Abstract:
Using a two-tier principal connection, we construct an interpretation of the Cartan connection, which is not a connection in the principal bundle, and obtain its structural equations in two forms. We prove that in the classical structural equations, the curvature-torsion object is a tensor, which becomes a quasi-tensor under reduction of the equations.
Keywords:principal bundle, extended principal bundle, Laptev's lemma, semiholonomy, principal connection, Cartan–Laptev theorem, curvature tensor, gluing, Cartan's connection, curvature-torsion tensor.