vector field along a curve
Let be a differentiable manifold and be a differentiable curve in . Then a vector field along is a differentiable map , the tangent bundle
of , which projects to under the natural projection . That is, it assigns to each point a vector tangent
to at the point , in a continuous
manner. A good example of a vector field along a curve is the speed vector . This is the pushforward of the constant vector field by , i.e., at , it is the derivation .