Embedding of T 2 into S 3 with a perturbed

metric on S3
Axel Tiger Norkvist
December 2018

Introduction
The standard metric on S 3 is given by
 2 
sin η 0 0
g= 0 cos2 η 0 ,
0 0 1

and by perturbing by a factor e2H(θ,φ,η) for some real-valued function H we get

a new metric. With this perturbation we get the following matrices representing
the metric and its inverse:

sin2 η
   2 
0 0 csc η 0 0
g̃ = e 2H(θ,φ,η) 
0 cos2 η 0 , g̃ −1 = e−2H(θ,φ,η)  0 sec2 η 0 .
0 0 1 0 0 1

We would like to calculate the Christoffel symbols for this new metric on S 3 ,
and moreover determine the Levi-Civita connection on the Riemannian manifold
(S 3 , g̃).

1 The Christoffel symbols

The Christoffel symbols can be represented in three separate matrices, where the
(i)
matrix Γjk contains all the Christoffel symbols with upper index i, i = 1, 2, 3.
 
∂1 (H) ∂2 (H) ∂3 (H) + cot η
Γ1jk = ∂2 (H) −∂1 (H) cot2 η 0  (1)
∂3 (H) + cot η 0 −∂1 (H) csc2 η

−∂2 (H) tan2 η

 
∂1 (H) 0
Γ2jk = ∂1 (H) ∂2 (H) ∂3 (H) − tan η  (2)
0 ∂3 (H) − tan η −∂2 (H) sec2 η

1
 −∂3 (H) sin2 η − sin η cos η
 
0 ∂1 (H)
Γ3jk =  0 −∂3 (H) cos2 η + sin η cos η ∂2 (H) (3)
∂1 (H) ∂2 (H) ∂3 (H)

2 The Levi-Civita connection on (S 3 , g̃) and Christof-

fel symbols
The Levi-Civita connection is given by the following:

(∇X Y )i = X(Y i ) + Γijk X j Y k ,

or equivalently by:
∂
∇X Y = (X(Y i ) + Γijk X j Y k ) .
∂xi
Thus we get that the Levi-Civita connection on (S 3 , g̃) is given by:

∂ ∂ ∂ ∂
∇θ = ∂1 (H) − ∂2 (H) tan2 η − (∂3 (H) sin2 η + sin η cos η) (4)
∂θ ∂θ ∂φ ∂η
∂ ∂ ∂ ∂
∇θ = ∂2 (H) + ∂1 (H) = ∇φ (5)
∂φ ∂θ ∂φ ∂θ
∂ ∂ ∂ ∂
∇θ = (∂3 (H) + cot η) + ∂1 (H) = ∇η (6)
∂η ∂θ ∂η ∂θ
∂ ∂ ∂ ∂
∇φ = −∂1 (H) cot2 η + ∂2 (H) + (sin η cos η − ∂3 (H) cos2 η) (7)
∂φ ∂θ ∂φ ∂η
∂ ∂ ∂ ∂
∇φ = (∂3 (H) − tan η) + ∂2 (H) = ∇η (8)
∂η ∂φ ∂η ∂φ
∂ ∂ ∂ ∂
∇η = −∂1 (H) csc2 η − ∂2 (H) sec2 η + ∂3 (H) (9)
∂η ∂θ ∂φ ∂η

3 Embedding of the torus into the 3-sphere, and

the induced metric and Levi-Civita connec-
tions
Let T 2 be the Clifford torus, and let f : T 2 → S 3 be the embedding taking the
coordinates (ϕ1 , ϕ2 ) in T 2 to the coordinates (ϕ1 , ϕ2 , η0 ) in S 3 for some fixed
η0 ∈ (0, π/2).
∂ ∂ ∂ ∂
It is easy to see that T f ( ∂ϕ 1
) = ∂θ and that T f ( ∂ϕ 2
) = ∂φ , which gives us
the induced metric
 2   2 
2H̃(ϕ1 ,ϕ2 ) sin η0 0 −1 −2H̃(ϕ1 ,ϕ2 ) csc η0 0
g̃2 = e , g̃2 = e ,
0 cos2 η0 0 sec2 η0

2
 ¯ is given
where H̃(ϕ1 , ϕ2 ) = H(ϕ1 , ϕ2 , η0 ); the induced Levi-Civita connection ∇
by:

˜ 1 ∂ = ∂1 (H̃) ∂ − ∂2 (H̃) tan2 η0 ∂

∇ (10)
∂ϕ1 ∂ϕ1 ∂ϕ2
˜1 ∂ ˜2 ∂ ∂ ∂
∇ =∇ = ∂2 (H̃) + ∂1 (H̃) (11)
∂ϕ2 ∂ϕ1 ∂ϕ1 ∂ϕ2
˜ 2 ∂ = −∂1 (H̃) cot2 η0 ∂ + ∂2 (H̃) ∂ .
∇ (12)
∂ϕ2 ∂ϕ1 ∂ϕ2

The unit normal to the tangent plane of T 2 at a point is N := e−H(ϕ1 ,ϕ2 ,η0 ) ∂η
∂
,
and using this we may get the shape operator:
   
∂ ∂ ∂
SN = −∇1 N = −∇1 e−H = ... = −e−H (∂3 (H) + cot η0 )
∂ϕ1 ∂η ∂θ
   
∂ ∂ ∂
SN = −∇2 N = −∇2 e−H = ... = −e−H (∂3 (H) − tan η0 ) ,
∂ϕ2 ∂η ∂φ
or in matrix form:
 
−H ∂3 (H) + cot η0 0
SN = −e . (13)
0 ∂3 (H) − tan η0

We now get the mean curvature of T 2 in S 3 with the perturbed metric:

1 1
HT 2 = tr(SN ) = (−e−H (2∂3 (H) + cot η0 − tan η0 ))
2  2 
−H cot η0 − tan η0
= −e + ∂3 (H) = −e−H (cot 2η0 + ∂3 (H)).
2

From this we see, in particular, that if ∂3 (H)|η=η0 = − cot 2η0 it follows that
T 2 is minimal in S 3 with the perturbed metric. This is equivalent with H being
of the following form:
f (η) cot 2η0
H(θ, φ, η) = H̄(θ, φ) − (14)
f 0 (η0 )
for an arbitrary function f with a nonzero derivative at η = η0 .

4 The Laplace-Beltrami operator of T 2 for the

perturbed metric
(i)
The induced Christoffel symbols for T 2 are given by the matrices Γ̃jk for i = 1, 2.
 
∂1 (H̃) ∂2 (H̃)
Γ̃1jk = , (15)
∂2 (H̃) −∂1 (H̃) cot2 η0

3
 −∂2 (H̃) tan2 η0
 
∂1 (H̃)
Γ̃2jk = . (16)
∂1 (H̃) ∂2 (H̃)
These Christoffel symbols can then be used to calculate the Laplace-Beltrami
operator for T 2 :
  2 
˜ i ∇i f = g jk ∂ ∂
∆T 2 f = ∇ − Γ̃ijk (f )
∂j ∂k ∂i
= /Christoffel symbols cancel each other out/
∂2 ∂2
 
= e−2H̃ csc2 η0 + sec2 η0 (f ).
∂11 ∂22

In particular, we get that

∆T 2 (eiϕ1 ) = −(e−2H̃ csc2 η0 )eiϕ1 (17)

∆T 2 (eiϕ2 ) = −(e−2H̃ sec2 η0 )eiϕ2 . (18)