In
mathematics, an embedding (or imbedding) is one instance of some
mathematical structure contained within another instance, such as a
group
A group is a number of persons or things that are located, gathered, or classed together.
Groups of people
* Cultural group, a group whose members share the same cultural identity
* Ethnic group, a group whose members share the same ethnic ide ...
that is a
subgroup
In group theory, a branch of mathematics, given a group ''G'' under a binary operation ∗, a subset ''H'' of ''G'' is called a subgroup of ''G'' if ''H'' also forms a group under the operation ∗. More precisely, ''H'' is a subgroup ...
.
When some object
is said to be embedded in another object
, the embedding is given by some
injective and structure-preserving map
. The precise meaning of "structure-preserving" depends on the kind of mathematical structure of which
and
are instances. In the terminology of
category theory, a structure-preserving map is called a
morphism.
The fact that a map
is an embedding is often indicated by the use of a "hooked arrow" ();
thus:
(On the other hand, this notation is sometimes reserved for
inclusion map
In mathematics, if A is a subset of B, then the inclusion map (also inclusion function, insertion, or canonical injection) is the function \iota that sends each element x of A to x, treated as an element of B:
\iota : A\rightarrow B, \qquad \iota ...
s.)
Given
and
, several different embeddings of
in
may be possible. In many cases of interest there is a standard (or "canonical") embedding, like those of the
natural number
In mathematics, the natural numbers are those numbers used for counting (as in "there are ''six'' coins on the table") and ordering (as in "this is the ''third'' largest city in the country").
Numbers used for counting are called ''cardinal ...
s in the
integer
An integer is the number zero (), a positive natural number (, , , etc.) or a negative integer with a minus sign ( −1, −2, −3, etc.). The negative numbers are the additive inverses of the corresponding positive numbers. In the languag ...
s, the integers in the
rational number
In mathematics, a rational number is a number that can be expressed as the quotient or fraction of two integers, a numerator and a non-zero denominator . For example, is a rational number, as is every integer (e.g. ). The set of all rat ...
s, the rational numbers in the
real number
In mathematics, a real number is a number that can be used to measure a ''continuous'' one-dimensional quantity such as a distance, duration or temperature. Here, ''continuous'' means that values can have arbitrarily small variations. Every ...
s, and the real numbers in the
complex number
In mathematics, a complex number is an element of a number system that extends the real numbers with a specific element denoted , called the imaginary unit and satisfying the equation i^= -1; every complex number can be expressed in the fo ...
s. In such cases it is common to identify the
domain with its
image contained in
, so that
.
Topology and geometry
General topology
In
general topology
In mathematics, general topology is the branch of topology that deals with the basic set-theoretic definitions and constructions used in topology. It is the foundation of most other branches of topology, including differential topology, geometri ...
, an embedding is a
homeomorphism
In the mathematical field of topology, a homeomorphism, topological isomorphism, or bicontinuous function is a bijective and continuous function between topological spaces that has a continuous inverse function. Homeomorphisms are the isomor ...
onto its image. More explicitly, an injective
continuous map
between
topological space
In mathematics, a topological space is, roughly speaking, a geometrical space in which closeness is defined but cannot necessarily be measured by a numeric distance. More specifically, a topological space is a set whose elements are called po ...
s
and
is a topological embedding if
yields a homeomorphism between
and
(where
carries the
subspace topology
In topology and related areas of mathematics, a subspace of a topological space ''X'' is a subset ''S'' of ''X'' which is equipped with a topology induced from that of ''X'' called the subspace topology (or the relative topology, or the induced to ...
inherited from
). Intuitively then, the embedding
lets us treat
as a
subspace of
. Every embedding is injective and
continuous. Every map that is injective, continuous and either
open
Open or OPEN may refer to:
Music
* Open (band), Australian pop/rock band
* The Open (band), English indie rock band
* ''Open'' (Blues Image album), 1969
* ''Open'' (Gotthard album), 1999
* ''Open'' (Cowboy Junkies album), 2001
* ''Open'' ( ...
or
closed is an embedding; however there are also embeddings which are neither open nor closed. The latter happens if the image
is neither an
open set
In mathematics, open sets are a generalization of open intervals in the real line.
In a metric space (a set along with a distance defined between any two points), open sets are the sets that, with every point , contain all points that are su ...
nor a
closed set in
.
For a given space
, the existence of an embedding
is a
topological invariant
In topology and related areas of mathematics, a topological property or topological invariant is a property of a topological space that is invariant under homeomorphisms. Alternatively, a topological property is a proper class of topological space ...
of
. This allows two spaces to be distinguished if one is able to be embedded in a space while the other is not.
Related definitions
If the domain of a function
is a
topological space
In mathematics, a topological space is, roughly speaking, a geometrical space in which closeness is defined but cannot necessarily be measured by a numeric distance. More specifically, a topological space is a set whose elements are called po ...
then the function is said to be ' if there exists some
neighborhood of this point such that the restriction
is injective. It is called ' if it is locally injective around every point of its domain. Similarly, a ' is a function for which every point in its domain has some neighborhood to which its restriction is a (topological, resp. smooth) embedding.
Every injective function is locally injective but not conversely.
Local diffeomorphisms,
local homeomorphism
In mathematics, more specifically topology, a local homeomorphism is a function between topological spaces that, intuitively, preserves local (though not necessarily global) structure.
If f : X \to Y is a local homeomorphism, X is said to be an � ...
s, and smooth
immersion
Immersion may refer to:
The arts
* "Immersion", a 2012 story by Aliette de Bodard
* ''Immersion'', a French comic book series by Léo Quievreux#Immersion, Léo Quievreux
* Immersion (album), ''Immersion'' (album), the third album by Australian gro ...
s are all locally injective functions that are not necessarily injective. The
inverse function theorem
In mathematics, specifically differential calculus, the inverse function theorem gives a sufficient condition for a function to be invertible in a neighborhood of a point in its domain: namely, that its ''derivative is continuous and non-zero at ...
gives a sufficient condition for a continuously differentiable function to be (among other things) locally injective. Every
fiber
Fiber or fibre (from la, fibra, links=no) is a natural or artificial substance that is significantly longer than it is wide. Fibers are often used in the manufacture of other materials. The strongest engineering materials often incorpora ...
of a locally injective function
is necessarily a
discrete subspace of its
domain
Differential topology
In
differential topology:
Let
and
be smooth
manifolds and
be a smooth map. Then
is called an
immersion
Immersion may refer to:
The arts
* "Immersion", a 2012 story by Aliette de Bodard
* ''Immersion'', a French comic book series by Léo Quievreux#Immersion, Léo Quievreux
* Immersion (album), ''Immersion'' (album), the third album by Australian gro ...
if its
derivative
In mathematics, the derivative of a function of a real variable measures the sensitivity to change of the function value (output value) with respect to a change in its argument (input value). Derivatives are a fundamental tool of calculus. ...
is everywhere injective. An embedding, or a smooth embedding, is defined to be an immersion which is an embedding in the topological sense mentioned above (i.e.
homeomorphism
In the mathematical field of topology, a homeomorphism, topological isomorphism, or bicontinuous function is a bijective and continuous function between topological spaces that has a continuous inverse function. Homeomorphisms are the isomor ...
onto its image).
In other words, the domain of an embedding is
diffeomorphic
In mathematics, a diffeomorphism is an isomorphism of smooth manifolds. It is an invertible function that maps one differentiable manifold to another such that both the function and its inverse are differentiable.
Definition
Given two man ...
to its image, and in particular the image of an embedding must be a
submanifold
In mathematics, a submanifold of a manifold ''M'' is a subset ''S'' which itself has the structure of a manifold, and for which the inclusion map satisfies certain properties. There are different types of submanifolds depending on exactly which ...
. An immersion is precisely a local embedding, i.e. for any point
there is a neighborhood
such that
is an embedding.
When the domain manifold is compact, the notion of a smooth embedding is equivalent to that of an injective immersion.
An important case is
. The interest here is in how large
must be for an embedding, in terms of the dimension
of
. The
Whitney embedding theorem
In mathematics, particularly in differential topology, there are two Whitney embedding theorems, named after Hassler Whitney:
*The strong Whitney embedding theorem states that any smooth real -dimensional manifold (required also to be Hausdorff ...
states that
is enough, and is the best possible linear bound. For example, the
real projective space
In mathematics, real projective space, denoted or is the topological space of lines passing through the origin 0 in It is a compact, smooth manifold of dimension , and is a special case of a Grassmannian space.
Basic properties Construction
A ...
of dimension
, where
is a power of two, requires
for an embedding. However, this does not apply to immersions; for instance,
can be immersed in
as is explicitly shown by
Boy's surface—which has self-intersections. The
Roman surface
In mathematics, the Roman surface or Steiner surface is a self-intersecting mapping of the real projective plane into three-dimensional space, with an unusually high degree of symmetry. This mapping is not an immersion of the projective plan ...
fails to be an immersion as it contains
cross-caps.
An embedding is proper if it behaves well with respect to
boundaries: one requires the map
to be such that
*
, and
*
is
transverse to
in any point of
.
The first condition is equivalent to having
and
. The second condition, roughly speaking, says that
is not tangent to the boundary of
.
Riemannian and pseudo-Riemannian geometry
In
Riemannian geometry
Riemannian geometry is the branch of differential geometry that studies Riemannian manifolds, smooth manifolds with a ''Riemannian metric'', i.e. with an inner product on the tangent space at each point that varies smoothly from point to point ...
and pseudo-Riemannian geometry:
Let
and
be
Riemannian manifolds or more generally
pseudo-Riemannian manifold
In differential geometry, a pseudo-Riemannian manifold, also called a semi-Riemannian manifold, is a differentiable manifold with a metric tensor that is everywhere nondegenerate. This is a generalization of a Riemannian manifold in which the ...
s.
An isometric embedding is a smooth embedding
which preserves the (pseudo-)
metric
Metric or metrical may refer to:
* Metric system, an internationally adopted decimal system of measurement
* An adjective indicating relation to measurement in general, or a noun describing a specific type of measurement
Mathematics
In mathem ...
in the sense that
is equal to the
pullback
In mathematics, a pullback is either of two different, but related processes: precomposition and fiber-product. Its dual is a pushforward.
Precomposition
Precomposition with a function probably provides the most elementary notion of pullback: i ...
of
by
, i.e.
. Explicitly, for any two tangent vectors
we have
:
Analogously, isometric immersion is an immersion between (pseudo)-Riemannian manifolds which preserves the (pseudo)-Riemannian metrics.
Equivalently, in Riemannian geometry, an isometric embedding (immersion) is a smooth embedding (immersion) which preserves length of
curve
In mathematics, a curve (also called a curved line in older texts) is an object similar to a line, but that does not have to be straight.
Intuitively, a curve may be thought of as the trace left by a moving point. This is the definition that ...
s (cf.
Nash embedding theorem
The Nash embedding theorems (or imbedding theorems), named after John Forbes Nash Jr., state that every Riemannian manifold can be isometrically embedding, embedded into some Euclidean space. Isometry, Isometric means preserving the length of every ...
).
[Nash J., ''The embedding problem for Riemannian manifolds,'' Ann. of Math. (2), 63 (1956), 20–63.]
Algebra
In general, for an
algebraic category
In universal algebra, a variety of algebras or equational class is the class of all algebraic structures of a given signature satisfying a given set of identities. For example, the groups form a variety of algebras, as do the abelian groups, the ...
, an embedding between two
-algebraic structures
and
is a
-morphism that is injective.
Field theory
In
field theory, an embedding of a
field in a field
is a
ring homomorphism
In ring theory, a branch of abstract algebra, a ring homomorphism is a structure-preserving function between two rings. More explicitly, if ''R'' and ''S'' are rings, then a ring homomorphism is a function such that ''f'' is:
:addition preser ...
.
The
kernel
Kernel may refer to:
Computing
* Kernel (operating system), the central component of most operating systems
* Kernel (image processing), a matrix used for image convolution
* Compute kernel, in GPGPU programming
* Kernel method, in machine learn ...
of
is an
ideal of
which cannot be the whole field
, because of the condition . Furthermore, it is a well-known property of fields that their only ideals are the zero ideal and the whole field itself. Therefore, the kernel is
, so any embedding of fields is a
monomorphism
In the context of abstract algebra or universal algebra, a monomorphism is an injective homomorphism. A monomorphism from to is often denoted with the notation X\hookrightarrow Y.
In the more general setting of category theory, a monomorphism ...
. Hence,
is
isomorphic to the
subfield of
. This justifies the name ''embedding'' for an arbitrary homomorphism of fields.
Universal algebra and model theory
If
is a
signature
A signature (; from la, signare, "to sign") is a handwritten (and often stylized) depiction of someone's name, nickname, or even a simple "X" or other mark that a person writes on documents as a proof of identity and intent. The writer of a ...
and
are
-
structures
A structure is an arrangement and organization of interrelated elements in a material object or system, or the object or system so organized. Material structures include man-made objects such as buildings and machines and natural objects such as ...
(also called
-algebras in
universal algebra or models in
model theory), then a map
is a
-embedding
iff all of the following hold:
*
is injective,
* for every
-ary function symbol
and
we have
,
* for every
-ary relation symbol
and
we have
iff
Here
is a model theoretical notation equivalent to
. In model theory there is also a stronger notion of
elementary embedding In model theory, a branch of mathematical logic, two structures ''M'' and ''N'' of the same signature ''σ'' are called elementarily equivalent if they satisfy the same first-order ''σ''-sentences.
If ''N'' is a substructure of ''M'', one often ...
.
Order theory and domain theory
In
order theory
Order theory is a branch of mathematics that investigates the intuitive notion of order using binary relations. It provides a formal framework for describing statements such as "this is less than that" or "this precedes that". This article int ...
, an embedding of
partially ordered set
In mathematics, especially order theory, a partially ordered set (also poset) formalizes and generalizes the intuitive concept of an ordering, sequencing, or arrangement of the elements of a set. A poset consists of a set together with a bina ...
s is a function
between partially ordered sets
and
such that
:
Injectivity of
follows quickly from this definition. In
domain theory
Domain theory is a branch of mathematics that studies special kinds of partially ordered sets (posets) commonly called domains. Consequently, domain theory can be considered as a branch of order theory. The field has major applications in computer ...
, an additional requirement is that
:
is
directed
Director may refer to:
Literature
* ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine
* ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker
* ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty
Music
* Director (band), an Irish rock band
* ''D ...
.
Metric spaces
A mapping
of
metric spaces
In mathematics, a metric space is a set together with a notion of ''distance'' between its elements, usually called points. The distance is measured by a function called a metric or distance function. Metric spaces are the most general settin ...
is called an ''embedding''
(with
distortion
In signal processing, distortion is the alteration of the original shape (or other characteristic) of a signal. In communications and electronics it means the alteration of the waveform of an information-bearing signal, such as an audio signa ...
) if
:
for every
and some constant
.
Normed spaces
An important special case is that of
normed spaces
In mathematics, a normed vector space or normed space is a vector space over the real or complex numbers, on which a norm is defined. A norm is the formalization and the generalization to real vector spaces of the intuitive notion of "length ...
; in this case it is natural to consider linear embeddings.
One of the basic questions that can be asked about a finite-dimensional
normed space is, ''what is the maximal dimension
such that the
Hilbert space can be linearly embedded into
with constant distortion?''
The answer is given by
Dvoretzky's theorem In mathematics, Dvoretzky's theorem is an important structural theorem about normed vector spaces proved by Aryeh Dvoretzky in the early 1960s, answering a question of Alexander Grothendieck. In essence, it says that every sufficiently high-dimens ...
.
Category theory
In
category theory, there is no satisfactory and generally accepted definition of embeddings that is applicable in all categories. One would expect that all isomorphisms and all compositions of embeddings are embeddings, and that all embeddings are monomorphisms. Other typical requirements are: any
extremal monomorphism is an embedding and embeddings are stable under
pullback
In mathematics, a pullback is either of two different, but related processes: precomposition and fiber-product. Its dual is a pushforward.
Precomposition
Precomposition with a function probably provides the most elementary notion of pullback: i ...
s.
Ideally the class of all embedded
subobjects of a given object, up to isomorphism, should also be
small, and thus an
ordered set
In mathematics, especially order theory, a partially ordered set (also poset) formalizes and generalizes the intuitive concept of an ordering, sequencing, or arrangement of the elements of a set. A poset consists of a set together with a binary r ...
. In this case, the category is said to be well powered with respect to the class of embeddings. This allows defining new local structures in the category (such as a
closure operator In mathematics, a closure operator on a set ''S'' is a function \operatorname: \mathcal(S)\rightarrow \mathcal(S) from the power set of ''S'' to itself that satisfies the following conditions for all sets X,Y\subseteq S
:
Closure operators are de ...
).
In a
concrete category
In mathematics, a concrete category is a category that is equipped with a faithful functor to the category of sets (or sometimes to another category, ''see Relative concreteness below''). This functor makes it possible to think of the objects of t ...
, an embedding is a morphism
which is an injective function from the underlying set of
to the underlying set of
and is also an initial morphism in the following sense:
If
is a function from the underlying set of an object
to the underlying set of
, and if its composition with
is a morphism
, then
itself is a morphism.
A
factorization system for a category also gives rise to a notion of embedding. If
is a factorization system, then the morphisms in
may be regarded as the embeddings, especially when the category is well powered with respect to
. Concrete theories often have a factorization system in which
consists of the embeddings in the previous sense. This is the case of the majority of the examples given in this article.
As usual in category theory, there is a
dual concept, known as quotient. All the preceding properties can be dualized.
An embedding can also refer to an
embedding functor.
See also
*
Closed immersion
In algebraic geometry, a closed immersion of schemes is a morphism of schemes f: Z \to X that identifies ''Z'' as a closed subset of ''X'' such that locally, regular functions on ''Z'' can be extended to ''X''. The latter condition can be formaliz ...
*
Cover
*
Dimension reduction
Dimensionality reduction, or dimension reduction, is the transformation of data from a high-dimensional space into a low-dimensional space so that the low-dimensional representation retains some meaningful properties of the original data, ideally ...
*
Immersion
Immersion may refer to:
The arts
* "Immersion", a 2012 story by Aliette de Bodard
* ''Immersion'', a French comic book series by Léo Quievreux#Immersion, Léo Quievreux
* Immersion (album), ''Immersion'' (album), the third album by Australian gro ...
*
Johnson–Lindenstrauss lemma In mathematics, the Johnson–Lindenstrauss lemma is a result named after William B. Johnson and Joram Lindenstrauss concerning low-distortion embeddings of points from high-dimensional into low-dimensional Euclidean space. The lemma states that a ...
*
Submanifold
In mathematics, a submanifold of a manifold ''M'' is a subset ''S'' which itself has the structure of a manifold, and for which the inclusion map satisfies certain properties. There are different types of submanifolds depending on exactly which ...
*
Subspace
*
Universal space
Notes
References
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
* .
*
* .
External links
*
Embedding of manifoldson the Manifold Atlas
{{set index article
Abstract algebra
Category theory
General topology
Differential topology
Functions and mappings
Maps of manifolds
Model theory
Order theory