- #1
Rasalhague
- 1,387
- 2
Let M be an n-dimensional manifold, with tangent spaces TpM for each point p in M. Let F(M) be the vector space of smooth functions M --> R, over R, with the usual definitions of addition and scaling. Tangent vectors in TM can be defined as linear functionals on F(M) (Fecko: Differential Geometry..., 2.2). What is the relationship between the n-dimensional tangent spaces TpM and the (presumably infinite dimensional) dual space, F(M)*, of F(M)? What can be said about the zero vector of F(M)*? Since the TpM are subsets of F(M)*, and are each vector spaces in their own right, over the same field (and with the same addition and scaling functions?), they should each contain the zero vector; and yet the tangent spaces are said to be disjoint.