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In mathematics, the tangent space of a manifold is a generalization of tangent lines to curves in two-dimensional space and tangent planes to surfaces in three-dimensional space in higher dimensions. In the context of physics the tangent space to a manifold at a point can be viewed as the space of possible velocities for a particle moving on ...
The tangent space has an interpretation in terms of K[t]/(t 2), the dual numbers for K; in the parlance of schemes, morphisms from Spec K[t]/(t 2) to a scheme X over K correspond to a choice of a rational point x ∈ X(k) and an element of the tangent space at x. [3] Therefore, one also talks about tangent vectors. See also: tangent space to a ...
The space [,] is the tangent space at to the adjoint orbit () and so the affine space + intersects the orbit of transversally. The space e + g f {\displaystyle e+{\mathfrak {g}}_{f}} is known as the "Slodowy slice" after Peter Slodowy .
The tangent bundle comes equipped with a natural topology (not the disjoint union topology) and smooth structure so as to make it into a manifold in its own right. The dimension of is twice the dimension of . Each tangent space of an n-dimensional manifold is an n-dimensional vector space
The envelope of the tangent planes to M along a curve c is a surface with vanishing Gaussian curvature, which by Minding's theorem, must be locally isometric to the Euclidean plane. This identification allows parallel transport to be defined, because in the Euclidean plane all tangent planes are identified with the space itself.
Geometrically, this contact structure can be regarded as the distribution of (2n−2)-planes which, at the unit vector u, is the pullback of the orthogonal complement of u in the tangent space of M. This is a contact structure, for the fiber of UT M is obviously an integral manifold (the vertical bundle is everywhere in the kernel of θ), and ...
Similarly, the tangent plane to a surface at a given point is the plane that "just touches" the surface at that point. The concept of a tangent is one of the most fundamental notions in differential geometry and has been extensively generalized; see Tangent space. The word "tangent" comes from the Latin tangere, "to touch".
The tangent cone serves as the extension of the notion of the tangent space to X at a regular point, where X most closely resembles a differentiable manifold, to all of X. (The tangent cone at a point of that is not contained in X is empty.) For example, the nodal curve : = +