[Math] The orbit of a compact Lie group action

differential-geometrygroup-actionslie-groupssmooth-manifolds

Let $G$ be a compact Lie group acting on a manifold $M$. For each $p\in M$, we define the orbit of $p$ as $G\cdot p:=\{g\cdot p: g\in G\}$. The isotropy group of $p$ is $G_{p}=\{g\in G:g\cdot p = p\}$. I read in many sources that $G\cdot p$ is diffeomorphic to $G/G_{p}$, though I could not find a clear proof.
I see that there is a well-defined bijection
$$\phi: G/G_{p}\rightarrow G\cdot p: gG_{p}\mapsto g\cdot p.$$

Can someone explain why this is in fact a diffeomorphism?

Best Answer

The map is smooth because we can construct it by passing the smooth map $G \to G_p$ via the natural quotient map $G \to G / G_p$. It follows immediately from the definitions of the two group actions that the map is equivariant. Thus, it has constant rank, and any bijective, smooth map of constant rank is a diffeomorphism. (See $\S$9 of Lee's Introduction to Smooth Manifolds (1st ed.) for more; this statement is essentially the content of Theorem 9.24 there. Possibly the relevant numbering is different in the current, second edition.)

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