More Structure
One often desires more structure on a manifold than simply the topological structure. For example, if one would like an unambiguous notion of differentiation of functions on a manifold, then it is necessary to construct an atlas whose transition functions are differentiable. Such a manifold is called differentiable. Given a differentiable manifold, one can unambiguously define the notion of tangent vectors and then directional derivatives.
If each transition function is a smooth map, then the atlas is called a smooth atlas, and the manifold itself is called smooth. Alternatively, one could require that the transition maps have only k continuous derivatives in which case the atlas is said to be .
Very generally, if each transition function belongs to a pseudo-group of homeomorphisms of Euclidean space, then the atlas is called a -atlas.
Read more about this topic: Atlas (topology)
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—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
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