Let {(Ui,Φi)}\{(U_i,\Phi_i)\} be a for a smooth fiber bundle with FF, and let tij:UijDiff(F)t_{ij}:U_{ij}\to \mathrm{Diff}(F) be the associated . They satisfy the following identities:

  1. Identity on the diagonal: tii(x)=idFt_{ii}(x)=\mathrm{id}_F for all xUix\in U_i.
  2. Inverse on overlaps: on UijU_{ij}, one has tji(x)=tij(x)1t_{ji}(x)=t_{ij}(x)^{-1}.
  3. Cocycle condition on triple overlaps: on Uijk=UiUjUkU_{ijk}=U_i\cap U_j\cap U_k,
    tij(x)tjk(x)=tik(x)for all xUijk.t_{ij}(x)\circ t_{jk}(x)=t_{ik}(x)\qquad \text{for all }x\in U_{ijk}.

These conditions are exactly the statement that the changes of trivialization compose consistently, so that the local products Ui×FU_i\times F glue to a well-defined .

Examples
  1. Trivial bundle: all tijt_{ij} are the identity, so the cocycle condition holds tautologically.
  2. Möbius : cover the circle by two arcs whose overlap has two components. Choose t12=+1t_{12}=+1 on one component and t12=1t_{12}=-1 on the other, with t21=t121t_{21}=t_{12}^{-1}. These satisfy the cocycle identities and give the nontrivial line bundle. Choosing t121t_{12}\equiv-1 on the entire overlap instead gives a trivial bundle after reversing one local frame.
  3. Tangent bundle: on triple overlaps of coordinate charts, the cocycle condition is the chain rule for Jacobians of coordinate changes.