Math 621 Syllabus

This is a Qualifying Eligible (QE) course for the Math PhD with regular, graded HW and a comprehensive final exam.

Prerequisites

Smooth manifolds (the equivalent of Math 620).

Syllabus

1.  Riemannian metrics and examples including the 3 model spaces.
2. Connections/covariant derivatives on vector bundles; curvature of connections; parallel translation.
3. Levi–Civita connection on a Riemannian manifold; geodesics as straightest curves; the Riemannian exponential map; normal coordinates and neighborhoods.
4. Geodesics as (locally) shortest paths; metric properties of Riemannian manifolds; completeness and the Hopf–Rinow theorem.
5. Symmetries of the curvature tensor; Ricci and scalar curvature.
6. Riemannian submanifolds, intrinsic versus extrinsic geometry; surfaces in Euclidean 3-space; Gauss’s Theorem Egregium; the Gauss–Bonnet theorem.
7. The second variation formula, Jacobi fields, conjugate points and elementary comparison geometry.
8. The Bonnet–Myers theorems and the Cartan–Hadamard theorem.

References

• Lee, Riemannian Geometry
• do Carmo, Riemannian Geometry