Generalized Bianchi identities for horizontal distributions

Abstract

A linear connection on a differentiable manifold M defines a horizontal distribution on the tangent bundle T(M) . Horizontal distributions on tangent bundles are of some interest even when they are not generated by connections. Much of linear connection theory generalizes to arbitrary horizontal distributions. In particular, there are generalized versions of Bianchi's two identities for the torsion T and curvature R where C denotes the cyclic sum with respect to X, Y and Z . These identities are derived below by associating with a horizontal distribution a graded derivation of degree 1 in a graded Lie algebra of vertical forms on M . This approach reveals the fundamentally algebraic origin of the Bianchi identities.