Let π:E→M\pi:E\to M be a with typical fiber FF (see ). Let U⊂MU\subset M be open.

A local trivialization of EE over UU is a diffeomorphism

Φ:π−1(U)⟶U×F\Phi:\pi^{-1}(U)\longrightarrow U\times F

such that the projection to UU agrees with π\pi, i.e.

pr1∘Φ=π∣π−1(U).\mathrm{pr}_1\circ \Phi = \pi|_{\pi^{-1}(U)}.
Atlases and variants

A collection of local trivializations over an open cover that satisfy the compatibility condition defines a . On overlaps Ui∩UjU_i\cap U_j, comparing trivializations produces the usual (or transition maps), and these satisfy the .

For , one often uses the equivariant version (compare ), and local trivializations can be built from local sections as in .

Fiberwise consequence

For each x∈Ux\in U, the bundle-compatible diffeomorphism Φ\Phi restricts to a diffeomorphism of fibers

Φx:Ex⟶≅{x}×F≅F.\Phi_x:E_x\stackrel{\cong}{\longrightarrow} \{x\}\times F \cong F.
Examples
  1. Trivial bundle. For the product bundle E=M×FE=M\times F (see ), the global map
    Φ:M×F→M×F,Φ(x,f)=(x,f),\Phi:M\times F\to M\times F,\quad \Phi(x,f)=(x,f),
    is a local trivialization over every open U⊂MU\subset M (in fact a global trivialization).
  1. Tangent bundle in a coordinate chart. Let MM be a smooth manifold and let (U,φ)(U,\varphi) be a smooth chart (see ). The differential dφd\varphi identifies TxMT_xM with Rn\mathbb R^n for x∈Ux\in U. This yields a local trivialization of the over UU,
    Φ:TU→U×Rn,vx↦(x,dφx(vx)).\Phi:TU\to U\times \mathbb R^n,\quad v_x\mapsto (x, d\varphi_x(v_x)).
  1. Vector bundle via a local frame. If E→ME\to M is a rank-nn vector bundle and (e1,…,en)(e_1,\dots,e_n) is a on UU, then every v∈Exv\in E_x can be written uniquely as v=∑iaiei(x)v=\sum_i a^i e_i(x). This gives a local trivialization
    Φ:π−1(U)→U×Rn,v↦(π(v),(a1,…,an)),\Phi:\pi^{-1}(U)\to U\times \mathbb R^n,\quad v\mapsto \big(\pi(v),(a^1,\dots,a^n)\big),
    and on overlaps the change of frame is encoded by the .