What is an intuitive explanation of the Hopf fibration and the twisted Hopf fibration?












9












$begingroup$


As the question suggests, what is an intuitive explanation of the Hopf fibration and the twisted Hopf fibration? Many thanks in advance.










share|cite|improve this question











$endgroup$








  • 1




    $begingroup$
    The Hopf fibration is a continuous mapping of the three-dimensional sphere $S^3$ onto the two-dimensional sphere $S^2$ with many interesting properties (e.g., it's a fibration!). As for "an Hopf fibration" or "a twisted Hopf fibration", I can't help: I have never come across these terms. Where did you hear about them?
    $endgroup$
    – Rob Arthan
    Aug 11 '15 at 20:40


















9












$begingroup$


As the question suggests, what is an intuitive explanation of the Hopf fibration and the twisted Hopf fibration? Many thanks in advance.










share|cite|improve this question











$endgroup$








  • 1




    $begingroup$
    The Hopf fibration is a continuous mapping of the three-dimensional sphere $S^3$ onto the two-dimensional sphere $S^2$ with many interesting properties (e.g., it's a fibration!). As for "an Hopf fibration" or "a twisted Hopf fibration", I can't help: I have never come across these terms. Where did you hear about them?
    $endgroup$
    – Rob Arthan
    Aug 11 '15 at 20:40
















9












9








9


3



$begingroup$


As the question suggests, what is an intuitive explanation of the Hopf fibration and the twisted Hopf fibration? Many thanks in advance.










share|cite|improve this question











$endgroup$




As the question suggests, what is an intuitive explanation of the Hopf fibration and the twisted Hopf fibration? Many thanks in advance.







general-topology differential-geometry algebraic-topology differential-topology






share|cite|improve this question















share|cite|improve this question













share|cite|improve this question




share|cite|improve this question








edited Aug 11 '15 at 20:55









Community

1




1










asked Aug 11 '15 at 20:23







user261288















  • 1




    $begingroup$
    The Hopf fibration is a continuous mapping of the three-dimensional sphere $S^3$ onto the two-dimensional sphere $S^2$ with many interesting properties (e.g., it's a fibration!). As for "an Hopf fibration" or "a twisted Hopf fibration", I can't help: I have never come across these terms. Where did you hear about them?
    $endgroup$
    – Rob Arthan
    Aug 11 '15 at 20:40
















  • 1




    $begingroup$
    The Hopf fibration is a continuous mapping of the three-dimensional sphere $S^3$ onto the two-dimensional sphere $S^2$ with many interesting properties (e.g., it's a fibration!). As for "an Hopf fibration" or "a twisted Hopf fibration", I can't help: I have never come across these terms. Where did you hear about them?
    $endgroup$
    – Rob Arthan
    Aug 11 '15 at 20:40










1




1




$begingroup$
The Hopf fibration is a continuous mapping of the three-dimensional sphere $S^3$ onto the two-dimensional sphere $S^2$ with many interesting properties (e.g., it's a fibration!). As for "an Hopf fibration" or "a twisted Hopf fibration", I can't help: I have never come across these terms. Where did you hear about them?
$endgroup$
– Rob Arthan
Aug 11 '15 at 20:40






$begingroup$
The Hopf fibration is a continuous mapping of the three-dimensional sphere $S^3$ onto the two-dimensional sphere $S^2$ with many interesting properties (e.g., it's a fibration!). As for "an Hopf fibration" or "a twisted Hopf fibration", I can't help: I have never come across these terms. Where did you hear about them?
$endgroup$
– Rob Arthan
Aug 11 '15 at 20:40












2 Answers
2






active

oldest

votes


















6












$begingroup$

I have never heard of the latter, but let me try to give some description of the former. We can identify $Bbb R^{2n}$ with $Bbb C^{n}$. For any element $gamma in Bbb C^{n}-0$, we can associate the unique complex line between the origin and $gamma$ which is just the $Bbb C$ multiples of $gamma$, $Bbb Cgamma ={zgamma:zin Bbb C}$. We can give the set of complex lines in $Bbb C^n$ a topological structure (as well as a smooth structure, a complex structure, a symplectic structure etc.), and we call this space $Bbb CP^{n-1}$. The Hopf map $H$ is simply the map $S^{2n-1}to Bbb CP^{n-1}$ which takes the point $gamma$ to line $Bbb Cgamma$.



One can easily check that since each complex line (a real 2-plane in $Bbb R^{2n}$) intersects $S^{2n-1}$ in a circle, so the inverse of a point is always a circle in $S^{2n-1}$.



For $n=2$ ,this is especially interesting as $Bbb CP^1$ is homeomorphic (diffeomorphic, biholomorphic, symplectomorphic etc) to $S^2$. Also, in $S^3$ we could possibly form interesting links from different point inverses.



Lets consider the example where $gamma_1=(1,0) in Bbb C^2$ and $gamma_2=(0,1) in Bbb C^2$ and let's find the 2-component link given by $H^{-1}(Bbb Cgamma_1) cup H^{-1}(Bbb Cgamma_2)$ . $H^{-1}(Bbb Cgamma_1)={(x,y) in Bbb C^2: |x|+|y|=1,y=0 }$ which bounds the disk $D(gamma_1)={(x,y)in Bbb C^2 : |x|leq 1, y= sqrt {1-|x|^2}}$ . Similarly $H^{-1}(Bbb Cgamma_2)$ bounds the disk $D(gamma_2)={(x,y)in Bbb C^2 : |y|leq 1, x= sqrt {1-|y|^2}}$. In $S^3$, these disks intersect transversely along the arc ${(x,y) in Bbb R^2 subset Bbb C^2: xgeq 0, y=sqrt{1-x^2}} $ . There is actually only one 2-component link (up to isotopy) in $S^3$ where each of the components are unlinks and disks bounding these unlinks can be arranged to intersect along a single arc transversely (say by the uniqueness of the meridian of a knot). That link is the Hopf link shown below.



enter image description here






share|cite|improve this answer











$endgroup$













  • $begingroup$
    Tiny correction: in your first paragraph you presumably mean $gammainmathbb{C}^n-0$? You have $2n$ in the exponent there, which would be a $(4n)$-(real-)dimensional space...
    $endgroup$
    – Steven Stadnicki
    Aug 11 '15 at 21:31












  • $begingroup$
    @StevenStadnicki Yes, that was a typo thank you. All this should be happening inside a Euclidean space of complex dimension $n$.
    $endgroup$
    – PVAL-inactive
    Aug 11 '15 at 21:57





















3












$begingroup$

Circle bundles $E mapsto S^2$ are indexed by their Euler class, an element of $H_2(S^2;mathbb{Z}) approx mathbb{Z}$. One can characterize this integer using obstruction theory, as the obstruction to the existence of a section of the bundle map $E mapsto S^2$.



"The" Hopf fibration is (up to oriented bundle equivalence) the circle bundle of Euler class $+1$.



The circle bundle of Euler class $0$ is simply the projection map to $S^2$ of the Cartesian product $E = S^2 times S^1$. In general, the total space of the circle bundle of Euler class $n$ is the Lens space $L(n,1)$ (thanks to @PVAL-inactive for this correction)). I believe (the OP might want to confirm that this is the intent of the question) that these are the "twisted Hopf fibrations". Perhals, just as for the Hopf fibration itself (as explained in the answer of PVAL), one might be able visualize the Euler class in each of these cases as the linking number in the total space $L(n,1)$ of the fibers over two points of the base space $S^2$.






share|cite|improve this answer











$endgroup$









  • 1




    $begingroup$
    Isn't the unit tangent bundle of $S^2$ (the circle bundle with Euler class 2) $SO(3) cong Bbb RP^3$ and in general the total space of the circle bundle with Euler class $n$ , $L(n,1)$?
    $endgroup$
    – PVAL-inactive
    Sep 15 '15 at 18:29











Your Answer





StackExchange.ifUsing("editor", function () {
return StackExchange.using("mathjaxEditing", function () {
StackExchange.MarkdownEditor.creationCallbacks.add(function (editor, postfix) {
StackExchange.mathjaxEditing.prepareWmdForMathJax(editor, postfix, [["$", "$"], ["\\(","\\)"]]);
});
});
}, "mathjax-editing");

StackExchange.ready(function() {
var channelOptions = {
tags: "".split(" "),
id: "69"
};
initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);

StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function() {
// Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled) {
StackExchange.using("snippets", function() {
createEditor();
});
}
else {
createEditor();
}
});

function createEditor() {
StackExchange.prepareEditor({
heartbeatType: 'answer',
autoActivateHeartbeat: false,
convertImagesToLinks: true,
noModals: true,
showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
reputationToPostImages: 10,
bindNavPrevention: true,
postfix: "",
imageUploader: {
brandingHtml: "Powered by u003ca class="icon-imgur-white" href="https://imgur.com/"u003eu003c/au003e",
contentPolicyHtml: "User contributions licensed under u003ca href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"u003ecc by-sa 3.0 with attribution requiredu003c/au003e u003ca href="https://stackoverflow.com/legal/content-policy"u003e(content policy)u003c/au003e",
allowUrls: true
},
noCode: true, onDemand: true,
discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
});


}
});














draft saved

draft discarded


















StackExchange.ready(
function () {
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fmath.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f1393588%2fwhat-is-an-intuitive-explanation-of-the-hopf-fibration-and-the-twisted-hopf-fibr%23new-answer', 'question_page');
}
);

Post as a guest















Required, but never shown
























2 Answers
2






active

oldest

votes








2 Answers
2






active

oldest

votes









active

oldest

votes






active

oldest

votes









6












$begingroup$

I have never heard of the latter, but let me try to give some description of the former. We can identify $Bbb R^{2n}$ with $Bbb C^{n}$. For any element $gamma in Bbb C^{n}-0$, we can associate the unique complex line between the origin and $gamma$ which is just the $Bbb C$ multiples of $gamma$, $Bbb Cgamma ={zgamma:zin Bbb C}$. We can give the set of complex lines in $Bbb C^n$ a topological structure (as well as a smooth structure, a complex structure, a symplectic structure etc.), and we call this space $Bbb CP^{n-1}$. The Hopf map $H$ is simply the map $S^{2n-1}to Bbb CP^{n-1}$ which takes the point $gamma$ to line $Bbb Cgamma$.



One can easily check that since each complex line (a real 2-plane in $Bbb R^{2n}$) intersects $S^{2n-1}$ in a circle, so the inverse of a point is always a circle in $S^{2n-1}$.



For $n=2$ ,this is especially interesting as $Bbb CP^1$ is homeomorphic (diffeomorphic, biholomorphic, symplectomorphic etc) to $S^2$. Also, in $S^3$ we could possibly form interesting links from different point inverses.



Lets consider the example where $gamma_1=(1,0) in Bbb C^2$ and $gamma_2=(0,1) in Bbb C^2$ and let's find the 2-component link given by $H^{-1}(Bbb Cgamma_1) cup H^{-1}(Bbb Cgamma_2)$ . $H^{-1}(Bbb Cgamma_1)={(x,y) in Bbb C^2: |x|+|y|=1,y=0 }$ which bounds the disk $D(gamma_1)={(x,y)in Bbb C^2 : |x|leq 1, y= sqrt {1-|x|^2}}$ . Similarly $H^{-1}(Bbb Cgamma_2)$ bounds the disk $D(gamma_2)={(x,y)in Bbb C^2 : |y|leq 1, x= sqrt {1-|y|^2}}$. In $S^3$, these disks intersect transversely along the arc ${(x,y) in Bbb R^2 subset Bbb C^2: xgeq 0, y=sqrt{1-x^2}} $ . There is actually only one 2-component link (up to isotopy) in $S^3$ where each of the components are unlinks and disks bounding these unlinks can be arranged to intersect along a single arc transversely (say by the uniqueness of the meridian of a knot). That link is the Hopf link shown below.



enter image description here






share|cite|improve this answer











$endgroup$













  • $begingroup$
    Tiny correction: in your first paragraph you presumably mean $gammainmathbb{C}^n-0$? You have $2n$ in the exponent there, which would be a $(4n)$-(real-)dimensional space...
    $endgroup$
    – Steven Stadnicki
    Aug 11 '15 at 21:31












  • $begingroup$
    @StevenStadnicki Yes, that was a typo thank you. All this should be happening inside a Euclidean space of complex dimension $n$.
    $endgroup$
    – PVAL-inactive
    Aug 11 '15 at 21:57


















6












$begingroup$

I have never heard of the latter, but let me try to give some description of the former. We can identify $Bbb R^{2n}$ with $Bbb C^{n}$. For any element $gamma in Bbb C^{n}-0$, we can associate the unique complex line between the origin and $gamma$ which is just the $Bbb C$ multiples of $gamma$, $Bbb Cgamma ={zgamma:zin Bbb C}$. We can give the set of complex lines in $Bbb C^n$ a topological structure (as well as a smooth structure, a complex structure, a symplectic structure etc.), and we call this space $Bbb CP^{n-1}$. The Hopf map $H$ is simply the map $S^{2n-1}to Bbb CP^{n-1}$ which takes the point $gamma$ to line $Bbb Cgamma$.



One can easily check that since each complex line (a real 2-plane in $Bbb R^{2n}$) intersects $S^{2n-1}$ in a circle, so the inverse of a point is always a circle in $S^{2n-1}$.



For $n=2$ ,this is especially interesting as $Bbb CP^1$ is homeomorphic (diffeomorphic, biholomorphic, symplectomorphic etc) to $S^2$. Also, in $S^3$ we could possibly form interesting links from different point inverses.



Lets consider the example where $gamma_1=(1,0) in Bbb C^2$ and $gamma_2=(0,1) in Bbb C^2$ and let's find the 2-component link given by $H^{-1}(Bbb Cgamma_1) cup H^{-1}(Bbb Cgamma_2)$ . $H^{-1}(Bbb Cgamma_1)={(x,y) in Bbb C^2: |x|+|y|=1,y=0 }$ which bounds the disk $D(gamma_1)={(x,y)in Bbb C^2 : |x|leq 1, y= sqrt {1-|x|^2}}$ . Similarly $H^{-1}(Bbb Cgamma_2)$ bounds the disk $D(gamma_2)={(x,y)in Bbb C^2 : |y|leq 1, x= sqrt {1-|y|^2}}$. In $S^3$, these disks intersect transversely along the arc ${(x,y) in Bbb R^2 subset Bbb C^2: xgeq 0, y=sqrt{1-x^2}} $ . There is actually only one 2-component link (up to isotopy) in $S^3$ where each of the components are unlinks and disks bounding these unlinks can be arranged to intersect along a single arc transversely (say by the uniqueness of the meridian of a knot). That link is the Hopf link shown below.



enter image description here






share|cite|improve this answer











$endgroup$













  • $begingroup$
    Tiny correction: in your first paragraph you presumably mean $gammainmathbb{C}^n-0$? You have $2n$ in the exponent there, which would be a $(4n)$-(real-)dimensional space...
    $endgroup$
    – Steven Stadnicki
    Aug 11 '15 at 21:31












  • $begingroup$
    @StevenStadnicki Yes, that was a typo thank you. All this should be happening inside a Euclidean space of complex dimension $n$.
    $endgroup$
    – PVAL-inactive
    Aug 11 '15 at 21:57
















6












6








6





$begingroup$

I have never heard of the latter, but let me try to give some description of the former. We can identify $Bbb R^{2n}$ with $Bbb C^{n}$. For any element $gamma in Bbb C^{n}-0$, we can associate the unique complex line between the origin and $gamma$ which is just the $Bbb C$ multiples of $gamma$, $Bbb Cgamma ={zgamma:zin Bbb C}$. We can give the set of complex lines in $Bbb C^n$ a topological structure (as well as a smooth structure, a complex structure, a symplectic structure etc.), and we call this space $Bbb CP^{n-1}$. The Hopf map $H$ is simply the map $S^{2n-1}to Bbb CP^{n-1}$ which takes the point $gamma$ to line $Bbb Cgamma$.



One can easily check that since each complex line (a real 2-plane in $Bbb R^{2n}$) intersects $S^{2n-1}$ in a circle, so the inverse of a point is always a circle in $S^{2n-1}$.



For $n=2$ ,this is especially interesting as $Bbb CP^1$ is homeomorphic (diffeomorphic, biholomorphic, symplectomorphic etc) to $S^2$. Also, in $S^3$ we could possibly form interesting links from different point inverses.



Lets consider the example where $gamma_1=(1,0) in Bbb C^2$ and $gamma_2=(0,1) in Bbb C^2$ and let's find the 2-component link given by $H^{-1}(Bbb Cgamma_1) cup H^{-1}(Bbb Cgamma_2)$ . $H^{-1}(Bbb Cgamma_1)={(x,y) in Bbb C^2: |x|+|y|=1,y=0 }$ which bounds the disk $D(gamma_1)={(x,y)in Bbb C^2 : |x|leq 1, y= sqrt {1-|x|^2}}$ . Similarly $H^{-1}(Bbb Cgamma_2)$ bounds the disk $D(gamma_2)={(x,y)in Bbb C^2 : |y|leq 1, x= sqrt {1-|y|^2}}$. In $S^3$, these disks intersect transversely along the arc ${(x,y) in Bbb R^2 subset Bbb C^2: xgeq 0, y=sqrt{1-x^2}} $ . There is actually only one 2-component link (up to isotopy) in $S^3$ where each of the components are unlinks and disks bounding these unlinks can be arranged to intersect along a single arc transversely (say by the uniqueness of the meridian of a knot). That link is the Hopf link shown below.



enter image description here






share|cite|improve this answer











$endgroup$



I have never heard of the latter, but let me try to give some description of the former. We can identify $Bbb R^{2n}$ with $Bbb C^{n}$. For any element $gamma in Bbb C^{n}-0$, we can associate the unique complex line between the origin and $gamma$ which is just the $Bbb C$ multiples of $gamma$, $Bbb Cgamma ={zgamma:zin Bbb C}$. We can give the set of complex lines in $Bbb C^n$ a topological structure (as well as a smooth structure, a complex structure, a symplectic structure etc.), and we call this space $Bbb CP^{n-1}$. The Hopf map $H$ is simply the map $S^{2n-1}to Bbb CP^{n-1}$ which takes the point $gamma$ to line $Bbb Cgamma$.



One can easily check that since each complex line (a real 2-plane in $Bbb R^{2n}$) intersects $S^{2n-1}$ in a circle, so the inverse of a point is always a circle in $S^{2n-1}$.



For $n=2$ ,this is especially interesting as $Bbb CP^1$ is homeomorphic (diffeomorphic, biholomorphic, symplectomorphic etc) to $S^2$. Also, in $S^3$ we could possibly form interesting links from different point inverses.



Lets consider the example where $gamma_1=(1,0) in Bbb C^2$ and $gamma_2=(0,1) in Bbb C^2$ and let's find the 2-component link given by $H^{-1}(Bbb Cgamma_1) cup H^{-1}(Bbb Cgamma_2)$ . $H^{-1}(Bbb Cgamma_1)={(x,y) in Bbb C^2: |x|+|y|=1,y=0 }$ which bounds the disk $D(gamma_1)={(x,y)in Bbb C^2 : |x|leq 1, y= sqrt {1-|x|^2}}$ . Similarly $H^{-1}(Bbb Cgamma_2)$ bounds the disk $D(gamma_2)={(x,y)in Bbb C^2 : |y|leq 1, x= sqrt {1-|y|^2}}$. In $S^3$, these disks intersect transversely along the arc ${(x,y) in Bbb R^2 subset Bbb C^2: xgeq 0, y=sqrt{1-x^2}} $ . There is actually only one 2-component link (up to isotopy) in $S^3$ where each of the components are unlinks and disks bounding these unlinks can be arranged to intersect along a single arc transversely (say by the uniqueness of the meridian of a knot). That link is the Hopf link shown below.



enter image description here







share|cite|improve this answer














share|cite|improve this answer



share|cite|improve this answer








edited Aug 11 '15 at 21:56

























answered Aug 11 '15 at 21:11









PVAL-inactivePVAL-inactive

7,05011843




7,05011843












  • $begingroup$
    Tiny correction: in your first paragraph you presumably mean $gammainmathbb{C}^n-0$? You have $2n$ in the exponent there, which would be a $(4n)$-(real-)dimensional space...
    $endgroup$
    – Steven Stadnicki
    Aug 11 '15 at 21:31












  • $begingroup$
    @StevenStadnicki Yes, that was a typo thank you. All this should be happening inside a Euclidean space of complex dimension $n$.
    $endgroup$
    – PVAL-inactive
    Aug 11 '15 at 21:57




















  • $begingroup$
    Tiny correction: in your first paragraph you presumably mean $gammainmathbb{C}^n-0$? You have $2n$ in the exponent there, which would be a $(4n)$-(real-)dimensional space...
    $endgroup$
    – Steven Stadnicki
    Aug 11 '15 at 21:31












  • $begingroup$
    @StevenStadnicki Yes, that was a typo thank you. All this should be happening inside a Euclidean space of complex dimension $n$.
    $endgroup$
    – PVAL-inactive
    Aug 11 '15 at 21:57


















$begingroup$
Tiny correction: in your first paragraph you presumably mean $gammainmathbb{C}^n-0$? You have $2n$ in the exponent there, which would be a $(4n)$-(real-)dimensional space...
$endgroup$
– Steven Stadnicki
Aug 11 '15 at 21:31






$begingroup$
Tiny correction: in your first paragraph you presumably mean $gammainmathbb{C}^n-0$? You have $2n$ in the exponent there, which would be a $(4n)$-(real-)dimensional space...
$endgroup$
– Steven Stadnicki
Aug 11 '15 at 21:31














$begingroup$
@StevenStadnicki Yes, that was a typo thank you. All this should be happening inside a Euclidean space of complex dimension $n$.
$endgroup$
– PVAL-inactive
Aug 11 '15 at 21:57






$begingroup$
@StevenStadnicki Yes, that was a typo thank you. All this should be happening inside a Euclidean space of complex dimension $n$.
$endgroup$
– PVAL-inactive
Aug 11 '15 at 21:57













3












$begingroup$

Circle bundles $E mapsto S^2$ are indexed by their Euler class, an element of $H_2(S^2;mathbb{Z}) approx mathbb{Z}$. One can characterize this integer using obstruction theory, as the obstruction to the existence of a section of the bundle map $E mapsto S^2$.



"The" Hopf fibration is (up to oriented bundle equivalence) the circle bundle of Euler class $+1$.



The circle bundle of Euler class $0$ is simply the projection map to $S^2$ of the Cartesian product $E = S^2 times S^1$. In general, the total space of the circle bundle of Euler class $n$ is the Lens space $L(n,1)$ (thanks to @PVAL-inactive for this correction)). I believe (the OP might want to confirm that this is the intent of the question) that these are the "twisted Hopf fibrations". Perhals, just as for the Hopf fibration itself (as explained in the answer of PVAL), one might be able visualize the Euler class in each of these cases as the linking number in the total space $L(n,1)$ of the fibers over two points of the base space $S^2$.






share|cite|improve this answer











$endgroup$









  • 1




    $begingroup$
    Isn't the unit tangent bundle of $S^2$ (the circle bundle with Euler class 2) $SO(3) cong Bbb RP^3$ and in general the total space of the circle bundle with Euler class $n$ , $L(n,1)$?
    $endgroup$
    – PVAL-inactive
    Sep 15 '15 at 18:29
















3












$begingroup$

Circle bundles $E mapsto S^2$ are indexed by their Euler class, an element of $H_2(S^2;mathbb{Z}) approx mathbb{Z}$. One can characterize this integer using obstruction theory, as the obstruction to the existence of a section of the bundle map $E mapsto S^2$.



"The" Hopf fibration is (up to oriented bundle equivalence) the circle bundle of Euler class $+1$.



The circle bundle of Euler class $0$ is simply the projection map to $S^2$ of the Cartesian product $E = S^2 times S^1$. In general, the total space of the circle bundle of Euler class $n$ is the Lens space $L(n,1)$ (thanks to @PVAL-inactive for this correction)). I believe (the OP might want to confirm that this is the intent of the question) that these are the "twisted Hopf fibrations". Perhals, just as for the Hopf fibration itself (as explained in the answer of PVAL), one might be able visualize the Euler class in each of these cases as the linking number in the total space $L(n,1)$ of the fibers over two points of the base space $S^2$.






share|cite|improve this answer











$endgroup$









  • 1




    $begingroup$
    Isn't the unit tangent bundle of $S^2$ (the circle bundle with Euler class 2) $SO(3) cong Bbb RP^3$ and in general the total space of the circle bundle with Euler class $n$ , $L(n,1)$?
    $endgroup$
    – PVAL-inactive
    Sep 15 '15 at 18:29














3












3








3





$begingroup$

Circle bundles $E mapsto S^2$ are indexed by their Euler class, an element of $H_2(S^2;mathbb{Z}) approx mathbb{Z}$. One can characterize this integer using obstruction theory, as the obstruction to the existence of a section of the bundle map $E mapsto S^2$.



"The" Hopf fibration is (up to oriented bundle equivalence) the circle bundle of Euler class $+1$.



The circle bundle of Euler class $0$ is simply the projection map to $S^2$ of the Cartesian product $E = S^2 times S^1$. In general, the total space of the circle bundle of Euler class $n$ is the Lens space $L(n,1)$ (thanks to @PVAL-inactive for this correction)). I believe (the OP might want to confirm that this is the intent of the question) that these are the "twisted Hopf fibrations". Perhals, just as for the Hopf fibration itself (as explained in the answer of PVAL), one might be able visualize the Euler class in each of these cases as the linking number in the total space $L(n,1)$ of the fibers over two points of the base space $S^2$.






share|cite|improve this answer











$endgroup$



Circle bundles $E mapsto S^2$ are indexed by their Euler class, an element of $H_2(S^2;mathbb{Z}) approx mathbb{Z}$. One can characterize this integer using obstruction theory, as the obstruction to the existence of a section of the bundle map $E mapsto S^2$.



"The" Hopf fibration is (up to oriented bundle equivalence) the circle bundle of Euler class $+1$.



The circle bundle of Euler class $0$ is simply the projection map to $S^2$ of the Cartesian product $E = S^2 times S^1$. In general, the total space of the circle bundle of Euler class $n$ is the Lens space $L(n,1)$ (thanks to @PVAL-inactive for this correction)). I believe (the OP might want to confirm that this is the intent of the question) that these are the "twisted Hopf fibrations". Perhals, just as for the Hopf fibration itself (as explained in the answer of PVAL), one might be able visualize the Euler class in each of these cases as the linking number in the total space $L(n,1)$ of the fibers over two points of the base space $S^2$.







share|cite|improve this answer














share|cite|improve this answer



share|cite|improve this answer








edited Nov 28 '18 at 10:10

























answered Aug 11 '15 at 22:25









Lee MosherLee Mosher

49k33684




49k33684








  • 1




    $begingroup$
    Isn't the unit tangent bundle of $S^2$ (the circle bundle with Euler class 2) $SO(3) cong Bbb RP^3$ and in general the total space of the circle bundle with Euler class $n$ , $L(n,1)$?
    $endgroup$
    – PVAL-inactive
    Sep 15 '15 at 18:29














  • 1




    $begingroup$
    Isn't the unit tangent bundle of $S^2$ (the circle bundle with Euler class 2) $SO(3) cong Bbb RP^3$ and in general the total space of the circle bundle with Euler class $n$ , $L(n,1)$?
    $endgroup$
    – PVAL-inactive
    Sep 15 '15 at 18:29








1




1




$begingroup$
Isn't the unit tangent bundle of $S^2$ (the circle bundle with Euler class 2) $SO(3) cong Bbb RP^3$ and in general the total space of the circle bundle with Euler class $n$ , $L(n,1)$?
$endgroup$
– PVAL-inactive
Sep 15 '15 at 18:29




$begingroup$
Isn't the unit tangent bundle of $S^2$ (the circle bundle with Euler class 2) $SO(3) cong Bbb RP^3$ and in general the total space of the circle bundle with Euler class $n$ , $L(n,1)$?
$endgroup$
– PVAL-inactive
Sep 15 '15 at 18:29


















draft saved

draft discarded




















































Thanks for contributing an answer to Mathematics Stack Exchange!


  • Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!

But avoid



  • Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.

  • Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.


Use MathJax to format equations. MathJax reference.


To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.




draft saved


draft discarded














StackExchange.ready(
function () {
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fmath.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f1393588%2fwhat-is-an-intuitive-explanation-of-the-hopf-fibration-and-the-twisted-hopf-fibr%23new-answer', 'question_page');
}
);

Post as a guest















Required, but never shown





















































Required, but never shown














Required, but never shown












Required, but never shown







Required, but never shown

































Required, but never shown














Required, but never shown












Required, but never shown







Required, but never shown







Popular posts from this blog

mysqli_query(): Empty query in /home/lucindabrummitt/public_html/blog/wp-includes/wp-db.php on line 1924

How to change which sound is reproduced for terminal bell?

Can I use Tabulator js library in my java Spring + Thymeleaf project?