section_path: Topics/Differential topology
section_name: Differential topology
paragraph_text: Differential topology
  
  Differential topology is the field dealing with differentiable functions on differentiable manifolds. It is closely related to differential geometry and together they make up the geometric theory of differentiable manifolds.
  
  More specifically, differential topology considers the properties and structures that require only a smooth structure on a manifold to be defined. Smooth manifolds are "softer" than manifolds with extra geometric structures, which can act as obstructions to certain types of equivalences and deformations that exist in differential topology. For instance, volume and Riemannian curvature are invariants that can distinguish different geometric structures on the same smooth manifold – that is, one can smoothly "flatten out" certain manifolds, but it might require distorting the space and affecting the curvature or volume.