Smooth vector field over $S^1$

differential-geometrysmooth-manifoldsVector Fields

I am a beginner at manifolds. I am trying the following problem:

Let $A=(U_N, \phi _N=(x^1)),(U_S, \phi_S=(x^2))$ be the atlas for $S^1$ with stereographic projection. Define a map as $v(p)= \frac{\partial}{\partial x_1}|_p$ when $p\neq N$ and $v(p)= \frac{\partial}{\partial x_2}|_p$ when $p=N$. Find whether this is a smooth vector field on $S^1$ or not.

My attempt:

I saw the following proposition from Loring tu which says:

Let $(U,\phi)=(U,x^1,\cdot \cdot \cdot, x^n)$ be a chart on a manifold $M$. A vector field $X= \sum a^i \frac{\partial}{\partial x^i}$ on $U$ is smooth if and only if the coefficient functions $a^i$ are all smooth on $U$.

I am wondering if I can use this theorem or not, if yes then how can I write my given function first into summation form.

Best Answer

First, you need to figure out how to change between the two coordinate charts $x_1$ and $x_2$. Let $(y,z)$ be a point on the unit circle $y^2+z^2=1$. Using triangle ratios, you can find $x_1 = \dfrac y{1-z}$ and $x_2 = \dfrac y{1+z}$. Then $x_1x_2 = \dfrac{y^2}{1-z^2} = 1$, since $y^2+z^2=1$. Thus, whenever both $x_1,x_2$ are both defined, $x_1x_2 = 1$.

Now we want to get $\dfrac\partial{\partial x_1}$ in terms of $x_2$. By the chain rule, this is $\dfrac{\partial x_1}{\partial x_2}\dfrac\partial{\partial x_2}$. Then using $x_1 = \dfrac1{x_2}$, $\dfrac{\partial x_1}{\partial x_2} = \dfrac{-1}{x_2^2}$. Thus $\dfrac\partial{\partial x_1} = \dfrac{-1}{x_2^2}\dfrac\partial{\partial x_2}$. The point $N$ corresponds to $x_2 = 0$, so we see that this quantity is diverging. So no, the vector field is not smooth.