, analytic varieties, etc. can be stratified into manifold pieces), and that they are the space "modeled on" Euclidean space (a space that looks locally like Euclidean space) – i.e., they arise naturally when considering ''subsets'' and ''quotients'' of Euclidean space.

More abstractly, a natural class of objects to study in topology are objects that are ''homogeneous'' (all points are topologically the same: the group of self-homeomorphisms acts transitively) and "finite type" or "tame" (to rule out spaces such as the [[Cantor set]], where each open set contains uncountably many connected components); more generally, a space of "finite type" where the self-homeomorphism group has finitely many orbits, forming the strata. Manifolds are homogeneous and tame (locally isomorphic to Euclidean space) in this manner, and one may ask if all "tame" homogeneous spaces are manifolds,<ref>''Intersection Homology and Perverse Sheaves,'' "7.1.1 What should a singular space be?", pp. 132–135, [[Robert MacPherson (mathematician)|Robert MacPherson]], December 15, 1990</ref> or whether there is a natural class where more general spaces are also included. As stated, this is a meta-mathematical question; the [[Bing–Borsuk conjecture]] gives a concrete statement, conjecturing that a homogeneous ENR is a manifold, where ENR, a tameness condition, means a [[Euclidean neighborhood retract]] – a retract of an open subset of Euclidean space, or equivalently an [[absolute neighborhood retract]] (ANR) that embeds in Euclidean space. This is an open question; a candidate counterexample is given by generalizing to [[homology manifold]]s (that are finite-dimensional ANRs), in which case certain such spaces are not manifolds, but have not been shown to be homogeneous, hence may not be a counterexample.<ref name="bfmw">J. Bryant, S. Ferry, W. Mio, and S. Weinberger, ''[http://www.maths.ed.ac.uk/~aar/homology/tophom.pdf Topology of homology manifolds],'' Annals of Maths. 143, 435–467 (1996)</ref><ref>[http://mathoverflow.net/questions/67458/a-meta-mathematical-principle-of-macpherson/67525#67525 Answer] by Ben Wieland, Jun 11 2011, to "[http://mathoverflow.net/questions/67458/a-meta-mathematical-principle-of-macpherson/67525 A “meta-mathematical principle” of MacPherson]", MathOverflow</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Geodesic|Affine geodesic]]: paths on manifolds
* [[Directional statistics]]: statistics on manifolds
* [[List of manifolds]]
* [[Mathematics of general relativity]]
* [[Submanifold]]

=== By dimension ===
* [[Curve]] (1-manifold)
* [[Surface]] (2-manifold)
* [[3-manifold]]
* [[4-manifold]]
* [[5-manifold]]

== Notes ==
{{Reflist}}

== References ==
* Freedman, Michael H., and Quinn, Frank (1990) ''Topology of 4-Manifolds''. Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-08577-3.
* Guillemin, Victor and Pollack, Alan (1974) ''Differential Topology''. Prentice-Hall. ISBN 0-13-212605-2. Inspired by Milnor and commonly used in undergraduate courses.
* Hempel, John (1976) ''3-Manifolds''. Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-8218-3695-1.
* Hirsch, Morris, (1997) ''Differential Topology''. Springer Verlag. ISBN 0-387-90148-5. The most complete account, with historical insights and excellent, but difficult, problems. The standard reference for those wishing to have a deep understanding of the subject.
* Kirby, Robion C. and Siebenmann, Laurence C. (1977) ''Foundational Essays on Topological Manifolds. Smoothings, and Triangulations''. Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-08190-5. A detailed study of the [[category theory|category]] of topological manifolds.
* Lee, John M. (2000) ''Introduction to Topological Manifolds''. Springer-Verlag. ISBN 0-387-98759-2.
*{{citation
|last = Lee
|first = John M.
|title = Introduction to Smooth Manifolds| publisher = Springer| year= 2002|isbn = 978-0-387-95448-6 }}
* Lee, John M. (2003) ''Introduction to Smooth Manifolds''. Springer-Verlag. ISBN 0-387-95495-3.
* Massey, William S. (1977) ''Algebraic Topology: An Introduction''. Springer-Verlag. ISBN 0-387-90271-6.
* [[John Milnor|Milnor, John]] (1997) ''Topology from the Differentiable Viewpoint''. Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-04833-9.
* Munkres, James R. (2000) ''Topology''. Prentice Hall. ISBN 0-13-181629-2.
* Neuwirth, L. P., ed. (1975) ''Knots, Groups, and 3-Manifolds. Papers Dedicated to the Memory of R. H. Fox''. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-08170-0.
* [[Bernhard Riemann|Riemann, Bernhard]], ''Gesammelte mathematische Werke und wissenschaftlicher Nachlass'', Sändig Reprint. ISBN 3-253-03059-8.
**''[http://www.maths.tcd.ie/pub/HistMath/People/Riemann/Grund/ Grundlagen für eine allgemeine Theorie der Functionen einer veränderlichen complexen Grösse.]'' The 1851 doctoral thesis in which "manifold" (''Mannigfaltigkeit'') first appears.
**''[http://www.maths.tcd.ie/pub/HistMath/People/Riemann/Geom/ Ueber die Hypothesen, welche der Geometrie zu Grunde liegen.]'' The 1854 Göttingen inaugural lecture (''Habilitationsschrift'').
* [[Michael Spivak|Spivak, Michael]] (1965) ''Calculus on Manifolds: A Modern Approach to Classical Theorems of Advanced Calculus''. HarperCollins Publishers. ISBN 0-8053-9021-9. The standard graduate text.

== External links ==
* {{springer|title=Manifold|id=p/m062210}}
* [http://www.dimensions-math.org/Dim_E.htm Dimensions-math.org] (A film explaining and visualizing manifolds up to fourth dimension.)
* The [http://www.map.mpim-bonn.mpg.de manifold atlas] project of the [http://www.mpim-bonn.mpg.de Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in Bonn]

[[Category:Topology]]
[[Category:Differential topology]]
[[Category:Differential geometry]]
[[Category:Geometric topology]]
[[Category:Manifolds|*]]

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