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Is $\{(\mathbb R,\phi)\}$ a smooth atlas for $\mathbb R$, where $\phi(x)=\left\{ \begin{array}{ll} x & x<0, \\ 2x& x\geq0~? \end{array} \right.$

Let $M$ be a topological $ n $-manifold. A coordinate chart (or just a chart) on $ M $ is a pair $ (U, \varphi) $, where $ U $ is an open subset of $ M $ and $ \varphi: U \rightarrow \widehat{U} $ is a homeomorphism from $ U $ to an open subset $ \widehat{U}=\varphi(U) \subseteq \mathbb{R}^{n} $.

If $ U $ and $ V $ are open subsets of Euclidean spaces $ \mathbb{R}^{n} $ and $ \mathbb{R}^{m} $, respectively, a function $ F: U \rightarrow V $ is said to be smooth if each of its component functions has continuous partial derivatives of all orders. If in addition $ F $ is bijective and has a smooth inverse map, it is called a diffeomorphism.

Two charts $ (U, \varphi) $ and $ (V, \psi) $ are said to be smoothly compatible if either $ U \cap V=\varnothing $ or the transition map $ \psi \circ \varphi^{-1} $ is a diffeomorphism.

An atlas for $ M $ is a collection of charts whose domains cover $ M $. An atlas $ \mathcal{A} $ is called a smooth atlas if any two charts in $ \mathcal{A} $ are smoothly compatible with each other.

I have carefully checked the definition of each concept related to this question, but I have not found anything contrary to a certain definition. Although it is obvious that $\phi$ itself is not smooth, my understanding is that the atlas $\{(\mathbb R,\phi)\}$ has only a single coordinate chart $(\mathbb R,\phi)$, and no other coordinate chart to determine whether it is smoothly compatible with $(\mathbb R,\phi)$. So, is it a smooth atlas? This is a question out of curiosity. Any help would be appreciated.

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HeroZhang001
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    Yes, it is a smooth atlas. If there is only one map in the atlas, it can be any bijective map. – Deane Mar 01 '23 at 14:02
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    You are checking the smoothness of transition maps, not charts. Your only transition map is $\phi\circ \phi^{-1}=id_{\mathbb{R}}$ which is obviously smooth. – Kubrick Mar 01 '23 at 14:42
  • See https://math.stackexchange.com/q/2923293. – Paul Frost Mar 03 '23 at 09:34

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Just to get this off of the unanswered list.

For this question, I have asked my professor and teaching assistant. Combining the two comments above (thank you very much, Deane and Kubrick), we can draw the surprising conclusion that $\{(\mathbb R,\phi)\}$ is indeed a smooth atlas for $\mathbb R$ since $\phi\circ \phi^{-1}={\rm id}_{\mathbb{R}}$ although $\phi$ itself is not smooth!

HeroZhang001
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  • The next step is to figure out if the map $x \mapsto (x,0)$, from your space to $\mathbb R^2$ (with the standard smooth structure), is a smooth map or not. – JonathanZ Mar 03 '23 at 02:47
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    $\phi$ is smooth relative to the new smooth structure defined by the new atlas. – Mihail Mar 10 '23 at 16:09