This book is based on the full year Ph.D. qualifying course on differentiable manifolds, global calculus, differential geometry, and related topics, given by the author at Washington University several times over a twenty year period. It is addressed primarily to second year graduate students and well prepared first year students. Presupposed is a good grounding in general topology and modern algebra, especially linear algebra and the analogous theory of modules over a commutative, unitary ring. Although billed as a "first course" , the book is not intended to be an overly sketchy introduction. Mastery of this material should prepare the student for advanced topics courses and seminars in differen tial topology and geometry. There are certain basic themes of which the reader should be aware. The first concerns the role of differentiation as a process of linear approximation of non linear problems. The well understood methods of linear algebra are then applied to the resulting linear problem and, where possible, the results are reinterpreted in terms of the original nonlinear problem. The process of solving differential equations (i. e., integration) is the reverse of differentiation. It reassembles an infinite array of linear approximations, result ing from differentiation, into the original nonlinear data. This is the principal tool for the reinterpretation of the linear algebra results referred to above.

Introductory text for advanced undergraduates and graduate students presents systematic study of the topological structure of smooth manifolds, starting with elements of theory and concluding with method of surgery. 1993 edition.

Foundations of Differentiable Manifolds and Lie Groups gives a clear, detailed, and careful development of the basic facts on manifold theory and Lie Groups. Coverage includes differentiable manifolds, tensors and differentiable forms, Lie groups and homogenous spaces, and integration on manifolds. The book also provides a proof of the de Rham theorem via sheaf cohomology theory and develops the local theory of elliptic operators culminating in a proof of the Hodge theorem.

A famous Swiss professor gave a student’s course in Basel on Riemann surfaces. After a couple of lectures, a student asked him, “Professor, you have as yet not given an exact de nition of a Riemann surface.” The professor answered, “With Riemann surfaces, the main thing is to UNDERSTAND them, not to de ne them.” The student’s objection was reasonable. From a formal viewpoint, it is of course necessary to start as soon as possible with strict de nitions, but the professor’s - swer also has a substantial background. The pure de nition of a Riemann surface— as a complex 1-dimensional complex analytic manifold—contributes little to a true understanding. It takes a long time to really be familiar with what a Riemann s- face is. This example is typical for the objects of global analysis—manifolds with str- tures. There are complex concrete de nitions but these do not automatically explain what they really are, what we can do with them, which operations they really admit, how rigid they are. Hence, there arises the natural question—how to attain a deeper understanding? One well-known way to gain an understanding is through underpinning the d- nitions, theorems and constructions with hierarchies of examples, counterexamples and exercises. Their choice, construction and logical order is for any teacher in global analysis an interesting, important and fun creating task.

This textbook delves into the theory behind differentiable manifolds while exploring various physics applications along the way. Included throughout the book are a collection of exercises of varying degrees of difficulty. Differentiable Manifolds is intended for graduate students and researchers interested in a theoretical physics approach to the subject. Prerequisites include multivariable calculus, linear algebra, and differential equations and a basic knowledge of analytical mechanics.

Manifolds, the higher-dimensional analogs of smooth curves and surfaces, are fundamental objects in modern mathematics. Combining aspects of algebra, topology, and analysis, manifolds have also been applied to classical mechanics, general relativity, and quantum field theory. In this streamlined introduction to the subject, the theory of manifolds is presented with the aim of helping the reader achieve a rapid mastery of the essential topics. By the end of the book the reader should be able to compute, at least for simple spaces, one of the most basic topological invariants of a manifold, its de Rham cohomology. Along the way, the reader acquires the knowledge and skills necessary for further study of geometry and topology. The requisite point-set topology is included in an appendix of twenty pages; other appendices review facts from real analysis and linear algebra. Hints and solutions are provided to many of the exercises and problems. This work may be used as the text for a one-semester graduate or advanced undergraduate course, as well as by students engaged in self-study. Requiring only minimal undergraduate prerequisites, 'Introduction to Manifolds' is also an excellent foundation for Springer's GTM 82, 'Differential Forms in Algebraic Topology'.