Principles of Differential Geometry Taha Sochi∗ arXiv:1609.02868v1 [math.HO] 9 Sep 2016 September 12, 2016 ∗Department of Physics & Astronomy, University College London, Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT. Email:
[email protected]. 1 2 Preface The present text is a collection of notes about differential geometry prepared to some extent as part of tutorials about topics and applications related to tensor calculus. They can be regarded as continuation to the previous notes on tensor calculus [9, 10] as they are based on the materials and conventions given in those documents. They can be used as a reference for a first course on the subject or as part of a course on tensor calculus. We generally follow the same notations and conventions employed in [9, 10], however the following points should be observed: • Following the convention of several authors, when discussing issues related to 2D and 3D manifolds the Greek indices range over 1,2 while the Latin indices range over 1,2,3. Therefore, the use of Greek and Latin indices indicates the type of the intended manifold unless it is stated otherwise. • The indexed u with Greek letters are used for the surface curvilinear coordinates while the indexed x with Latin letters are used largely for the space Cartesian coordinates but sometimes they are used for the space curvilinear coordinates. Comments are added when necessary to clarify the situation. • For curvilinear coordinates of surfaces we use both u; v and u1; u2 as each has advantages in certain contexts; in particular the latter is necessary for expressing the equations of differential geometry in tensor forms.