Definition
Let M be a differentiable manifold and p a point of M. An affine connection on M allows one to define the notion of a geodesic through the point p.
Let v ∈ TpM be a tangent vector to the manifold at p. Then there is a unique geodesic γv satisfying γv(0) = p with initial tangent vector γ′v(0) = v. The corresponding exponential map is defined by expp(v) = γv(1). In general, the exponential map is only locally defined, that is, it only takes a small neighborhood of the origin at TpM, to a neighborhood of p in the manifold. This is because it relies on the theorem on existence and uniqueness for ordinary differential equations which is local in nature. An affine connection is called complete if the exponential map is well-defined at every point of the tangent bundle.
Read more about this topic: Exponential Map
Famous quotes containing the word definition:
“It’s a rare parent who can see his or her child clearly and objectively. At a school board meeting I attended . . . the only definition of a gifted child on which everyone in the audience could agree was “mine.””
—Jane Adams (20th century)
“... if, as women, we accept a philosophy of history that asserts that women are by definition assimilated into the male universal, that we can understand our past through a male lens—if we are unaware that women even have a history—we live our lives similarly unanchored, drifting in response to a veering wind of myth and bias.”
—Adrienne Rich (b. 1929)
“The man who knows governments most completely is he who troubles himself least about a definition which shall give their essence. Enjoying an intimate acquaintance with all their particularities in turn, he would naturally regard an abstract conception in which these were unified as a thing more misleading than enlightening.”
—William James (1842–1910)