Differential Geometry II - Smooth Manifolds

Winter Term 2024/2025

Lecturer: Dr. N. Tsakanikas
Assistant: L. E. Rösler

Exercise Sheet 8 – Solutions

Exercise 1:

(a) Sufficient conditions for properness: Let X and Y be topological spaces and let
F : X → Y be a continuous map. Prove the following assertions:

(i) If X is compact and Y is Hausdorff, then F is proper.

(ii) If F is a topological embedding with closed image, then F is proper.
(iii) If Y is Hausdorff and F has a continuous left inverse, i.e., a continuous map
G : Y → X such that G ◦ F = IdX , then F is proper.

(b) Let M be a smooth manifold and let S be an embedded submanifold of M . Show

that S is properly embedded if and only if S is a closed subset of M .

(c) Slice of the product manifold : If M and N are smooth manifolds, then for each q ∈ N
the subset M ×{q}, called a slice of the product manifold, is an embedded submanifold
of M × N diffeomorphic to M .

(d) Global graphs are properly embedded : Let f : M → N be a smooth map between
smooth manifolds. Show that the graph Γ(f ) of f is a properly embedded submanifold
of M × N .

Solution:
(a) We deal with the three cases below separately:

(i) Let K be a compact subset of Y . Since Y is Hausdorff, K is a closed subset of Y .

Since F is continuous, F −1 (K) is a closed subset of X, and now since X is compact,
F −1 (K) is also compact, as desired. Therefore, F is a proper map.

(ii) Let K be a compact subset of Y . By assumption, F (X) is a closed subset of X,

so F (X) ∩ K is a closed subset of K, and thus compact. Since F −1 : F (X) → X
is continuous and

bijective by assumption and since F (X) ∩ K ⊆ F (X), the image
−1 −1
F F (X) ∩ K = F (K) is a compact subset of X, as desired.

1
(iii) Let K be a compact subset of Y . On the one hand, since G is continuous, G(K) is a
compact subset of X. On the other hand, since Y is Hausdorff, K is a closed subset
of Y , and since F is continuous, F −1 (K) is a closed subset of X. Now, we claim
that F −1 (K) ⊆ G(K), which implies that F −1 (K) is compact, as desired. Indeed,
given s ∈ F −1 (K), we have F (s) = t ∈ K, so

s = IdX (s) = (G ◦ F )(s) = G(t) ∈ G(K),

which proves the claim, and completes thus the proof of (iii).

(b) Assume first that S is a properly embedded submanifold of M . Then the inclusion
map ι : S ,→ M is proper by definition, and hence closed by Claim 3 in the proof of
Proposition 4.6. Since ι is clearly a topological embedding, we deduce that S is a closed
subset of M .
Assume now that S is a closed subset of M . Since then the inclusion map ι : S ,→ M
is a topological embedding with closed image ι(S) = S, it follows from (a)(ii) that ι is
proper, and thus S is a properly embedded submanifold of M .
(c) The assertion follows immediately from Example 5.4 by considering the constant
function
f : M → N, x 7→ q ∈ N,
which is smooth by part (b) of [Exercise Sheet 3, Exercise 3].
(d) By Example 5.4 we know that the map


γf : M → M × N, x 7→ x, f (x)

is a smooth embedding with image Γ(f ) and that the projection

πM : M × N → M, (x, y) 7→ x

is a smooth left inverse for γf , i.e., πM ◦ γf = IdM . It follows from (a)(iii) that γf is
proper, hence closed by Claim 3 in the proof of Proposition 4.6. Therefore, Γ(f ) is a
closed subset of M × N , so Example 5.4 together with (b) imply that Γ(f ) is a properly
embedded submanifold of M × N .

Exercise 2: Fix n ≥ 0. Using

(i) the local slice criterion, and

(ii) the regular level set theorem,

show that Sn is an embedded submanifold of Rn+1 .

Solution: We first show that the unit n-sphere Sn is an embedded submanifold of Rn+1
using the local slice criterion. To this end, recall that Sn is locally the graph of a smooth
function; indeed, by Example 1.3 (2) we already know that each point of Sn belongs to
one of the sets Ui± ∩ Sn and that Ui+ ∩ Sn is the graph of

xi = f x1 , . . . , xbi , . . . , xn+1

2
and Ui− ∩ Sn is the graph of

xi = −f x1 , . . . , xbi , . . . , xn+1 ,

where f is the smooth function

p
f : Bn → R, u 7→ 1 − ∥u∥2 .

It follows now from Example 5.4 and Theorem 5.6 that Sn satisfies the local n-slice
condition, and hence it is an embedded submanifold of Rn+1 again by Theorem 5.6.
We now show that Sn is an embedded submanifold of Rn+1 using the regular level set
theorem. To this end, consider the smooth function
n+1
X
n+1 1 n+1 2
f: R → R, x = (x , . . . , x ) 7→ ∥x∥ − 1 = (xi )2 − 1
i=1

and note that

Sn = f −1 (0).
The gradient of f is given at an arbitrary point x = (x1 , . . . , xn+1 ) ∈ Rn+1 by

grad(f )(x1 , . . . , xn+1 ) = 2x1 , . . . , 2xn+1 .

Since grad(f ) vanishes only at the point 0 = (0, . . . , 0) ∈ Rn+1 , which clearly does not
belong to Sn , it follows from Corollary 5.10 that Sn = f −1 (0) is a properly embedded
submanifold of Rn+1 .

Remark.
(1) It follows from Exercise 1(b) and Exercise 2 (or [Exercise Sheet 6, Exercise 3(a)]) that
Sn is a properly embedded submanifold of Rn+1 .

(2) One can check that the coordinates for Sn determined by the slice charts described
in Exercise 2(i) are precisely the graph coordinates defined in Example 1.3 (2).

Exercise 3:
(a) Consider the smooth function

f : R2 → R, (x, y) 7→ x3 + xy + y 3 .
1
Show that if c ∈ R \ {0, 27 }, then the level set f −1 (c) is an embedded submanifold of
R2 .

(b) Consider the smooth function

Φ : R2 → R, (x, y) 7→ x2 − y 2 .

Given c ∈ R, examine whether the level set Φ−1 (c) is an embedded submanifold of
R2 .

3
Solution:
(a) The gradient of f at an arbitrary point (x, y) ∈ R2 is given by
 
∂f ∂f
(x, y) = 3x2 + y, 3y 2 + x .


grad(f )(x, y) = (x, y),
∂x ∂y

It is now easy to check that

  1 1 
grad(f )(x, y) = (0, 0) if and only if (x, y) ∈ (0, 0), − , − .
3 3

Since  1 1 1
f (0, 0) = 0 and f − , − =
3 3 27
and since the fibers of f are disjoint, we conclude that (0, 0) belongs exclusively to the
−1 1 1 −1 1



level set f (0) and that − 3 , − 3 belongs exclusively to the level set f 27
. Hence, if
1
c ∈ R \ {0, 27 }, then the fiber f −1 (c) is a regular level set, and thus a properly embedded
submanifold of R2 by Corollary 5.10.
We have plotted in the left figure below the level sets f −1 (0) (in green)
and f −1 27 1

(in purple), while in the right one the level sets f −1 (−1) (in green), f −1 13 (in orange)
and f −1 (2) (in grey).

(b) The gradient of Φ at an arbitrary point (x, y) ∈ R2 is given by

 
∂Φ ∂Φ

grad(Φ)(x, y) = (x, y), (x, y) = 2x, −2y
∂x ∂y

and it is obvious that

grad(Φ)(x, y) = (0, 0) if and only if (x, y) = (0, 0).

As in (a), we conclude that if c ̸= 0, then the level set Φ−1 (c) is a properly embedded
submanifold of R2 according to Corollary 5.10. We have plotted below the level sets
Φ−1 (1) (in green) and Φ−1 (−1) (in blue).

4
 We now deal with the remaining case c = 0. Since grad(Φ)(0, 0) = (0, 0), c = 0 is a
critical value of Φ, so Corollary 5.10 cannot be applied; we stress that it does not tell
us that the level set Φ−1 (0) is not an embedded submanifold of R2 either. To examine
whether this is true or not, we proceed as follows.

We observe that the level set Φ−1 (0) (plotted above in red) is the union of the lines y = x
and y = −x in the plane R2 . By arguing as in [Exercise Sheet 1, Exercise 4] (for the point
(0, 0) ∈ Φ−1 (0)), we infer that Φ−1 (0) is not a topological manifold (with the subspace
topology inherited from R2 ), and hence it cannot be an embedded submanifold of R2 .

Exercise 4: Let S be a subset of a smooth m-manifold M . Show that S is an embedded

k-submanifold of M if and only if every point of S has a neighborhood U in M such that
U ∩ S is a level set of a smooth submersion Φ : U → Rm−k .
[Hint: Use the local slice criterion.]

5
Solution: Assume that S is an embedded k-submanifold of M . Then S satisfies the local
k-slice criterion by Theorem 5.6. Given p ∈ S, if (x1 , . . . , xm ) are slice coordinates for S
in an open neighborhood U of p in M , then there are constants ck+1 , . . . , cm ∈ R such
that (in coordinates we have)

U ∩ S = (x1 , . . . , xm ) ∈ U | xk+1 = ck+1 , . . . , xm = cm .



Moreover, the map Φ : U → Rm−k given in coordinates by

Φ(x1 , . . . , xm ) = (xk+1 , . . . , xm )

is a smooth submersion, since its Jacobian is the (m − k) × m-matrix

 
0 ... 0 1 0 ... 0 0
0 . . . 0 0 1 . . . 0 0
 
 .. .. .. .. .. .. 
. . . . . .
 
0 . . . 0 0 0 . . . 1 0
0 ... 0 0 0 ... 0 1

of rank m − k, and clearly we have

U ∩ S = Φ−1 ck+1 , . . . , cm .

In conclusion, every point of S has a neighborhood U in M such that U ∩ S is a level set

of a smooth submersion Φ : U → Rm−k .
Conversely, assume that every point of S has a neighborhood U in M such that
U ∩ S is a level set of a smooth submersion Φ : U → Rm−k . By Corollary 5.10, U ∩ S
is a properly embedded k-submanifold of U , so it satisfies the local k-slice criterion by
Theorem 5.6. Therefore, S itself satisfies the local k-slice criterion, and hence it is an
embedded k-submanifold of M by Theorem 5.6.

Exercise 5:

(a) Restricting the domain of a smooth map: If F : M → N is a smooth map and if

S ⊆ M is an immersed or embedded submanifold, then the restriction F |S : S → N
is smooth.

(b) Restricting the codomain of a smooth map: Let M be a smooth manifold, let S ⊆ M
be an immersed submanifold, and let G : N → M be a smooth map whose image is
contained in S. If G is a continuous map from N to S, then G : N → S is smooth.

(c) Let M be a smooth manifold and let S ⊆ M be an embedded submanifold. Then

every smooth map G : N → M whose image is contained in S is also smooth as a
map from N to S.

Solution:
(a) The inclusion map ι : S → M is smooth for both immersed and embedded submani-
folds. Hence, the restriction F |S = F ◦ ι is smooth as well.

6
(b) Let p ∈ M and set q = G(p) ∈ M . To prove the smoothness of the corestriction
G|S : N → S, we need to find charts of N and S containing p and q, respectively, such that
the corresponding coordinate representation of G|S is smooth. As immersed submanifolds
are locally embedded by Proposition 5.17, there exists a neighborhood V of q in S such
that ιV : V ,→ M is a smooth embedding. Thus, there exists a smooth chart (W, ψ)
of M containing q which is a slice chart for V (note that it could very well be that
W ∩ V ⊊ W ∩ S, i.e., (W, ψ) might not be a slice chart for S). The fact that (W, ψ) is a


slice chart means that V0 , ψe is a smooth chart for V , where V0 = V ∩ W and ψe = π ◦ ψ,
with π : Rn → Rk the projection onto the first k = dim S coordinates. Since V0 = ι−1V (W )


is open in V by continuity of ιV , it is open in S in its given topology. Hence, V0 , ψ is
e
also a smooth chart for S. Set U := G−1 (V0 ) and note that U is an open subset of N
containing p (this is where we use the hypothesis that G is continuous into S). Choose a
smooth chart (U0 , φ) for N such that p ∈ U0 ⊆ U . Then the coordinate representation of


the corestriction G|S : N → S with respect to the charts (U0 , φ) and V0 , ψe is

ψe ◦ G|S ◦ φ−1 = π ◦ ψ ◦ G ◦ φ−1 ,

which is smooth, because G : N → M is smooth by assumption. This proves the assertion.

(c) According to (b) we only have to show that the corestriction of any smooth map
G : N → M to S remains continuous. This is derived immediately from the following
general topological fact: if f : X → Y is a continuous map between topological spaces
X and Y , and if B ⊆ Y and A ⊆ X are arbitrary subsets endowed with the subspace
topology, and such that f (A) ⊆ B, then f |B A : A → B is continuous.
Let us verify the above result for the sake of completeness. Let V ⊆ B be an open
subset of B. By definition of the subspace topology, there exists an open subset V ′ ⊆ Y
such that V ′ ∩ B = V . Hence,

−1
f |B
A (V ) = f −1 (V ′ ) ∩ A,

which is open in A, since f −1 (V ′ ) is open in X by continuity of f and since A is endowed

with the subspace topology. Therefore, f |B A is continuous.

Remark.
(1) Let F : M → N be a smooth map. Exercise 5(a) asserts that if the domain of F
is restricted to a smooth submanifold S of M , then the restriction of F to S remains
smooth. However, if the codomain of F is restricted, then the resulting map need not be
smooth in general, as the following example shows, but Exercise 5(b) demonstrates that
the failure of continuity is the only thing that can go wrong.
Consider the smooth map

β : (−π, π) → R2 , t 7→ (sin 2t, sin t),

which is an injective smooth immersion according to Example 4.5 (2). By Proposition

5.13 its image S := β(−π, π) (which has been plotted below) has a unique topology and
smooth structure such that S is an immersed submanifold of R2 and such that β is a
diffeomorphism onto its image S.

7
Consider now the smooth map

B : R → R2 , t 7→ (sin 2t, sin t)

and note that its image lies in S. As a map from R to S, B is not continuous, because
β −1 ◦ B is not continuous at t = π.
(2) If M is a smooth manifold and if S is an immersed submanifold of M , then S is said
to be weakly embedded in M if every smooth map F : N → M whose image lies in S is
a smooth map as a map from M to S. Exercise 5(c) shows that embedded submanifolds
are weakly embedded, while the previous example demonstrates that there are immersed
submanifolds which are not weakly embedded.

Exercise 6 (Extension lemma for functions on submanifolds): Let M be a smooth

manifold, let S ⊆ M be a smooth submanifold, and let f ∈ C ∞ (S). Prove the following
assertions:
(a) If S is an embedded submanifold, then there exists a neighborhood U of S in M and
a smooth function fe on U such that fe|S = f .
[Hint: Use the local slice criterion and partitions of unity.]
(b) If S is a properly embedded submanifold, then the neighborhood U in (a) can be
taken to be all of M .
[Hint: Take the construction in (a) as well as Exercise 1(b) into account.]
Solution:
(a) Let p ∈ S and pick a slice chart (Up , φp ) for S in M such that p ∈ Up . Note that
Up ∩ S is a properly embedded submanifold of Up by Theorem 5.9 and by the solution of
Exercise 4; in particular, Up ∩ S a closed subset of Up by Exercise 1(b). By Exercise 5(a),
the restriction f |Up ∩S : Up ∩ S → R of f to Up ∩ S is smooth, and thus by Lemma 2.22
there exists a smooth function fp : Up → R such that fp |Up ∩S = f |Up ∩S and supp(fp ) ⊆ Up .

8
 Next, consider the open subset
[
U := Up
p∈S

of M and observe that U is an open neighborhood of S in M ; in particular, U is an open

submanifold of M . Let {ψp }p∈S be a smooth partition of unity subordinate to the open
covering {Up }p∈S of U , consider the smooth function
X
fe: U → R, fe(x) := ψp (x)fp (x)
p∈S

and note that fe|S = f . Therefore, fe is the desired smooth extension of f .

(b) By Exercise 1(b), S is a closed subset of M , so
[ 


Up ∪ M \ S
p∈S

is an open covering of M . Therefore, bearing the previous construction in mind, we may

now consider a smooth partition of unity {ψp }p∈S ∪ {ψ0 } subordinate the open covering


U ∪ M \ S of M , and we may thus construct as above a smooth extension fe of f on the
whole of M .

Remark. It can be shown that the results in Exercise 6 can be strengthened as follows:
Let M be a smooth manifold and let S ⊆ M be a smooth submanifold. The following
statements hold:

(a) S ⊆ M is embedded if and only if every f ∈ C ∞ (S) has a smooth extension to a

neighborhood of S in M .

(b) S ⊆ M is properly embedded if and only if every f ∈ C ∞ (S) has a smooth extension
to all of M .