very math oriented 52htext-2015
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A full set of university course lecture notes by Yakov Eliashberg, dated January 2015, found in Phil's Wedge World folder as a math-oriented reference. Part I covers dual spaces, multilinear functions, tensor and exterior products, orientation, volume, dualities and complex vector spaces. Part II covers topology basics, vector fields, differential forms, the exterior derivative and integration on manifolds. Part III covers Stokes' theorem and applications such as homotopy and winding and linking numbers.
AI-written summary; may contain errors.
Extracted text (machine-read; may contain errors)
Math 52H: Multilinear algebra, dierential
forms and Stokes' theorem
Yakov Eliashberg
January 2015
2
Contents
I Multilinear Algebra 7
1 Linear and multilinear functions 9
1.1 Dual space . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1.2 Canonical isomorphism between ( V)andV. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
1.3 The mapA. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
1.4 Multilinear functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
1.5 Quotient space . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
1.6 Symmetric bilinear functions and quadratic forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
2 Tensor and exterior products 19
2.1 Tensor product . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
2.2 Spaces of multilinear functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
2.3 Symmetric and skew-symmetric tensors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
2.4 Symmetrization and anti-symmetrization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
2.5 Exterior product . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
2.6 Spaces of symmetric and skew-symmetric tensors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
2.7 OperatorAon spaces of tensors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
3 Orientation and Volume 31
3.1 Orientation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
3.2 Orthogonal transformations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
3.3 Determinant and Volume . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
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3.4 Volume and Gram matrix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
4 Dualities 37
4.1 Duality between k-forms and ( n k)-forms on a n-dimensional Euclidean space V. 37
4.2 Euclidean structure on the space of exterior forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
4.3 Contraction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
5 Complex vector spaces 51
5.1 Complex numbers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
5.2 Complex vector space . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
5.3 Complex linear maps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
II Calculus of dierential forms 59
6 Topological preliminaries 61
6.1 Elements of topology in a vector space . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
6.2 Everywhere and nowhere dense sets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
6.3 Compactness and connectedness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
6.4 Connected and path-connected components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
6.5 Continuous maps and functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
7 Vector elds and dierential forms 71
7.1 Dierential and gradient . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
7.2 Smooth functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
7.3 Gradient vector eld . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
7.4 Vector elds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
7.4.1 Gradient vector eld . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
7.5 Dierential forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
7.6 Coordinate description of dierential forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
7.7 Smooth maps and their dierentials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
7.8 Operator f. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
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7.9 Coordinate description of the operator f. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
7.10 Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
7.11 Pfaan equations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
8 Exterior dierential 85
8.1 Coordinate denition of the exterior dierential . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
8.2 Properties of the operator d. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
8.3 Curvilinear coordinate systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
8.4 Geometric denition of the exterior dierential . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
8.5 More about vector elds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
8.6 Casen= 3. Summary of isomorphisms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
8.7 Gradient, curl and divergence of a vector eld . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
8.8 Example: expressing vector analysis operations in spherical coordinates . . . . . . . 97
8.9 Complex-valued dierential k-forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
9 Integration of dierential forms and functions 103
9.1 Useful technical tools: partition of unity and cut-o functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
9.2 One-dimensional Riemann integral for functions and dierential 1-forms . . . . . . . 106
9.3 Integration of dierential 1-forms along curves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
9.4 Integrals of closed and exact dierential 1-forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
9.5 Integration of functions over domains in high-dimensional spaces . . . . . . . . . . . 115
9.6 Fubini's Theorem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
9.7 Integration of n-forms over domains in n-dimensional space . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
9.8 Manifolds and submanifolds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
9.8.1 Manifolds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
9.8.2 Gluing construction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
9.8.3 Examples of manifolds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
9.8.4 Submanifolds of an n-dimensional vector space . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
9.8.5 Submanifolds with boundary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
9.9 Tangent spaces and dierential . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
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9.10 Vector bundles and their homomorphisms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
9.11 Orientation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
9.12 Integration of dierential k-forms over k-dimensional submanifolds . . . . . . . . . . 159
III Stokes' theorem and its applications 165
10 Stokes' theorem 167
10.1 Statement of Stokes' theorem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
10.2 Proof of Stokes' theorem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
10.3 Integration of functions over submanifolds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
10.4 Work and Flux . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
10.5 Integral formulas of vector analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
10.6 Expressing div and curl in curvilinear coordinates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
11 Applications of Stokes' formula 187
11.1 Integration of closed and exact forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
11.2 Approximation of continuous functions by smooth ones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
11.3 Homotopy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190
11.4 Winding and linking numbers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196
11.5 Properties of k-forms onk-dimensional manifolds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
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Part I
Multilinear Algebra
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Chapter 1
Linear and multilinear functions
1.1 Dual space
LetVbe a nite-dimensional real vector space. The set of all linear functions on Vwill be denoted
byV.
Proposition 1.1. Vis a vector space of the same dimension as V.
Proof. One can add linear functions and multiply them by real numbers:
(l1+l2)(x) =l1(x) +l2(x)
(l)(x) =l(x) forl;l1;l22V; x2V; 2R
It is straightforward to check that all axioms of a vector space are satised for V. Let us now
check that dim V= dimV.
Choose a basis v1:::vnofV. For anyx2Vlet0
BBB@x1
...
xn1
CCCAbe its coordinates in the basis v1:::vn.
Notice that each coordinate x1;:::;xncan be viewed as a linear function on V. Indeed,
1) the coordinates of the sum of two vectors are equal to the sum of the corresponding coordinates;
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2) when a vector is multiplied by a number, its coordinates are being multiplied by the same
number.
Thusx1;:::;xnare vectors from the space V. Let us show now that they form a basis of V.
Indeed, any linear function l2Vcan be written in the form l(x) =a1x1+:::+anxnwhich means
thatlis a linear combination of x1:::xnwith coecients a1;:::;an. Thusx1;:::;xngenerateV.
On the other hand, if a1x+:::+anxnis the 0-function, then all the coecients must be equal to 0;
i.e. functions x1;:::;xnare linearly independent. Hence x1;:::;xnform a basis of Vand therefore
dimV=n= dimV:
The spaceVis called dual toVand the basis x1;:::;xndual tov1:::vn.1
Exercise 1.2. Prove the converse: given any basis l1;:::;lnofVwe can construct a dual basis
w1;:::;wnofVso that the functions l1;:::;lnserve as coordinate functions for this basis.
Recall that vector spaces of the same dimension are isomorphic. For instance, if we x bases in
both spaces, we can map vectors of the rst basis into the corresponding vectors of the second basis,
and extend this map by linearity to an isomorphism between the spaces. In particular, sending a
basisS=fv1;:::;vngof a space Vinto the dual basis x1;:::;xnof the dual space Vwe can
establish an isomorphism iS:V!V. However, this isomorphism is not canonical , i.e. it depends
on the choice of the basis v1;:::;vn.
IfVis a Euclidean space, i.e. a space with a scalar product hx;yi, then this allows us to dene
another isomorphism V!V, dierent from the one described above. This isomorphism associates
with a vector v2Va linear function lv(x) =hv;xi. We will denote the corresponding map V!V
byD. Thus we haveD(v) =lvfor any vector v2V.
Exercise 1.3. Prove thatD:V!Vis an isomorphism. Show that D=iSfor any orthonormal
basisS.
The isomorphism Dis independent of a choice of an orthonormal basis, but is still not completely
canonical: it depends on a choice of a scalar product. However, when talking about Euclidean spaces ,
this isomorphism is canonical.
1It is sometimes customary to denote dual bases in VandVby the same letters but using lower indices for V
and upper indices for V, e.g.v1;:::;vnandv1;:::;vn. However, in these notes we do not follow this convention.
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Remark 1.4. The denition of the dual space Valso works in the innite-dimensional case.
Exercise 1.5. Show that both maps iSandDare injective in the innite case as well. However,
neither one is surjective if Vis innite-dimensional.
1.2 Canonical isomorphism between (V)and V
The space ( V), dual to the dual space V, iscanonically isomorphic in the nite-dimensional case
toV. The word canonically means that the isomorphism is \god-given", i.e. it is independent of
any additional choices.
When we write f(x) we usually mean that the function fis xed but the argument xcan vary.
However, we can also take the opposite point of view, that xis xed but fcan vary. Hence, we can
view the point xas a function on the vector space of functions.
Ifx2Vandf2Vthen the above argument allows us to consider vectors of the space Vas
linear functions on the dual space V. Thus we can dene a map I:V!Vby the formula
x7!I(x)2(V);whereI(x)(l) =l(x) for any l2V:
Exercise 1.6. Prove that if Vis nite-dimensional then Iis an isomorphism. What can go wrong
in the innite-dimensional case?
1.3 The mapA
Given a mapA:V!Wone can dene a dual mapA:W!Vas follows. For any linear
functionl2Wwe dene the function A(l)2Vby the formulaA(l)(x) =l(A(x)); x2V. In
other words,A(l) =lA.2
2In fact, the above formula makes sense in much more general situation. Given any map : X!Ybetween two
setsXandYthe formula (h) =h denes a map :F(Y)!F(X) between the spaces of functions on Yand
X. Notice that this map goes in the direction opposite to the direction of the map .
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Given basesBv=fv1;:::;vngandBw=fw1;:::;wkgin the vector spaces VandWone can
associate with the map Aa matrixA=MBvBw(A). Its columns are coordinates of the vectors
A(vj);j= 1;:::;n , in the basisBw. Dual spaces VandWhave dual bases X=fx1;:::xng
andY=fy1;:::;ykgwhich consist of coordinate functions corresponding to the basis BvandBw.
Let us denote by Athe matrix of the dual map Awith respect to the bases YandX, i. e.
A=MYX(A).
Proposition 1.7. The matrices AandAare transpose to each other, i.e. A=AT.
Proof. By the denition of the matrix of a linear map we should take vectors of the basis Y=
fy1;:::;ykg, apply to them the map A, expand the images in the basis X=fx1;:::xngand write
the components of these vectors as columns of the matrixA. Set ~yi=A(yi); i= 1;:::;k . For
any vector u=nP
j=iujvj2V;we have ~yi(u) =yi(A(u)). The coordinates of the vector A(u) in the
basisw1;:::;wkmay be obtained by multiplying the matrix Aby the column0
BBB@u1
...
un1
CCCA. Hence,
~yi(u) =yi(A(u)) =nX
j=1aijuj:
But we also have
nX
j=1aijxj(u) =nX
j=1aijuj:
Hence, the linear function ~ yi2Vhas an expansionnP
j=1aijxjin the basis X=fx1;:::xngof the
spaceV. Hence the i-th column of the matrix Aequals0
BBB@ai1
...
ain1
CCCA, so that the whole matrix A
has the form
A=0
BBB@a11ak1
:::
a1nakn1
CCCA=AT:
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Exercise 1.8. Given a linear map A:V!Wwith a matrix A, ndA(yi).
Answer. The mapAsends the coordinate function yionWto the functionnP
j=1aijxjonV, i.e. to
its expression in coordinates xi.
Proposition 1.9. Consider linear maps
UA!VB!W :
Then (BA )=AB.
Proof. For any linear function l2Wwe have
(BA )(l)(x) =l(B(A(x)) =A(B(l))(x)
for anyx2U.
Exercise 1.10. Suppose that Vis a Euclidean space and Ais a linear map V!V. Prove that
for any two vectors X;Y2Vwe have
hA(X);Yi=hX;D 1AD(Y)i: (1.3.1)
Solution. By denition of the operator Dwe have
hX;D 1(Z)i=Z(X)
for any vector Z2V. Applying this to Z=AD(Y) we see that the right-hand send of (1.3.1) is
equal to toAD(Y)(X). On the other hand, the left-hand side can be rewritten as D(Y)(A(X)).
ButAD(Y)(X) =D(Y)(A(X)).
Let us recall that if Vis an Euclidean space, then operator B:V!Vis called adjoint to
A:V!Vif for any two vectors X;Y2Vone has
hA(X);Yi=hX;B(Y)i:
The adjoint operator always exist and unique. It is denoted by A?. Clearly, (A?)?=A:In any
orthonormal basis the matrices of an operator and its adjoint are transpose to each other. An
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operatorA:V!Vis called self-adjoint ifA?=A, or equivalently, if for any two vectors
X;Y2Vone has
hA(X);Yi=hX;A(Y)i:
The statement of Exercise 1.10 can be otherwise expressed by saying that the adjoint operator
A?is equal toD 1AD:V!V. In particular, an operator A:V!Vis self-adjoint if and
only ifAD=DA .
Remark 1.11. As it follows from Proposition 1.7 and Exercise 1.10 the matrix of a self-adjoint
operator in any orthonormal basis is symmetric. This is not true in an arbitrrary basis.
1.4 Multilinear functions
A function l(X1;X2;:::;Xk) ofkvector arguments X1;:::;Xk2Vis calledk-linear (or multi-
linear) if it is linear with respect to each argument when all other arguments are xed. We say
bilinear instead of 2-linear. Multilinear functions are also called tensors . Sometimes, one may also
say a \k-linear form", or simply k-form instead of a \ k-linear functions". However, we will reserve
the termk-form for a skew-symmetric tensors which will be dened in Section 2.3 below.
If one xes a basis v1:::vnin the space Vthen with each bilinear function f(X;Y ) one can
associate a square nnmatrix as follows. Set aij=f(vi;vj). ThenA= (aij)i;j=1;:::;nis called the
matrix of the function fin the basis v1;:::;vn.For any 2 vectors
X=nX
1xivi; Y=nX
1yjvj
we have
f(X;Y ) =f0
@nX
i=1xivi;nX
j=1yjvj1
A=nX
i;j=1xiyjf(vi;vj) =nX
i;j=1aijxiyj=XTAY :
Exercise 1.12. How does the matrix of a bilinear function depend on the choice of a basis?
Answer. The matrices Aand ~Aof the bilinear form f(x;y) in the bases v1;:::;vnand ~v1;:::; ~vn
are related by the formula ~A=CTAC, whereCis the matrix of transition from the basis v1:::vn
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to the basis ~ v1:::~vn, i.e the matrix whose columns are the coordinates of the basis ~ v1:::~vnin the
basisv1:::vn.
Similarly, with a k-linear function f(X1;:::;Xk) onVand a basis v1;:::;vnone can associate
a \k-dimensional" matrix
A=fai1i2:::ik; 1i1;:::;ikng;
where
ai1i2:::ik=f(vi1;:::;vik):
IfXi=nP
j=1xijvj; i= 1;:::;k; then
f(X1;:::;Xk) =nX
i1;i2;:::ik=1ai1i2:::ikx1i1x2i2:::xkik;
see Proposition 2.1 below.
1.5 Quotient space
LetVbe a vector space and LVbe its linear subspace. Given a vector a2Vlet us denote byLa
the ane subspace a+L=fa+x;x2Lg. Note that two ane subspaces LaandLb,a;b2V
concide ifa b2Land are disjoint if a b =2L. Consider the set, denoted by V=L of all ane
subspaces parallel to L. The set can be made into a vector space by dening the operations by the
formulas
La+Lb:=La+b; La:=La;a;b2V; 2R
Ifa0andb0are other vectors in Vsuch thata0 a;b0 b2Lthen (a0+b0) (a+b)2Land
a0 a2L, and hence La0+b0=La+b; La0= La.
The vector space V=L is called the quotient space ofVbyL.
In other words, we can say that V=L is obtained from Vby identifying vectors which dier by
a vector in L. The operations in Vthen naturally descend to the opertions on the quotient space.
IfNVbe any linear subspace such that dim L+ dimN= dimVandL\N= 0 then the
mapN!V=L given by the formula x2N7!Lx2V=L is an isomorphism (why?). In particular,
dim(V=L) = dimV dimL= codimVL.
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IfVis a Euclidean space then we can choose as Nthe orthogonal complement L?ofLinV,
and thusL=V is isomorphic to L?. The advantage of the quotient construction that it is canonical
whileL?depends on a choice of the Euclidean structure (scalar product).
1.6 Symmetric bilinear functions and quadratic forms
A function Q:V!Ron a vector space Vis called quadratic if there exists a bilinear function
f(X;Y ) such that
Q(X) =f(X;X ); X2V: (1.6.1)
One also uses the term quadratic form . The bilinear function f(X;Y ) is not uniquely determined
by the equation (1.6.1). For instance, all the bilinear functions x1y2; x2y1and1
2(x1y2+x2y1) on
R2dene the same quadratic form x1x2.
On the other hand, there is a 1-1 corerspondence between quadratic form and symmetric bilinear
functions. A bilinear function f(X;Y ) is called symmetric if f(X;Y ) =f(Y;X) for allX;Y2V.
Lemma 1.13. Given a quadratic form Q:V!Rthere exists a unique symmetric bilinear form
f(X;Y )such thatQ(X) =f(X;X );X2V.
Proof. IfQ(X) =f(X;X ) for a symmetric fthen
Q(X+Y) =f(X+Y;X +Y) =f(X;X ) +f(X;Y ) +f(Y;X) +f(Y;Y)
=Q(X) + 2f(X;Y ) +Q(Y);
and hence
f(X;Y ) =1
2
Q(X+Y) Q(X) Q(Y)
: (1.6.2)
I leave it as an exercise to check that the formula (1.6.2) always denes a symmetric bilinear
function.
LetS=fv1;:::;vngis a basis of V. The matrix A= (aij) of a symmetric bilinear form f(X;Y )
in the basis Sis called also the matrix of the corresponding quadratic form Q(X) =f(X;X ). This
matrix is symmetric, and
Q(X) =X
ijaijxixj=a11x2
1++annx2
n+ 2X
i<jaijxixj:
16
Thus the matrix Ais diagonal if and only if the quadratic form Qis the sum of squares (with
coecients). Let us recall that if one changes the basis Sto a basiseS=fev1;:::;evngthen the
matrix of a bilinear form fchanges toeC=CTAC.
Exercise 1.14. (Sylvester's inertia law) Prove that there is always exists a basis eS=fev1;:::;evng
in which a quadratic form Qis reduced to a sum of squares. The number of positive, negative and
zero coecients with the squares is independent of the choice of the basis.
Thus, in some coordinate system a quadratic form can always be written as
kX
1x2
i+k+lX
k+1x2
j; k+ln:
The number kof negative squares is called the negative index or simply the index of the quadratic
formQ, the total number of k+lof non-zero squares is called the rank of the form. It coincides
with the rank of the matrix of the form in any basis. A bilinear (and quadratic) form is called
non-degenerate if its rank is maximal possible, i.e. equal to n. For a non-degenerate quadratic for
Qthe dierence l kbetween the number of positive and negative squares is called the signature .
A quadratic form Qis called positive denite ifQ(X)0 and ifQ(X) = 0 then X= 0.
Equivalently, one can say that a form is positive denite if it is non-degenerate and its negative
index is equal to 0.
17
18
Chapter 2
Tensor and exterior products
2.1 Tensor product
Given ak-linear function and al-linear function , one can form a ( k+l)-linear function, which
will be denoted by
and called the tensor product of the functions and . By denition
(X1;:::;Xk;Xk+1;:::;Xk+l) :=(X1;:::;Xk) (Xk+1;:::;Xk+l):
For instance, the tensor product two linear functions l1andl2is a bilinear function l1
l2dened
by the formula
l1
l2(U;V) =l1(U)l2(V):
Letv1:::vnbe a basis in Vandx1;:::;xna dual basis in V, i.e.x1;:::;xnare coordinates of a
vector with respect to the basis v1;:::;vn.
The tensor product xi
xjis a bilinear function xi
xj(Y;Z) =yizj. Thus a bilinear function
fwith a matrix Acan be written as a linear combination of the functions xi
xjas follows:
f=nX
i;j=1aijxi
xj;
whereaijis the matrix of the form fin the basis v1:::vn. Similarly any k-linear function fwith
a \k-dimensional" matrix A=fai1i2:::ikgcan be written (see 2.1 below) as a linear combination of
functions
xi1
xi2
xik;1i1;i2;:::;ikn:
19
Namely, we have
f=nX
i1;i2;:::ik=1ai1i2:::ikxi1
xi2
xik:
2.2 Spaces of multilinear functions
Allk-linear functions, or k-tensors , on a given n-dimensional vector space Vthemselves form a
vector space, which will be denoted by V
k. The space V
1is, of course, just the dual space V.
Proposition 2.1. Letv1;:::vnbe a basis of V, andx1;:::;xkbe the dual basis of Vformed
by coordinate functions with respect to the basis V. Thennkk-linear functions xi1
xik,
1i1;:::;ikn;form a basis of the space V
k.
Proof. Take ak-linear function FfromV
kand evaluate it on vectors vi1;:::;vik:
F(vi1;:::;vik) =ai1:::ik:
We claim that we have
F=X
1i1;:::;iknai1:::ikxi1
xik:
Indeed, the functions on the both sides of this equality being evaluated on any set of kbasic vectors
vi1;:::;vik, give the same value ai1:::ik. The same argument shows that ifP
1i1;:::;iknai1:::ikxi1
xik= 0;then all coecients ai1:::ikshould be equal to 0. Hence the functions xi1
xik,
1i1;:::;ikn;are linearly independent, and therefore form a basis of the space V
k
Similar to the case of spaces of linear functions, a linear map A:V!Winduces a linear map
A:W
k!V
k, which sends a k-linear function F2W
kto ak-linear functionA(F)2V
k,
dened by the formula
A(F)(X1;:::;Xk) =F(A(X1);:::;A(Xk)) for any vectors X1;:::Xk2V :
Exercise 2.2. SupposeVis provided with a basis v1;:::;vnandxi1
xik,1i1;:::;ikn;is
the corresponding basis of the space V
k. Suppose that the map A:V!Vhas a matrix A= (aij)
in the basis v1;:::;vn. Find the matrix of the map A:V
k!V
kin the basis xi1
xik.
20
2.3 Symmetric and skew-symmetric tensors
A multilinear function (tensor) is called symmetric if it remains unchanged under the transposition
of any two of its arguments:
f(X1;:::;Xi;:::;Xj;:::;Xk) =f(X1;:::;Xj;:::;Xi;:::;Xk)
Equivalently, one can say that a k-tensor fis symmetric if
f(Xi1;:::;Xik) =f(X1;:::;Xk)
for any permutation i1;:::;ikof indices 1 ;:::;k .
Exercise 2.3. Show that a bilinear function f(X;Y )is symmetric if and only if its matrix (in any
basis) is symmetric.
Notice that the tensor product of two symmetric tensors usually is not symmetric.
Example 2.4. Any linear function is (trivially) symmetric. However, the tensor product of two
functionsl1
l2is not a symmetric bilinear function unless l1is proportional to l2. On the other
hand, the function l1
l2+l2
l1is symmetric.
A tensor is called skew-symmetric (or anti-symmetric) if it changes its sign when one transposes
any two of its arguments:
f(X1;:::;Xi;:::;Xj;:::;Xk) = f(X1;:::;Xj;:::;Xi;:::;Xk):
Equivalently, one can say that a k-tensor fis anti-symmetric if
f(Xi1;:::;Xik) = ( 1)inv(i1:::ik)f(X1;:::;Xk)
for any permutation i1;:::;ikof indices 1 ;:::;k , where inv( i1:::ik) is the number of inversions in
the permutation i1;:::;ik. Recall that two indices ik;ilform an inversion ifk<l butik>il.
The matrix Aof a bilinear skew-symmetric function is skew-symmetric, i.e.
AT= A:
21
Example 2.5. The determinant det(X1;:::;Xn)(considered as a function of columns X1;:::;Xn
of a matrix) is a skew-symmetric n-linear function.
Exercise 2.6. Prove that any n-linear skew-symmetric function on Rnis proportional to the de-
terminant.
Linear functions are trivially anti-symmetric (as well as symmetric).
As in the symmetric case, the tensor product of two skew-symmetric functions is not skew-
symmetric. We will dene below in Section 2.5 a new product, called an exterior product of skew-
symmetric functions, which will again be a skew-symmetric function.
2.4 Symmetrization and anti-symmetrization
The following constructions allow us to create symmetric or anti-symmetric tensors from arbitrary
tensors. Let f(X1;:::;Xk) be ak-tensor. Set
fsym(X1;:::;Xk) :=X
(i1:::ik)f(Xi1;:::;Xik)
and
fasym(X1;:::;Xk) :=X
(i1:::ik)( 1)inv(i1;:::;ik)f(Xi1;:::;Xik)
where the sums are taken over all permutations i1;:::;ikof indices 1 ;:::;k . The tensors fsym
andfasymare called, respectively, symmetrization and anti-symmetrization of the tensor f. It is
now easy to see that
Proposition 2.7. The function fsymis symmetric. The function fasymis skew-symmetric. If f
is symmetric then fsym=k!fandfasym= 0. Similarly, if fis anti-symmetric then fasym=k!f,
fsym= 0.
Exercise 2.8. Letx1;:::;xnbe coordinate function in Rn. Find (x1
x2
:::
xn)asym.
Answer. The determinant.
22
2.5 Exterior product
For our purposes skew-symmetric functions will be more important. Thus we will concentrate on
studying operations on them.
Skew-symmetric k-linear functions are also called exteriork-forms . Letbe an exterior k-form
and an exterior l-form. We dene an exterior ( k+l)-form ^ ,the exterior product of and
, as
^ :=1
k!l!(
)asym:
In other words,
^ (X1;:::;Xk;Xk+1;:::;Xk+l) =1
k!l!X
i1;:::ik+l( 1)inv(i1;:::;ik+l)(Xi1:::;Xik) (Xik+1;:::;Xik+l);
where the sum is taken over all permutations of indices 1 ;:::;k +l.
Note that because the anti-symmetrization of an anti-symmetric k-tensor amounts to its mul-
tiplication by k!, we can also write
^ (X1;:::;Xk+l) =X
i1<:::<ik;ik+1<:::<ik+l( 1)inv(i1;:::;ik+l)(Xi1;:::;Xik) (Xik+1;:::;Xik+l);
where the sum is taken over all permutations i1;:::;ik+lof indices 1 ;:::;k +l.
Exercise 2.9. The exterior product operation has the following properties:
For any exterior k-formand exterior l-form we have^ = ( 1)kl ^.
Exterior product is linear with respect to each factor:
(1+2)^ =1^ +2^
()^ =(^ )
fork-forms; 1;2,l-form and a real number .
Exterior product is associative: (^ )^!=^( ^!).
23
First two properties are fairly obvious. To prove associativity one can check that both sides of
the equality ( ^ )^!=^( ^!) are equal to
1
k!l!m!(
!)asym:
In particular, if ; and!are 1-forms, i.e. if k=l=m= 1 then
^^!= (
!)asym:
This formula can be generalized for computing the exterior product of any number of 1-forms:
1^^k= (1
k)asym: (2.5.1)
Example 2.10. x1^x2=x1
x2 x2
x1. For 2 vectors, U=0
BBB@u1
...
un1
CCCA;V=0
BBB@v1
...
vn1
CCCA;we have
x1^x2(U;V) =u1v2 u2v1=u1v1
u2v2:
For 3 vectors U;V;W we have
x1^x2^x3(U;V;W ) =
=x1^x2(U;V)x3(W) +x1^x2(V;W )x3(U) +x1^x2(W;U )x3(V) =
(u1v2 u2v1)w3+ (v1w2 v2w1)u3+ (w1u2 w2u1)v3=u1v1w1
u2v2w2
u3v3w3:
The last equality is just the expansion formula of the determinant according to the last row.
Proposition 2.11. Any exterior 2-formfcan be written as
f=X
1i<jnaijxi^xj
24
Proof. We had seen above that any bilinear form can be written as f=P
ijai;jxi
xj. Iffis
skew-symmetric then the matrix A= (aij) is skew-symmetric, i.e. aii= 0; aij= ajifori6=j.
Thus,f=P
1i<jnaij(xi
xj xj
xi) =P
1i<jnaijxi^xj.
Exercise 2.12. Prove that any exterior k-formfcan be written as
f=X
1i;<:::<iknai1:::ikxi1^xi2^:::xik:
The following proposition can be proven by induction over k, similar to what has been done in
Example 2.10 for the case k= 3.
Proposition 2.13. For anyk1-formsl1;:::;lkandkvectorsX1;:::;Xkwe have
l1^^lk(X1;:::;Xk) =l1(X1)::: l 1(Xk)
::: ::: :::
lk(X1)::: lk(Xk): (2.5.2)
Corollary 2.14. The 1-formsl1;:::;lkare linearly dependent as vectors of Vif and only if
l1^:::^lk= 0. In particular, l1^:::^lk= 0ifk>n = dimV.
Proof. Ifl1;:::;lkare dependent then for any vectors X1;:::;Xk2Vthe rows of the determinant
in the equation (2.13) are linearly dependent. Therefore, this determinant is equal to 0, and hence
l1^:::^lk= 0. In particular, when k > n then the forms l1;:::;lkare dependent (because
dimV= dimV =n).
On the other hand, if l1;:::;lkare linearly independent, then the vectors l1;:::;lk2Vcan be
completed to form a basis l1;:::;lk;lk+1;:::;lnofV. According to Exercise 1.2 there exists a basis
w1;:::;wnofVthat is dual to the basis l1;:::;lnofV. In other words, l1;:::;lncan be viewed as
coordinate functions with respect to the basis w1;:::;wn. In particular, we have li(wj) = 0 ifi6=j
andli(wi) = 1 for all i;j= 1;:::;n . Hence we have
l1^^lk(w1;:::;wk) =l1(w1)::: l 1(wk)
::: ::: :::
lk(w1)::: lk(wk)=1::: 0
::: 1:::
0::: 1= 1;
25
i.e.l1^^lk6= 0.
Proposition 2.13 can be also deduced from formula (2.5.1).
Corollary 2.14 and Exercise 2.12 imply that there are no non-zero k-forms on an n-dimensional
space fork>n .
2.6 Spaces of symmetric and skew-symmetric tensors
As was mentioned above, k-tensors on a vector space Vform a vector space under the operation of
addition of functions and multiplication by real numbers. We denoted this space by V
k. Symmet-
ric and skew-symmetric tensors form subspaces of this space V
k, which we denote, respectively,
bySk(V) and k(V). In particular, we have
V=S1(V) = 1(V)
.
Exercise 2.15. What is the dimension of the spaces Sk(V)andk(V)?
Answer.
dim k(V) =0
@n
k1
A=n!
k!(n k)!
dimSk(V) =(n+k 1)!
k!(n 1)!:
The basis of k(V) is formed by exterior k-formsxi1^xi2^:::^xik;1i1<i2<:::<i kn.
2.7 OperatorAon spaces of tensors
For any linear operator A:V!Wwe introduced above in Section 1.3 the notion of a dual linear
operatorA:W!V. NamelyA(l) =lAfor any element l2V, which is just a linear
function on V. In this section we extend this construction to k-tensors for k1, i.e. we will dene
a mapA:W
k!V
k.
26
Given ak-tensor2W
kandkvectorsX1;:::;Xk2Vwe dene
A()(X1;:::;Xk) =(A(X1);:::;A(Xk)):
Note that if is symmetric, or anti-symmetric, so is A(). Hence, the map Aalso induces the
mapsSk(W)!Sk(V) and k(W)!k(V). We will keep the same notation Afor both of
these maps as well.
Proposition 2.16. LetA:V!Wbe a linear map. Then
1.A(
) =A()
A( )for any2W
k; 2W
l;
2.A(asym) = (A())asym;A(sym) = (A())sym;
3.A(^ ) =A()^A( )for any2k(W); 2l(W).
IfB:W!Uis another linear map then (BA )=AB.
Proof.
1. Take any k+lvectorsX1;:::;Xk+l2V. Then by denition of the operator Awe have
A(
)(X1;:::;Xk+l) =
(A(X1);:::;A(Xn+k) =
(A(X1);:::;A(Xk) (A(Xk+1);:::;A(Xn+k)) =
A()(X1;:::;Xk)A( )(Xk+1;:::;Xk+n) =
A()
A( )(X1;:::;Xk+l):
2. GivenkvectorsX1;:::;Xk2Vwe get
A(asym)(X1;:::;Xk) =asym(A(X1);:::;A(Xk)) =X
(i1:::ik)( 1)inv(i1;:::;ik)(A(Xi1);:::;A(Xik)) =
X
(i1:::ik)( 1)inv(i1;:::;ik)A()(Xi1;:::;Xik) = (A())asym(X1;:::;Xk);
where the sum is taken over all permutations i1;:::;ikof indices 1;:::;k . Similarly one proves that
A(sym) = (A())sym.
3.A(^ ) =1
k!l!A((
)asym)) =1
k!l!(A(
))asym=A()^A( ).
The last statement of Proposition 2.16 is straightforward and its proof is left to the reader.
27
Let us now discuss how to compute A() in coordinates. Let us x bases v1;:::;vmand
w1;:::;wnin spacesVandW. Letx1;:::;xmandy1;:::;ynbe coordinates and
A=0
BBB@a11::: a 1m
.........
an1::: anm1
CCCA
be the matrix of a linear map A:V!Win these bases. Note that the map Ain these coordinates
is given by nlinear coordinate functions:
y1=l1(x1;:::;xm) =a11x1+a12x2+:::+a1mxm
y2=l2(x1;:::;xm) =a21x1+a22x2+:::+a2mxm
:::
yn=ln(x1;:::;xk) =an1x1+an2x2+:::+anmxn
We have already computed in Section 1.3 that A(yk) =lk=mP
j=1akjxj,k= 1;:::;n . Indeed, the
coecients of the function lk=A(yk) form thek-th column of the transpose matrix AT. Hence,
using Proposition 2.16 we compute:
A(yj1
yjk) =lj1
ljk
and
A(yj1^^yjk) =lj1^^ljk:
Consider now the case when V=W,n=m, and we use the same basis v1;:::;vnin the source
and target spaces.
Proposition 2.17.
A(x1^^xn) = detAx1^^xn:
Note that the determinant det Ais independent of the choice of the basis. Indeed, the matrix
of a linear map changes to a similar matrix C 1ACin a dierent basis, and det C 1AC= detA.
Hence, we can write det Ainstead of det A, i.e. attribute the determinant to the linear operator A
rather than to its matrix A.
28
Proof. We have
A(x1^^xn) =l1^^ln=nX
i1=1a1i1xi1^^nX
in=1aninxin=
nX
i1;:::;in=1a1i1:::aninxi1^^xin:
Note that the in the latter sum all terms with repeating indices vanish, and hence we can replace
this sum by a sum over all permutations of indices 1 ;:::;n . Thus, we can continue
A(x1^^xn) =X
i1;:::;ina1i1:::aninxi1^^xin=
0
@X
i1;:::;in( 1)inv(i1;:::;in)a1i1:::anin1
Ax1^^xn= detAx1^^xn:
Exercise 2.18. Apply the equality
A(x1^^xk^xk+1^^xn) =A(x1^^xk)^A(xk+1^^xn)
for a mapA:Rn!Rnto deduce the formula for expansion of a determinant according to its rst
krows:
detA=X
i1<<ik;j1<<jn k;im6=jl( 1)inv(i1;:::;jn k)a1;i1::: a 1;ik
.........
ak;i1::: ak;ikak+1;j1::: ak+1;jn k
.........
an;j1::: an;jn k:
29
30
Chapter 3
Orientation and Volume
3.1 Orientation
We say that two bases v1;:::;vkandw1;:::;wkof a vector space Vdene the same orientation of
Vif the matrix of transition from one of these bases to the other has a positive determinant. Clearly,
if we have 3 bases, and the rst and the second dene the same orientation, and the second and the
third dene the same orientation then the rst and the third also dene the same orientation. Thus,
one can subdivide the set of all bases of Vinto the two classes. All bases in each of these classes
dene the same orientation; two bases chosen from dierent classes dene opposite orientation of
the space. To choose an orientation of the space simply means to choose one of these two classes of
bases.
There is no way to say which orientation is \positive" or which is \negative"|it is a question
of convention. For instance, the so-called counter-clockwise orientation of the plane depends from
which side we look at the plane. The positive orientation of our physical 3-space is a physical, not
mathematical, notion.
Suppose we are given two oriented spaces V;W of the same dimension. An invertible linear map
(= isomorphism) A:V!Wis called orientation preserving if it maps a basis which denes the
given orientation of Vto a basis which denes the given orientation of W.
Any non-zero exterior n-formonVinduces an orientation of the space V. Indeed, the preferred
set of bases is characterized by the property (v1;:::;vn)>0.
31
3.2 Orthogonal transformations
LetVbe a Euclidean vector space. Recall that a linear operator U:V!Vis called orthogonal if
it preserves the scalar product, i.e. if
hU(X);U(Y)i=hX;Yi; (3.2.1)
for any vectors X;Y2V. Recall that we have
hU(X);U(Y)i=hX;U?(U(Y))i;
whereU?:V!Vis the adjoint operator to U, see Section 1.3 above.
Hence, the orthogonality of an operator Uis equivalent to the identity U?U= Id, orU?=U 1.
Here we denoted by Id the identity operator, i.e. Id( X) =Xfor anyX2V.
Let us recall, see Exercise 1.10, that the adjoint operator U?is related to the dual operator
U:V!Vby the formula
U?=D 1UD:
Hence, for an orthogonal operator U, we haveD 1UD=U 1, i.e.
UD=DU 1: (3.2.2)
Letv1;:::;vnbe an orthonormal basis in VandUbe the matrix ofUin this basis. The matrix
of the adjoint operator in an orthonormal basis is the transpose of the matrix of this operator.
Hence, the equation UU= Id translates into the equation UTU=E, or equivalently UUT=E,
orU 1=UTfor its matrix. Matrices, which satisfy this equation are called orthogonal . If we write
U=0
BBB@u11::: u 1n
::: ::: :::
un1::: unn1
CCCA;
then the equation UTU=Ecan be rewritten as
X
iukiuji=8
><
>:1;ifk=j;
0;ifk6=j;:
32
Similarly, the equation UUT=Ecan be rewritten as
X
iuikuij=8
><
>:1;ifk=j;
0;ifk6=j;:
The above identities mean that columns (and rows) of an orthogonal matrix Uform an or-
thonormal basis of Rnwith respect to the dot-product.
In particular, we have
1 = det(UTU) = det(UT) detU= (detU)2;
and hence det U=1. In other words, the determinant of any orthogonal matrix is equal 1. We
can also say that the determinant of an orthogonal operator is equal to1 because the determinant
of the matrix of an operator is independent of the choice of a basis. Orthogonal transformations
with det = 1 preserve the orientation of the space, while those with det = 1 reverse it.
Composition of two orthogonal transformations, or the inverse of an orthogonal transformation
is again an orthogonal transformation. The set of all orthogonal transformations of an n-dimensional
Euclidean space is denoted by O(n). Orientation preserving orthogonal transformations sometimes
called special , and the set of special orthogonal transformations is denoted by SO(n). For instance
O(1) consists of two elements and SO(1) of one: O(1) =f1; 1g,SO(1) =f1g.SO(2) consists of
rotations of the plane, while O(2) consists of rotations and re
ections with respect to lines.
3.3 Determinant and Volume
We begin by recalling some facts from Linear Algebra. Let Vbe ann-dimensional Euclidean space
with an inner product h;i. Given a linear subspace LVand a point x2V, the projection
projL(x) is a vector y2Lwhich is uniquely characterized by the property x y?L, i.e.
hx y;zi= 0 for any z2L. The lengthjjx projL(x)jjis called the distance fromxtoL; we
denote it by dist( x;L).
LetU1;:::;Uk2Vbe linearly independent vectors. The k-dimensional parallelepiped spanned
by vectorsU1;:::;Ukis, by denition, the set
P(U1;:::;Uk) =(kX
1jUj; 01;:::;k1)
Span(U1;:::;Uk):
33
Given ak-dimensional parallelepiped P=P(U1;:::;Uk) we will dene its k-dimensional volume
by the formula
VolP=jjU1jjdist(U2;Span(U1))dist(U3;Span(U1;U2)):::dist(Uk;Span(U1;:::;Uk 1)):(3.3.1)
Of course we can write dist( U1;0) instead ofjjU1jj. This denition agrees with the denition of the
area of a parallelogram, or the volume of a 3-dimensional parallelepiped in the elementary geometry.
Proposition 3.1. Letv1;:::;vnbe an orthonormal basis in V. GivennvectorsU1;:::;Unlet us
denote byUthe matrix whose columns are coordinates of these vectors in the basis v1;:::;vn:
U:=0
BBB@u11::: u 1n
...
un1::: unn1
CCCA
Then
VolP(U1;:::;Un) =jdetUj:
Proof. If the vectors U1;:::;Unare linearly dependent then Vol P(U1;:::;Un) = detU= 0.
Suppose now that the vectors U1;:::;Unare linearly independent, i.e. form a basis. Consider rst
the case where this basis is orthonormal. Then the matrix Uis orthogonal. i.e. UUT=E, and
hence detU=1. But in this case Vol P(U1;:::;Un) = 1, and hence Vol P(U1;:::;Un) =jdetUj:
Now let the basis U1;:::;Unbe arbitrary. Let us apply to it the Gram-Schmidt orthonormaliza-
tion process. Recall that this process consists of the following steps. First, we normalize the vector
U1, then subtract from U2its projection to Span( U1), Next, we normalize the new vector U2, then
subtract from U3its projection to Span( U1;U2), and so on. At the end of this process we obtain
an orthonormal basis. It remains to notice that each of these steps aected Vol P(U1;:::;Un) and
jdetUjin a similar way. Indeed, when we multiplied the vectors by a positive number, both the
volume and the determinant were multiplied by the same number. When we subtracted from a vec-
torUkits projection to Span( U1;:::;Uk 1), this aected neither the volume nor the determinant.
Corollary 3.2. 1. Letx1;:::;xnbe a Cartesian coordinate system.1Then
VolP(U1;:::;Un) =jx1^:::xn(U1;:::;Un)j:
1i.e. a coordinate system with respect to an orthonormal basis
34
2. LetA:V!Vbe a linear map. Then
VolP(A(U1);:::;A(Un)) =jdetAjVolP(U1;:::;Un):
Proof.
1. According to 2.13, x1^:::xn(U1;:::;Un) = detU.
2.x1^:::xn(A(U1);:::;A(Un)) =A(x1^^xn)(U1;:::;Un) = detAx1^:::xn(U1;:::;Un):
In view of Proposition 3.1 and the rst part of Corollary 3.2 the value
x1^:::xn(U1;:::;Un) = detU
is called sometimes the signed volume of the parallelepiped P(U1;:::;Un). It is positive when the
basisU1;:::;Undenes the given orientation of the space V, and it is negative otherwise.
Note thatx1^:::xk(U1;:::;Uk) for 0knis the signed k-dimensional volume of the
orthogonal projection of the parallelepiped P(U1;:::;Uk) to the coordinate subspace fxk+1=
=xn= 0g.
For instance, let !be the 2-form x1^x2+x3^x4onR4. Then for any two vectors U1;U22R4
the value!(U1;U2) is the sum of signed areas of projections of the parallelogram P(U1;U2) to the
coordinate planes spanned by the two rst and two last basic vectors.
3.4 Volume and Gram matrix
In this section we will compute the Vol kP(v1;:::;vk) in the case when the number kof vectors is
less than the dimension nof the space.
LetVbe an Euclidean space. Given vectors v1;:::;vk2Vwe can form a kk-matrix
G(v1;:::;vk) =0
BBB@hv1;v1i:::hv1;vki
::: ::: :::
hvk;v1i:::hvk;vki1
CCCA; (3.4.1)
which is called the Gram matrix of vectorsv1;:::;vk.
Suppose we are given Cartesian coordinate system in Vand let us form a matrix Cwhose
columns are coordinates of vectors v1;:::;vk. Thus the matrix Chasnrows andkcolumns. Then
G(v1;:::;vk) =CTC;
35
because in Cartesian coordinates the scalar product looks like the dot-product.
We also point out that if k=nand vectors v1;:::;vnform a basis of V, thenG(v1;:::;vk) is
just the matrix of the bilinear function hX;Yiin the basis v1;:::;vn. It is important to point out
that while the matrix Cdepends on the choice of the basis, the matrix Gdoes not.
Proposition 3.3. Given anykvectorsv1;:::;vkin an Euclidean space Vthe volume VolkP(v1;:::;vk)
can be computed by the formula
VolkP(v1;:::;vk)2= detG(v1;:::;vk) = detCTC; (3.4.2)
whereG(v1;:::;vk)is the Gram matrix and Cis the matrix whose columns are coordinates of
vectorsv1;:::;vkin some orthonormal basis.
Proof. Suppose rst that k=n. Then according to Proposition 3.1 we have Vol kP(v1;:::;vk) =
jdetCj. But detCTC= detC2, and the claim follows.
Let us denote vectors of our orthonormal basis by w1;:::;wn. Consider now the case when
Span(v1;:::;vk)Span(w1;:::;wk): (3.4.3)
In this case the elements in the j-th row of the matrix Care zero if j > k . Hence, if we denote
byeCthe square kkmatrix formed by the rst krows of the matrix C, thenCTC=eCTeCand
thus detCTC= deteCTeC. But deteCTeC= VolkP(v1;:::;vk) in view of our above argument in the
equi-dimensional case applied to the subspace Span( w1;:::;wk)V, and hence
Vol2
kP(v1;:::;vk) = detCTC= detG(v1;:::;vk):
But neither Vol kP(v1;:::;vk), nor the Gram matrix G(v1;:::;vk) depends on the choice of an
orthonormal basis. On the other hand, using Gram-Schmidt process one can always nd an or-
thonormal basis which satises condition (3.4.3).
Remark 3.4. Note that detG(v1;:::;vk)0anddetG(v1;:::;vk) = 0 if an and only if the
vectorsv1;:::;vkare linearly dependent.
36
Chapter 4
Dualities
4.1 Duality between k-forms and (n k)-forms on a n-dimensional
Euclidean space V
LetVbe ann-dimensional vector space. As we have seen above, the space k(V) ofk-forms, and
the space n k(V) of (n k)-forms have the same dimensionn!
k!(n k)!; these spaces are therefore
isomorphic. Suppose that Vis an oriented Euclidean space, i.e. it is supplied with an orientation
and an inner product h;i. It turns out that in this case there is a canonical way to establish this
isomorphism which will be denoted by
?: k(V)!n k(V):
Denition 4.1. Letbe ak-form. Then given any vectors U1;:::;Un k, the value?(U1;:::;Un k)
can be computed as follows. If U1;:::;Un kare linearly dependent then ?(U1;:::;Un k) = 0 . Oth-
erwise, letS?denote the orthogonal complement to the space S= Span(U1;:::;Un k). Choose a
basisZ1;:::;ZkofS?such that
Volk(Z1;:::;Zk) = Voln k(U1;:::;Un k)
and the basis Z1;:::;Zk;U1;:::;Un kdenes the given orientation of the space V. Then
?(U1;:::;Un k) =(Z1;:::;Zk): (4.1.1)
37
Let us rst show that
Lemma 4.2. ?is a(n k)-form, i.e.?is skew-symmetric and multilinear.
Proof. To verify that ?is skew-symmetric we note that for any 1 i<jn qthe bases
Z1;Z2;:::;Zk;U1;:::;Ui;:::;Uj;:::;Un k
and
Z1;Z2;:::;Zk;U1;:::;Uj;:::;Ui;:::;Un k
dene the same orientation of the space V, and hence
?(U1;:::;Uj;:::;Ui;:::;Un k) =( Z1;Z2;:::;Zk)
= (Z1;Z2;:::;Zk) = ?(U1;:::;Ui;:::;Uj;:::;Un k):
Hence, in order to check the multi -linearity it is sucient to prove the linearity of with respect
to the rst argument only. It is also clear that
?(U1;:::;Un k) =?(U1;:::;Un k): (4.1.2)
Indeed, multiplication by 6= 0 does not change the span of the vectors U1;:::;Un q, and hence
if?(U1;:::;Un k) =(Z1;:::;Zk) then?(U1;:::;Un k) =(Z1;:::;Zk) =(Z1;:::;Zk).
Thus it remains to check that
?(U1+eU1;U2;:::;Un k) =?(U1;U2;:::;Un k) +?(eU1;U2;:::;Un k)):
Let us denote L:= Span(U2;:::;Un k) and observe that projL(U1+eU1) = projL(U1) +
projL(eU1). DenoteN:=U1 projL(U1) andeN:=eU1 projL(eU1). The vectors NandeNare
normal components of U1andeU1with respect to the subspace L, and the vector N+eNis the
normal component of U1+eU1with respect to L. Hence, we have
?(U1;:::;Un k) =?(N;:::;Un k); ? (eU1;:::;Un k) =?(eN;:::;U n k);
and
?(U1+eU1;:::;Un k) =?(N+eN;:::;U n k):
Indeed, in each of these three cases,
38
- vectors on both side of the equality span the same space;
- the parallelepiped which they generate have the same volume, and
- the orientation which these vectors dene together with a basis of the complementary space
remains unchanged.
Hence, it is sucient to prove that
?(N+eN;U 2;:::;Un k) =?(N;U 2;:::;Un k) +?(eN;U 2;:::;Un k): (4.1.3)
If the vectors NandeNare linearly dependent, i.e. one of them is a multiple of the other, then
(4.1.3) follows from (4.1.2).
Suppose now that NandeNare linearly independent. Let L?denote the orthogonal complement
ofL= Span(U2;:::;Un k). Then dim L?=k+ 1 and we have N;eN2L?. Let us denote by M
the plane in L?spanned by the vectors NandeN, and byM?its orthogonal complement in L?.
Note that dim M?=k 1.
Choose any orientation of Mso that we can talk about counter-clockwise rotation of this plane.
LetY;eY2Mbe vectors obtained by rotating NandeNinMcounter-clockwise by the angle
2.
ThenY+eYcan be obtained by rotating N+eNinMcounter-clockwise by the same angle
2. Let
us choose in M?a basisZ2;:::;Zksuch that
Volk 1P(Z2;:::;Zk) = Voln k 1P(U2;:::;Un k):
Note that the orthogonal complements to Span( N;U 2;:::;Un k), Span(eN;U 2;:::;Un k), and to
Span(N+eN;U 2;:::;Un k) inVcoincide, respectively, with the orthogonal complements to the the
vectorsN;eNand toN+eNinL?. In other words, we have
(Span(N;U 2;:::;Un k))?
V= Span(Y;Z 2;:::;Zk);
Span(eN;U 2;:::;Un k)?
V= Span(eY;Z 2;:::;Zk) and
Span(N+eN;U 2;:::;Un k)?
V= Span(Y+eY;Z 2;:::;Zk):
Next, we observe that
Voln kP(N;U 2;:::;Un k) = VolkP(Y;Z 2;:::;Zk);
39
Voln kP(eN;U 2;:::;Un k) = VolkP(eY;Z 2;:::;Zk) and
Voln kP(N+eN;U 2;:::;Un k) = VolkP(Y+eY;Z 2;:::;Zk):
Consider the following 3 bases of V:
Y;Z 2;:::;Zk;N;U 2;:::;Un k;
eY;Z 2;:::;Zk;eN;U 2;:::;Un k;
Y+eY;Z 2;:::;Zk;N+eN;U 2;:::;Un k;
and observe that all three of them dene the same a priori given orientation of V. Thus, by denition
of the operator ?we have:
?(N+eN;U 2;:::;Un k) =(Y+eY;Z 2;:::;Zk)
=(Y;Z 2;:::;Zk) +(eY;Z 2;:::;Zk) =?(N;U 2;:::;Un k) +?(eN;U 2;:::;Un k):
This completes the proof that ?is an (n k)-form.
Thus the map 7!?denes a map ?: k(V)!n k(V). Clearly, this map is linear. In
order to check that ?is an isomorphism let us choose an orthonormal basis in Vand consider the
coordinates x1;:::;xn2Vcorresponding to that basis.
Let us recall that the forms xi1^xi2^^xik, 1i1<i2<<ikn, form a basis of the
space k(V).
Lemma 4.3.
?xi1^xi2^^xik= ( 1)inv(i1;:::;ik;j1;:::;jn k)xj1^xj2^^xjn k; (4.1.4)
wherej1<<jn kis the set of indices, complementary to i1;:::;ik. In other words, i1;:::;ik;j1;:::;jn k
is a permutation of indices 1;:::;n .
Proof. Evaluating ?(xi1^^xik) on basic vectors vj1;:::;vjn k, 1j1<<jn qn, we get
0 unless all the indices j1;:::;jn kare all dierent from i1;:::;ik, while in the latter case we get
?(xi1^^xik)(vj1;:::;vjn k) = ( 1)inv(i1;:::;ik;j1;:::;jn k):
40
Hence,
?xi1^xi2^^xik= ( 1)inv(i1;:::;ik;j1;:::;jn k)xj1^xj2^^xjn k:
Thus?establishes a 1 to 1 correspondence between the bases of the spaces k(V) and
the space n k(V), and hence it is an isomorphism. Note that by linearity for any form =
P
1i1<<iknai1:::ikxi1^^xik) we have
?=X
1i1<<iknai1:::ik?(xi1^^xik):
Examples .
1.?C=Cx1^^xn; in other words the isomorphism ?acts on constants (= 0-forms) by
multiplying them by the volume form.
2. InR3we have
?x1=x2^x3;?x2= x1^x3=x3^x1;?x3=x1^x2;
?(x1^x2) =x3;?(x3^x1) =x2;?(x2^x3) =x1:
3. More generally, given a 1-form l=a1x1++anxnwe have
?l=a1x2^^xn a2x1^x3^^xn++ ( 1)n 1anx1^^xn 1:
In particular for n= 3 we have
?(a1x1+a2x2+a3x3) =a1x2^x3+a2x3^x1+a3x1^x2:
Proposition 4.4.
?2= ( 1)k(n k)Id;i.e.?(?!) = ( 1)k(n k)!for anyk-form!:
In particular, if dimension n= dimVis odd then2= Id . Ifnis even and !is ak-form then
?(?!) =!ifkis even, and ?(?!) = !ifkis odd.
41
Proof. It is sucient to verify the equality
?(?!) = ( 1)k(n k)!
for the case when !is a basic form, i.e.
!=xi1^^xik;1i1<<ikn:
We have
?(xi1^^xik) = ( 1)inv(i1;:::;ik;j1;:::;jn k)xj1^xj2^^xjn k
and
?(xj1^xj2^^xjn k) = ( 1)inv(j1;:::;jn k;i1;:::;ik)xi1^^xik:
But the permutations i1:::ikj1:::jn kandj1:::jn ki1:::ikdier byk(n k) transpositions of
pairs of its elements. Hence, we get
( 1)inv(i1;:::;ik;j1;:::;jn k)= ( 1)k(n k)( 1)inv(j1;:::;jn k;i1;:::;ik);
and, therefore,
?
?(xi1^^xik)
=?
( 1)inv(i1;:::;ik;j1;:::;jn k)xj1^xj2^^xjn k
= ( 1)inv(i1;:::;ik;j1;:::;jn k)?(xj1^xj2^^xjn k)
= ( 1)inv(i1;:::;ik;j1;:::;jn k)+inv(j1;:::;jn k;i1;:::;ik)xi1^^xik
= ( 1)k(n k)xi1^^xik:
Exercise 4.5. (a) For any special orthogonal operator Athe operatorsAand?commute, i.e.
A?=?A:
(b) LetAbe an orthogonal matrix of order nwith detA= 1. Prove that for any k2f1;:::;ng
the absolute value of each k-minorMofAis equal to the absolute value of its complementary
minor of order (n k). (Hint: Apply (a) to the form xi1^^xik).
42
(c) LetVbe an oriented 3-dimensional Euclidean space. Prove that for any two vectors X;Y2V,
their cross-product can be written in the form
XY=D 1(?(D(X)^D(Y))):
4.2 Euclidean structure on the space of exterior forms
Suppose that the space Vis oriented and Euclidean, i.e. it is endowed with an inner product h;i
and an orientation.
Given two forms ;2k(V),k= 0;:::;n , let us dene
hh;ii=?(^?):
Note that^?is ann-form for every k, and hence,hh;iiis a 0-form, i.e. a real number.
Proposition 4.6. 1. The operation hh;iidenes an inner product on k(V)for eachk=
0;:::;n .
2. IfA:V!Vis a special orthogonal operator then the operator A: k(V)!k(V)is
orthogonal with respect to the inner product hh;ii.
Proof. 1. We need to check that hh;iiis a symmetric bilinear function on k(V) andhh;ii>0
unless= 0. Bilinearity is straightforward. Hence, it is sucient to verify the remaining properties
for basic vectors =xi1^^xik;=xj1^^xjk, where 1i1<<ikn, 1j1<<
jkn. Here (x1;:::;xn) is any Cartersian coordinates in Vwhich dene its given orientation.
Note thathh;ii= 0 =hh;iiunlessim=jmfor allm= 1;:::;k , and in the the latter case
we have=. Furthermore, we have
hh;ii=?(^?) =?(x1^^xn) = 1>0:
2. The inner product hh;iiis dened only in terms of the Euclidean structure and the orientation
ofV. Hence, for any special orthogonal operator A(which preserves these structures) the induced
operatorA: k(V)!k(V) preserves the inner product hh;ii.
Note that we also proved that the basis of k-formsxi1^^xik, 1i1<< ikn, is
orthonormal with respect to the scalar product hh;ii. Hence, we get
43
Corollary 4.7. Suppose that a k-formcan be written in Cartesian coordinates as
=X
1i1<<iknai1:::ikxi1^^xik:
Then
jjjj2=hh;ii=X
1i1<<ikna2
i1:::ik:
Corollary 4.8. For any two exterior k-forms we have
?^= ( 1)k(n k)^?:
Exercise 4.9. 1. Show that for any k-forms we have
hh;ii=hh?;?ii:
2. Show that if ; are1-forms on an Euclidean space V. Then
hh;ii=hD 1();D 1()i;
i.e the scalar product hh;iionVis the push-forward by Dof the scalar product h;ionV.
Corollary 4.10. LetVbe a Euclidean n-dimensional space. Choose an orthonormal basis e1;:::;en
inV. Then for any vectors Z1= (z11;:::;zn1);:::;Zk= (z1k;:::;znk)2Vwe have
(VolkP(Z1;:::;Zk))2=X
1i1<<iknZ2
i1;:::;ik; (4.2.1)
where
Zi1;:::;ik=zi11::: zi1k
::: ::: :::
zik1::: zikk:
Proof. Consider linear functions lj=D(Zj) =nP
i=1zijxi2V,j= 1;:::;k . Then
44
l1^^lk=nX
i1=1zi1jxi1^^nX
ik=1zikjxik=
X
i1;:::;ikzi1:::zikxi1^xik=X
1i1<<iknZi1;:::;ikxi1^:::xik: (4.2.2)
In particular, if one has Z1;:::Zk2Span(e1;:::;ek) thenZ1:::k= VolP(Z1;:::;Zk) and hence
l1^^lk=Z1:::kx1^^xk= VolP(Z1;:::;Zk)x1^^xk;
which yields the claim in this case.
In the general case, according to Proposition 4.7 we have
jjl1^^lkjj2=X
1i1<<iknZ2
i1;:::;ik; (4.2.3)
which coincides with the right-hand side of (4.2.1). Thus it remains to check to that
jjl1^^lkjj= VolkP(Z1;:::;Zk):
Given any orthogonal transformation A:V!Vwe have, according to Proposition 4.6, the equality
jjl1^^lkjj=jjAl1^^Alkjj: (4.2.4)
We also note that any orthogonal transformation B:V!Vpreservesk-dimensional volume of all
k-dimensional parallelepipeds:
jVolkP(Z1;:::;Zk)j=jVolkP(B(Z1);:::;B(Zk))j: (4.2.5)
On the other hand, there exists an orthogonal transformation A:V!Vsuch thatA 1(Z1);:::;A 1(Zk)2
Span(e1;:::;ek). DenoteeZj:=A 1(Zj),j= 1;:::;k . Then, according to (3.2.2) we have
elj:=D(eZj) =D(A 1(Zj)) =A(D(Zj)) =Alj:
As was pointed out above we then have
jVolkP(eZ1;:::;eZk)j=jjel1^^elkjj=jjAl1^^Alkjj; (4.2.6)
and hence, the claim follows from (4.2.4) and (4.2.5) applied to B=A 1.
We recall that an alternative formula for computing Vol kP(Z1;:::;Zk) was given earlier in
Proposition 3.3.
45
Remark 4.11. Note that the above proof also shows that for any kvectorsv1;:::;vkwe have
VolkP(v1;:::;vk) =jjl1^^lkjj;
wherelj=D(vi); i= 1;:::;k:
4.3 Contraction
LetVbe a vector space and 2k(V) ak-form. Dene a ( k 1)-form =vby the formula
(X1;:::;Xk 1) =(v;X 1;:::;Xk 1)
for any vectors X1;:::;Xk 12V. We say that the form is obtained by a contraction ofwith
the vectorv. Sometimes, this operation is called also an interior product ofwithvand denoted
byi(v)instead ofv . In these notes we will not use this notation.
Proposition 4.12. Contraction is a bilinear operation, i.e.
(v1+v2)=v1+v2
(v)=(v)
v(1+2) =v1+v2
v() =(v):
Herev;v1;v22V;; 1;22k(V);2R.
The proof is straightforward.
Letbe a non-zero n-form. Then we have
Proposition 4.13. The map :V!n 1(V);dened by the formula (v) =vis an isomor-
phism between the vector spaces Vandn 1(V).
46
Proof. Take a basis v1;:::;vn. Letx1;:::;xn2Vbe the dual basis, i.e. the corresponding coor-
dinate system. Then =ax1^:::^xn, wherea6= 0. To simplify the notation let us assume that
a= 1, so that
=x1^:::^xn:
Let us compute the images vi,i= 1;:::;k of the basic vectors. Let us write
vi=nX
1ajx1^^xj 1^xj+1^^xn:
Then
vi(v1;:::;vl 1;vl+1;:::;vn)
=nX
1ajx1^^xj 1^xj+1^^xn(v1;:::;vl 1;vl+1;:::;vn) =al; (4.3.1)
but on the other hand,
vi(v1;:::;vl 1;vl+1;:::;vn) =(vi;v1;:::;vl 1;vl+1;:::;vn)
= ( 1)i 1(v1;:::;vl 1;vi;vl+1;:::;vn) =8
><
>:( 1)i 1; l=i;
0;otherwise(4.3.2)
Thus,
vi= ( 1)i 1x1^^xi 1^xi+1^^xn:
Hence, the map sends a basis of Vinto a basis of n 1(V), and therefore it is an isomorphism.
Take a vector v=nP
1ajvj. Then we have
v(x1^^xn) =nX
1( 1)i 1aix1^^xi 1^xi+1^^xn: (4.3.3)
This formula can be interpreted as the formula of expansion of a determinant according to the rst
column (or the rst row). Indeed, for any vectors U1;:::;Un 1we have
v(U1;:::;Un 1) = det(v;U 1;:::;Un 1) =a1u1;1::: u 1;n 1
::: ::: ::: :::
anun;1::: un;n 1;
47
where0
BBB@u1;i
...
un;i1
CCCAare coordinates of the vector Ui2Vin the basis v1;:::;vn. On the other hand,
v(U1;:::;Un 1) =nX
1( 1)i 1aix1^^xi 1^xi+1^^xn(U1;:::;Un 1)
=a1u2;1::: u 2;n 1
u3;1::: u 3;n 1
::: ::: :::
un;1::: un;n 1++ ( 1)n 1anu1;1::: u 1;n 1
u2;1::: u 2;n 1
::: ::: :::
un 1;1::: un 1;n 1: (4.3.4)
Suppose that dim V= 3. Then the formula (4.3.3) can be rewritten as
v(x1^x2^x3) =a1x2^x3+a2x3^x1+a3x1^x2;
where0
BBB@a1
a2
a31
CCCAare coordinates of the vector V. Let us describe the geometric meaning of the
operation . Set!=v(x1^x2^x3). Then!(U1;U2) is the volume of the parallelogram dened
by the vectors U1;U2andv. Letbe the unit normal vector to the plane L(U1;U2)V. Then we
have
!(U1;U2) = AreaP(U1;U2)hv;i:
If we interpret vas the velocity of a
uid
ow in the space Vthen!(U1;U2) is just an amount
of
uid
own through the parallelogram generated by vectors U1andU2for the unit time. It is
called the
ux ofvthrough the parallelogram .
Let us return back to the case dim V=n.
Exercise 4.14. Let
=xi1^^xik;1i1<<ikn
andv= (a1;:::;an). Show that
v=kX
j=1( 1)j+1aijxi1^:::xij 1^xij+1^:::xik:
48
The next proposition establishes a relation between the isomorphisms ?;andD.
Proposition 4.15. LetVbe a Euclidean space, and x1;:::;xnbe coordinates in an orthonormal
basis. Then for any vector v2Vwe have
?Dv=v(x1^^xn):
Proof. Letv= (a1;:::;an). ThenDv=a1x1++anxnand
?Dv=a1x2^^xn a2x1^x3^^xn^x1++ ( 1)n 1anx1^^xn 1:
But according to Proposition 4.13 the ( n 1)-formv(x1^^xnis dened by the same formula.
We nish this section by the proposition which shows how the contraction operation interacts
with the exterior product.
Proposition 4.16. Let; be forms of order kandl, respectively, and va vector. Then
v(^) = (v)^+ ( 1)k^(v):
Proof. Note that given any indices k1;:::km(not necessarily ordered) we have eixk1^^xkm= 0
ifi =2fk1;:::;kmgandeixk1^^xkm= ( 1)Jxk1^:::i_^xkm;whereJ= inv(i;k1;:::;km)
is the number of variables ahead of xi.
By linearity it is sucient to consider the case when v;; are basic vector and forms, i.e.
v=ei;=xi1^^xik; =xj1:::xjl:
We havev6= 0 if and only if the index iis among the indices i1;:::;ik. In that case
v= ( 1)Jxi1^:::i_^xik
and ifv6= 0 then
v= ( 1)J0xj1^:::i_^xjl;
whereJ= inv(i;i1;:::;ik);J0= inv(i;j1;:::;jl).
If it enters bot notthen
v(^) = ( 1)Jxi1^:::i_^xik^xj1^^xjl= (v)^;
49
while^(v) = 0:
Similarly, if it enters but notthen
v(^) = ( 1)J0+mxi1^^xik^xj1^:::i_^xjl= ( 1)k^(v);
whilev^= 0:Hence, in both these cases the formula holds.
Ifxienters both products then ^= 0, and hence v(^) = 0.
On the other hand,
(v)^+ ( 1)k^(v) = ( 1)Jxi1^:::i_^xik^xj1^xjl
+ ( 1)k+J0xi1^^xik^xj1^:::i_^xjl= 0;
because the products xi1^:::i_^xik^xj1^xjlandxi1^^xik^xj1^:::i_^xjldier
only in the position of xi. In the rst product it is at the ( k+J0)-s position, and in the second
at (J+ 1)-st position. Hence, the dierence in signs is ( 1)J+J0+k+1, which leads to the required
cancellation.
50
Chapter 5
Complex vector spaces
5.1 Complex numbers
The space R2can be endowed with an associative and commutative multiplication operation. This
operation is uniquely determined by three properties:
it is a bilinear operation;
the vector (1 ;0) is the unit;
the vector (0 ;1) satises (0 ;1)2= (0; 1).
The vector (0 ;1) is usually denoted by i, and we will simply write 1 instead of the vector (1 ;0).
Hence, any point ( a;b)2R2can be written as a+bi, wherea;b2R, and the product of a+biand
c+diis given by the formula
(a+bi)(c+di) =ac bd+ (ad+bc)i:
The plane R2endowed with this multiplication is denoted by Cand called the set of complex
numbers . The real line generated by 1 is called the real axis , the line generated by iis called the
imaginary axis . The set of real numbers Rcan be viewed as embedded into Cas the real axis.
Given a complex number z=x+iy, the numbers xandyare called its realand imaginary parts,
respectively, and denoted by Re zand Imz, so thatz= Rez+iImz.
51
For any non-zero complex number z=a+bithere exists an inverse z 1such thatz 1z= 1.
Indeed, we can set
z 1=a
a2+b2 b
a2+b2i:
The commutativity, associativity and existence of the inverse is easy to check, but it should not
be taken for granted: it is impossible to dene a similar operation any Rnforn>2.
Givenz=a+bi2Cits conjugate is dened as z=a bi. The conjugation operation z7!zis
the re
ection of Cwith respect to the real axis RC. Note that
Rez=1
2(z+ z);Imz=1
2i(z z):
Let us introduce the polar coordinates ( r;) inR2=C. Then a complex number z=x+yi
can be written as rcos+irsin=r(cos+isin). This form of writing a complex number
is called, sometimes, t trigonometric . The number r=p
x2+y2is called the modulus ofzand
denoted byjzjandis called the argument ofand denoted by arg z. Note that the argument is
dened only mod 2 . The value of the argument in [0 ;2) is sometimes called the principal value
of the argument. When zis real than its modulus jzjis just the absolute value. We also not that
jzj=pzz.
An important role plays the triangle inequality
jz1j jz2jjz1+z2jjz1j+jz2j:
Exponential function of a complex variable
Recall that the exponential function exhas a Taylor expansion
ex=1X
0xn
n!= 1 +x+x2
2+x3
6+::: :
We then dene for a complex the exponential function by the same formula
ez:= 1 +z+z2
2!++zn
n!+::::
One can check that this power series absolutely converging for allzand satises the formula
ez1+z2=ez1ez2:
52
Figure 5.1: Leonhard Euler (1707-1783)
In particular, we have
eiy= 1 +iy y2
2! iy3
3!+y4
4!++::: (5.1.1)
=1X
k=0( 1)ky2k
2k!+i1X
k=0( 1)ky2k+1
(2k+ 1)!: (5.1.2)
But1P
k=0( 1)ky2k
2k!= cosyand1P
k=0( 1)ky2k+1
(2k+1)!= siny, and hence we get Euler's formula
eiy= cosy+isiny;
and furthermore,
ex+iy=exeiy=ex(cosy+isiny);
i.e.jex+iyj=ex;arg(ez) =y:In particular, any complex number z=r(cos+isin) can be
rewritten in the form z=rei. This is called the exponential form of the complex number z.
Note that
ein
=ein;
and hence if z=reithenzn=rnein=rn(cosn+isinn):
Note that the operation z7!izis the rotation of Ccounterclockwise by the angle
2. More
generally a multiplication operation z7!zw, wherew=eiis the composition of a rotation by
the angleand a radial dilatation (homothety) in times.
53
Exercise 5.1. 1. ComputenP
0coskandnP
1sink.
2. Compute 1 + n
4
+ n
8
+ n
12
+::::
5.2 Complex vector space
In a real vector space one knows how to multiply a vector by a real number. In a complex vector
space there is dened an operation of multiplication by a complex number. Example is the space
Cnwhose vectors are n-tuplesz= (z1;:::;zn) of complex numbers, and multiplication by any
complex number =+iis dened component-wise: (z1;:::;zn) = (z1;:::;zn). Complex
vector space can be viewed as an upgrade of a real vector space, or better to say as a real vector
space with an additional structure.
In order to make a real vector space Vinto a complex vector space, one just needs to dene how
to multiply a vector by i. This operation must be a linear map J:V!Vwhich should satisfy
the conditionJ2= Id, i.eJ(J(v)) =i(iv) = v.
Example 5.2. Consider R2nwith coordinates (x1;y1;:::;xn;yn). Consider a 2n2n-matrix
J=0
BBBBBBBBBBBBBBB@0 1 0 0
1 0 0 0
0 0 0 1
0 0 1 0
:::
0 1
1 01
CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCA
ThenJ2= I. Consider a linear operator J:R2n!R2nwith this matrix, i.e. J(Z) =JZfor
any vector Z2R2nwhich we view as a column-vector. Then J2= Id, and hence we can dene
onR2na complex structure (i.e.the multiplication by iby the formula
iZ=J(Z); Z2R2n:
This complex vector space is canonically isomorphic to Cn, where we identify the real vector
(x1;y1;:::;xn;yn)2R2nwith a complex vector (z1=x1+iy1;:::;znxn+iyn).
54
On the other hand, any complex vector space can be viewed as a real vector space. In order to
do that we just need to \forget" how to multiply by i. This procedure is called the realication of
a complex vector space. For example, the realication of CnisR2n. Sometimes to emphasize the
realication operation we will denote the realication of a complex vector space VbyVR. As the
sets these to objects coincide.
Given a complex vector space Vwe can dene linear combinationsPivi, wherei2Care
complex numbers, and thus similarly to the real case talk about really dependent, really independent
vectors. Given vectors v1;:::vn2Vwe dene its complex span SpanC(V1;:::;vn) by the formula
SpanC(v1;:::;vn) =(nX
1ivi; i2C:)
. Abasis of a complex vector space is a system of complex linear independent vectors v1;:::;vn
such that SpanC(v1;:::;vn) =V. The number of vectors in a complex basis is called the complex
dimension ofVand denoted dim CV.
For instance dim Cn=n. On the other hand, its realication R2nhas real dimension 2 n. In
particular, Cis a complex vector space of dimension 1, and therefore it is called a complex line
rather than a plane.
Exercise 5.3. Letv1;:::;vnbe a complex basis of a complex vector space V. Find the real basis of
its realication VR.
Answer .v1;iv1;v2;iv2;:::;vn;ivn.
There is another important operation which associates with a real vector space Vof real dimen-
sionna complex vector space VCof complex dimension n. It is done in a way similar to how we
made complex numbers out of real numbers. As a real vector space the space VCis just the direct
sumVV=f(v;w);v;w2Vg. This is a real space of dimension 2 n. We then make VVinto
a complex vector space by dening the multiplication by iby the formula:
i(v;w) = ( w;v):
We will write vector ( v;0) simply by vand (0;v) =i(v;0) byiv. Hence, every vector of VCcan be
written asv+iw, wherev;w2V. Ifv1;:::;vnis a real basis of V, then the same vectors form a
complex basis of VC.
55
Complexication of a real vector space
Given a real space Vone can associate with it a complex vector space VC, called the complexication
ofV, as follows. It is made of vectors of Vin exactly the same way as complex numbers made of
reals. Namely, VCconsists of expressions X+iY, whereX;Y2V. We dene a multiplication of a
complex number a+ibby a vector X+iYby a formula
(a+ib)(X+iY) =aX bY+i(aY+bX):
For instance, Cnis canonically isomorphic to ( Rn)C, because any vector Z= (z1=x1+
iy1;:::;zn=xn+iyn)2Cncan be uniquely written as Z=X+iY, whereX= (x1;:::;xn);Y=
(y1;:::;yn)2Rn. Note that the realication of the space VC, i.e. the space ( VC)Ris canonically is
justVV=f(X;Y ); X;Y2Rn.
Ifv1;:::;vnis a basis of a VoverR, then the same vectors form a basis of the complexied
spaceVCoverC. Thus dim RV= dim CVC.
5.3 Complex linear maps
Complex linear maps and their realications
Given two complex vector spaces V;W a mapA:V!Wis called complex linear (orC-linear)
ifA(X+Y) =A(X) +A(Y) andA(X) =A(X) for any vectors X;Y2Vand any complex
number2C. Thus complex linearity is stronger condition than the real linearity. The dierence is
in the additional requirement that A(iX) =iA(X). In other words, the operator Amust commute
with the operation of multiplication by i.
Any linear mapA:C!Cis a multiplication by a complex number a=c+id. If we view C
asR2and right the real matrix of this map in the standard basis 1 ;iwe get the matrix0
@c d
d c1
A.
Indeed,A(1) =a=c+diandA(i) =ai= d+ci, so the rst column of the matrix is equal to0
@c
d1
Aand the second one is equal to0
@ d
c1
A.
If we have bases v1;:::;vnofVandw1;:::wmofWthen one can associate with Aanmn
complex matrixAby the same rule as in the real case.
56
Recall (see Exercise 5.3) that vectors v1;v0
1=iv1;v2;v0
2=iv2;:::;vn;v0
n=ivnandw1;w0
1=
iw1;w2;w0
2=iw2;:::wm;w0
m=iwm) form real bases of the realications VRandWRof the spaces
VandW. if
A=0
BBB@a11::: a 1n
:::
am1::: amn1
CCCA
is the complex matrix of Athen the real matrix ARof the mapAis the real basis has order 2 n2n
and is obtained from Aby replacing each complex element akl=ckl+idklby a 22 matrix0
@ckl dkl
dklckl1
A.
Exercise 5.4. Prove that
detAR=jdetAj2:
Complexication of real linear maps
Given a real linear map A:V!Wone can dene a complex linear map AC:VC!WCby the
formula
AC(v+iw) =A(v) +iA(w):
. IfAis the matrix ofAin a basisv1;:::;vnthenAChas the same matrix in the same basis viewed
as a complex basis of VC. The operatorACis called the complexication of the operatorA.
In particular, one can consider C-linear functions V!Con a complex vector space V. Complex
coordinates z1;:::;znin a complex basis are examples of C-linear functions, and any other C-linear
function on Vhas a form c1z1+:::cnzn, wherec1;:::;cn2Care complex numbers.
Complex-valued R-linear functions
It is sometimes useful to consider also C-valued R-linear functions on a complex vector space V,
i.e.R-linear maps V!C(i.e. a linear map VR!R2). Such a C-valued function has the form
=+i, where; are usual real linear functions. For instance the function zonCis a
C-valued R-linear function which is not C-linear.
57
Ifz1;:::;znare complex coordinates on a complex vector space Vthen any R-linear complex-
valued function can be written asnP
1aizi+bizi, whereai;bi2Care complex numbers.
We can furthermore consider complex-valued tensors and, in particular complex-valued exterior
forms. A C-valuedk-formcan be written as +iwhereandare usual R-valuedk-forms.
For instance, we can consider on Cnthe 2-form !=i
2nP
1zk^zk. It can be rewritten as !=
i
2nP
1(xk+iyk)^(xk iyk) =nP
1xk^yk:
58
Part II
Calculus of dierential forms
59
Chapter 6
Topological preliminaries
6.1 Elements of topology in a vector space
We recall in this section some basic topological notions in a nite-dimensional vector space and
elements of the theory of continuous functions. The proofs of most statements are straightforward
and we omit them.
Let us choose in Va scalar product.
NotationBr(p) :=fx2V;jjx pjj< rg,Dr(p) :=fx2V;jjx pjjrgandSr(p) :=fx2
V;jjx pjj=rgstand for open, closed balls and the sphere of radius rcentered at a point p2V.
Open and closed sets
A setUVis called open if for anyx2Uthere exists >0 such that B(x)U.
A setAVis called closed if its complement VnAis open. Equivalently,
Lemma 6.1. The setAis closed if and only if for any sequence xn2A,n= 1;2;::: which
converges to a point a2V, the limit point abelongs toA.
Remark 6.2. It is important to note that the notion of open and closed sets are independent of
the choice of the auxiliary Euclidean structure in the space V.
Points which appear as limits of sequences of points xn2Aare called limit points ofA.
There are only two subsets of Vwhich are simultaneously open and closed: Vand?.
61
Lemma 6.3. 1. For any family U;2of open sets the unionS
2Uis open.
2. For any family A;2of closed sets the intersectionT
2Ais closed.
3. The unionnS
1Aiof a nite family of closed sets is closed.
4. The intersectionnT
1Uiof a nite family of open sets is open.
By a neighborhood of a pointa2Vwe understand any open set U3p.
Given any subset XVa pointa2Vis called
interior point forAif there is a neighborhood U3psuch thatUA;
boundary point if it is not an interior point neither for Anor for its complement VnA.
We emphasize that a boundary point of Amay or may not belong to A. Equivalently, a point a2V
is a boundary point of Aif it is a limit point both for AandVnA.
The set of all interior points of Ais called the interior of Aand denoted Int A. The set of all
boundary points of Ais called the boundary ofAand denoted @A. The union of all limit points of
Ais called the closure ofAand denoted A.
Lemma 6.4. 1. We have A=A[@A,IntA=An@A.
2.Ais equal to the intersection of all closed sets containg A
3.IntUis the union of all open sets contained in A.
Given a subset XV
- a subset YXis called relatively open inYif there exists an open set UVsuch that
Y=X\U.
- a subsetYXis called relatively closed inYif there exists a closed set AVsuch that
Y=X\A.
One also call relatively and open and closed subsets of Xjust open and closed inX.
Exercise 6.5. Prove that though we dened open sets using a Euclidean structure on the vector
spaceVthe denition of open and closed sets is independent of this choice.
62
Figure 6.1: Bernard Bolzano (1781-1848)
6.2 Everywhere and nowhere dense sets
Aclosed setAis called nowhere dense if Int A=?. For instance any nite set is nowhere dense.
Any linear subspace LVis nowhere dense in Vif dimL < dimV. Here is a more interesting
example of a nowhere dense set.
Fix some number <1. For any interval = [ a;b] we denote by theopen interval centered
at the point c=a+b
2, the middle point of , of the total length equal to (b a). We denote by
C() := n. ThusC() consists of two disjoint smaller closed intervals. Let I= [0;1]. Take
C(I) =I1[I2. Take again C(I1)[C(I2) then again apply the operation Cto four new closed
intervals. Continue the process, and take the intersection of all sets arising on all steps of this
construction. The resulted closed set KIis nowhere dense. It is called a Cantor set .
A subsetBAis called everywhere dense inAifBA. For instance the the set Q\Iof
rational points in the interval I= [0;1] is everywhere dense in I.
6.3 Compactness and connectedness
A setAVis called compact if one of the following equivalent conditions is satised:
COMP1.Ais closed and bounded.
63
Figure 6.2: Karl Weierstrass (1815-1897)
COMP2. from any innite sequence of points xn2Aone can choose a subsequence xnkconverging
to a pointa2A.
COMP3. from any family U;2 of open sets covering A, i.e.S
2UA, one can choose
nitely many sets U1;:::;Ukwhich cover A, i.e.kS
1UkA.
The equivalence of these denitions is a combination of theorems of Bolzano-Weierstrass and
Emile Borel.
A setAis called path-connected if for any two points a0;a12Athere is a continuous path
: [0;1]!Asuch that
(0) =a0and
(1) =a1.
A setAis called connected if one cannot present Aas a unionA=A1[A2such thatA1\A2=?,
A1;A26=?and bothA1andA2are simultaneously relatively closed and open in A.
Lemma 6.6. Any path-connected set is connected.
Proof. Suppose that Ais disconnected. Then it can be presented as a union A=A0[A1of two
non-empty relatively open (and hence relatively closed) subsets. Consider the function :A!R
dened by the formula
(x) =8
><
>:0; x2A0;
1; x2A1:
64
Figure 6.3: Emile Borel (1871-1956)
We claim that the function is is continuous. Indeed, For each i= 0;1 and any point a2Ai
there exists > 0 such that B(x)\AAi. Hence the function is constant on B(x)\A,
and hence continuous at the point x. Now take points x02A0andx12A1and connect them
by a path
: [0;1]!A(this path exists because Ais path-connected). Consider the function
:=
: [0;1]!R. This function is continuous (as a composition of two continuous maps).
Furthermore, (0) = 0; (1) = 1. Hence, by an intermediate value theorem of Cauchy the function
must take all values in the interval [0 ;1]. But this is a contradiction because by construction the
function takes no other values except 0 and 1.
Lemma 6.7. Any open connected subset URnis path connected.
Proof. Take any point a2U. Denote by Cathe set of all points in Uwhich can be connected with
aby a path. We need to prove that Ca=U.
First, we note that Cais open. Indeed, if b2Cathen using openness of Uwe can nd >0
such the ball B(b)2U. Any point of c2B(b) can be connected by a straight interval IbcB(b)
withb, and hence it can be connected by a path with a, i.e.c2Ca. ThusB(b)Ca, and hence
Cais open. Similarly we prove that the complement UnCais open. Indeed, take b =2Ca. As above,
there exists an open ball B(b)U. ThenB(b)UnCa. Indeed, if it were possible to connect a
pointc2B(b) withaby a path, then the same would be true for b, becausebandcare connected
by the interval Ibc. Thus, we have U=Ca[(UnCa), both sets CaandUnCaare open and Cais
65
non-empty. Hence, UnCais to be empty in view of connectedness of U. Thus,Ca=U, i.e.Uis
path-connected.
Exercise 6.8. In general a connected set need not to be path-connected. A canonical example is
the closure of the graph of the function sin1
x;x2Rn0:. Prove it.
Exercise 6.9. Prove that any non-empty connected ( =path-connected) open subset of Ris equal
to an interval (a;b)(we allow here a= 1 andb=1). If one drops the condition of openness,
then one needs to add a closed and semi-closed intervals and a point.
Remark 6.10. One of the corollaries of this exercise is that in Rany connected set is path-
connected .
Solution. LetARbe a non-empty connected subset. Let a<b be two points of A. Suppose
that a point c2(a;b) does not belong to A. Then we can write A=A0[A1, whereA0=
A\( 1;0);A1=A\(0;1). Both sets A0andA1are relatively open and non-empty, which
contradicts connectedness of A. Hence if two points aandb,a < b , are inA, then the whole
interval [a;b] is also contained in A. Denotem:= infAandM:= supA(we assume that m= 1
ifAis unbounded from below and M= +1ifAis unbounded from above). Then the above
argument shows that the open interval ( m;M ) is contained in A. Thus, there could be 5 cases:
m;M =2A; in this case A= (m;M );
m2A;M =2A; in this case A= [m;M );
m =2A;M2A; in this case A= (m;M ];
m;M2Aandm<M ; in this case A= [m;M ];
m;M2Aandm=M; in this case Aconsists of one point.
6.4 Connected and path-connected components
Lemma 6.11. LetA,2be any family of connected (resp. path-connected) subsets of a vector
spaceV. SupposeT
2A6=?. ThenS
2Ais also connected (resp. path-connected)
66
Proof. Pick a point a2T
2A. Consider rst the case when Aare path connected. Pick a point
a2T
2A. Thenacan be connected by path with all points in Afor any points in 2. Hence,
all points of AandA0can be connected with each other for any ;02.
Suppose now that Aare connected. Denote A:=S
2A. SupposeAcan be presented as a
unionA=U[U0of disjoint relatively open subsets, where we denoted by Uthe set which contains
the pointa2T
2A. Then for each 2 the intersections U:=U\AandU0
:=U0\Aare
relatively open in A. We haveA=U[U0
. By assumption, U3a, and hence U6=?. Hence,
connectedness of Aimplies that U0
=?. But thenU0=S
2U0
=?, and therefore Ais connected.
Given any set AVand a point a2Atheconnected component (resp. path-connected com-
ponentCaAof the point a2Ais the union of all connected (resp. path-connected) subsets
ofAwhich contains the point a. Due to Lemma 6.11 the (path-)connected component Cais itself
(path-)connected, and hence it is the biggest (path-)connected subset of Awhich contains the point
a.The path-connected component of acan be equivalently dened as the set of all points of Aone
can connect with aby a path in A.
Note that (path-)connected components of dierent points either coincide or do not intersect,
and hence the set Acan be presented as a disjoint union of (path-)-connected components.
Lemma 6.7 shows that for open sets in a vector space Vthe notions of connected and path-
connected components coincide, and due to Exercise 6.9 the same is true for any subsets in R. In
particular, any open set URcan be presented as a union of disjoint open intervals, which are its
connected (= path-connected) components. Note that the number of these intervals can be innite,
but always countable.
6.5 Continuous maps and functions
LetV;W be two Euclidean spaces and Ais a subset of V. A mapf:A!Wis called continuous
if one of the three equivalent properties hold:
1. For any >0 and any point x2Athere exists >0 such that f(B(x)\A)B(f(x)).
2. If for a sequence xn2Athere exists lim xn=x2Athen the sequence f(xn)2Wconverges
67
tof(x).
3. For any open set UWthe pre-image f 1(U) is relatively open in A.
4. For any closed set BWthe pre-image f 1(B) is relatively closed in A.
Let us verify equivalence of 3 and 4. For any open set UWits complement B=WnUis closed
and we have f 1(U) =Anf 1(B). Hence, if f 1(U) is relatively open, i.e. f 1(U) =U0\Afor
an open set U0V, thenf 1(B) =A\(VnU0), i.e.f 1(B) is relatively closed. The converse is
similar.
Let us deduce 1 from 3. The ball B(f(x)) is open. Hence f 1(B(f(x))) is relatively open in
A. Hence, there exists >0 such that B(x)\Af 1(B(f(x))), i.e.f(B(x)\A)B(f(x)).
We leave the converse and the equivalence of denition 2 to the reader.
Remark 6.12. Consider a map f:A!Wand denote B:=f(A). Then denition 3 can be
equivalently stated as follows:
30. For any set UBrelatively open in Bits pre-image f 1(U) is relatively open in A.
Denition 4 can be reformulated in a similar way.
Indeed, we have U=U0\Afor an open set U0W, whilef 1(U) =f 1(U0).
The following theorem summarize properties of continuous maps.
Theorem 6.13. Letf:A!Wbe a continuous map. Then
1. ifAis compact then f(A)is compact;
2. ifAis connected then f(A)is connected;
3. ifAis path connected then f(A)is path-connected.
Proof. 1. Take any innite sequence yn2f(A). Then there exist points xn2Asuch thatyn=
f(xn);n= 1;:::: Then there exists a converging subsequence xnk!a2A. Then by continuity
limk!1f(xnk) =f(a)2f(A), i.e.f(A) is compact.
2. Suppose that f(A) can be presented as a union B1[B2of simultaneously relatively open
and closed disjoint non-empty sets. Then f 1(B1);f 1(B2)Aare simultaneously relatively open
68
Figure 6.4: George Cantor (1845-1918)
and closed in A, disjoint and non-empty. We also have f 1(B1)[f 1(B2) =f 1(B1[B2) =
f 1(f(A)) =A. HenceAis disconnected which is a contradiction.
3. Take any two points y0;y12f(A). Then there exist x0;x12Asuch thatf(x0) =y0;f(x1) =
y1. ButAis path-connected. Hence the points x0;x1can be connected by a path
: [0;1]!A.
Then the path f
: [0;1]!f(A) connectsy0andy1, i.e.f(A) is path-connected.
Note that in the case W=RTheorem 6.13.1 is just the Weierstrass theorem: a continuos
function on a compact set is bounded and achieves its maximal and minimal values.
We nish this section by a theorem of George Cantor about uniform continuity.
Theorem 6.14. LetAbe compact and f:A!Wa continuous map. Then for any >0there
exists>0such that for any x2Awe havef(B(x))B(f(x)).
Proof. Choose>0. By continuity of ffor every point x2Athere exists (x)>0 such that
f(B(x)(x))B
4(f(x)):
We need to prove that inf
x2A(x)>0. Note that for any point in y2B(x)
2(x) we haveB(x)
2(y)
B(x)(x), and hence f(B(x)
2(y))B(f(y)):By compactness, from the coveringS
x2AB(x)
2(x) we
can choose a nite number of balls B(xj)
2(xj);j= 1;:::;N which still cover A. Then= min
k(xj)
2
satisfy the condition of the theorem, i.e. f(B(x))B(f(x)) for anyx2A.
69
70
Chapter 7
Vector elds and dierential forms
7.1 Dierential and gradient
Given a vector space Vwe will denote by Vxthe vector space Vwith the origin translated to the
pointx2V. One can think of Vxas that tangent space to Vat the point x. Though the parallel
transport allows one to identify spaces VandVxit will be important for us to think about them
as dierent spaces.
Letf:U!Rbe a function on a domain UVin a vector space V. The function fis called
dierentiable at a pointx2Uif there exists a linear function l:Vx!Rsuch that
f(x+h) f(x) =l(h) +o(jjhjj)
for any suciently small vector h, where the notation o(t) stands for any function such that
o(t)
t!
t!00. The linear function lis called the dierential of the function fat the point xand
is denoted by dxf. In other words, fis dierentiable at x2Uif for anyh2Vxthere exists a limit
l(h) = lim
t!0f(x+th) f(x)
t;
and the limit l(h)linearly depends on h. The value l(h) =dxf(h) is called the directional derivative
offat the point xin the direction h. The function fis called dierentiable on the whole domain
Uif it is dierentiable at each point of U.
Simply speaking, the dierentiability of a function means that at a small scale near a point x
the function behaves approximately like a linear function, the dierential of the function at the
71
pointx. However this linear function varies from point to point, and we call the family fdxfgx2Uof
all these linear functions the dierential of the function f, and denote it by df(without a reference
to a particular point x).
Let us summarize the above discussion. Let f:U!Rbe a dierentiable function. Then for
each point x2Uthere exists a linear function dxf:Vx!R, the dierential of fat the point x
dened by the formula
dxf(h) = lim
t!0f(x+th) f(x)
t;x2U;h2Vx:
We recall that existence of partial derivatives at a point a2Udoes not guarantee the dieren-
tiability of fat the point a. On the other hand if partial derivatives exists in a neighborhood of a
andcontinuous at the point athenfis dierentiable at this point. The functions whose rst partial
derivatives are continuous in uare calledC1-smooth , or sometimes just smooth. Equivalently, we
can say that fis smooth if the dierential dxfcontinuously depends on the point x2U.
Ifv1;:::;vnare vectors of a basis of V, parallel transported to the point x, then we have
dxf(vi) =@f
@xi(x); x2U; i= 1;:::;n;
wherex1;:::;xnare coordinates with respect to the chosen basis v1;:::;vn.
Notice that if fis a linear function,
f(x) =a1x1++anxn;
then for each x2Vwe have
dxf(h) =a1h1++anhn;h= (h1;:::;hn)2Vx:
Thus the dierential of a linear function fat any point x2Vcoincides with this function, parallel
transported to the space Vx. This observation, in particular, can be applied to linear coordinate
functionsx1;:::;xnwith respect to a chosen basis of V.
In Section 7.7 below we will dene the dierential for maps f:U!W, whereWis a vector
space and not just the real line R.
72
7.2 Smooth functions
We recall that existence of partial derivatives at a point a2Udoes not guarantee the dierentia-
bility offat the point a. On the other hand if partial derivatives exists in a neighborhood of aand
continuous at the point athenfis dierentiable at this point. The functions whose rst partial
derivatives are continuous in uare calledC1-smooth . Equivalently, we can say that fis smooth if
the dierential dxfcontinuously depends on the point x2U.
More generally, for k1 a function f:U!Ris calledCk-smooth all its partial derivatives
up to order kare continuous in U. The space of Ck-smooth functions is denoted by Ck(U). We will
also use the notation C0(U) andC1(U) which stands, respectively, for the spaces of continuous
functions and functions with continuous derivatives of all orders. In this notes we will often speak
of smooth functions without specifying the class of smoothness, assuming that functions have as
many continuous derivatives as necessary to justify our computations.
Remark 7.1. We will often need to consider smooth maps, functions, vectors elds, dierential
forms, etc. dened on a closed subset Aof a vector space V. We will always mean by that the these
objects are dened on some open neighborhood UA. It will be not important for us how exactly
these objects are extended to Ubut to make sense of dierentiability we need to assume that they
are extended. In fact, one can dene what dierentiability means without any extension, but this
would go beyond the goals of these lecture notes.
Moreover, a theorem of Hassler Whitney asserts that any function smooth on a closed subset
AVcan be extended to a smooth function to a neighborhood UA.
7.3 Gradient vector eld
IfVis an Euclidean space, i.e. a vector space with an inner product h;i, then there exists a
canonical isomorphism D:V!V, dened by the formula D(v)(x) =hv;xiforv;x2V. Of
course,Ddenes an isomorphism Vx!V
xfor eachx2V. Set
rf(x) =D 1(dxf):
73
The vectorrf(x) is called the gradient of the function fat the point x2U. We will also use
the notation grad f(x).
By denition we have
hrf(x);hi=dxf(h) for any vector h2V :
Ifjjhjj= 1 thendxf(h) =jjrf(x)jjcos', where'is the angle between the vectors rf(x) andh. In
particular, the directional derivative dxf(h) has its maximal value when '= 0. Thus the direction
of the gradient is the direction of the maximal growth of the function and the length of the gradient
equals this maximal value.
As in the case of a dierential, the gradient varies from point to point, and the family of vectors
frf(x)gx2Uis called the gradient vector eld rf.
We discuss the general notion of a vector eld in Section 7.4 below.
7.4 Vector elds
Avector eld von a domain UVis a function which associates to each point x2Ua vector
v(x)2Vx, i.e. a vector originated at the point x.
A gradient vector eld rfof a function fprovides us with an example of a vector eld, but as
we shall see, gradient vector elds form only a small very special class of vector elds.
Letvbe a vector eld on a domain U2V. If we x a basis in V, and parallel transport this
basis to all spaces Vx;x2V, then for any point x2Vthe vectorv(x)2Vxis described by its
coordinates ( v1(x);v2(x);:::;vn(x)). Therefore, to dene a vector eld on Uis the same as to dene
nfunctionsv1;:::;vnonU, i.e. to dene a map ( v1;:::;vn) :U!Rn. We call a vector eld v
Ck-smooth if the functions v1;:::;vnare smooth on U.
Thus, if a basis of Vis xed, then the dierence between the maps U!Rnand vector elds
onUis just a matter of geometric interpretation. When we speak about a vector eld vwe view
v(x) as a vector in Vx, i.e. originated at the point x2U. When we speak about a map v:U!Rn
we viewv(x) as a point of the space V, or as a vector with its origin at 02V.
Vector elds naturally arise in a context of Physics, Mechanics, Hydrodynamics, etc. as force,
velocity and other physical elds.
74
There is another very important interpretation of vector elds as rst order dierential opera-
tors.
LetC1(U) denote the vector space of innitely dierentiable functions on a domain UV.
Letvbe aC1-smooth vector eld on V. We associate with va linear operator
Dv:C1(U)!C1(U);
given by the formula
Dv(f) =df(v); f2C1(U):
In other words, we compute at any point x2Uthe directional derivative of fin the direction of
the vectorv(x). Clearly, the operator Dvis linear:Dv(af+bg) =aDv(f)+bDv(g) for any functions
f;g2C1(U) and any real numbers a;b2R. It also satises the Leibniz rule :
Dv(fg) =Dv(f)g+fDv(g):
In view of the above correspondence between vector elds and rst order dierential operators
it is sometimes convenient just to view a vector eld as a dierential operator. Hence, when it will
not be confusing we may drop the notation Dvand just directly apply the vector vto a function
f(i.e. writev(f) instead of Dv(f)).
Letv1;:::;vnbe a basis of V, andx1;:::;xnbe the coordinate functions in this basis. We
would like to introduce the notation for the vector eld obtained from vectors v1;:::;vnby parallel
transporting them to all points of the domain U. To motivate the notation which we are going
to introduce, let us temporarily denote these vector elds by v1;:::;vn. Observe that Dvi(f) =
@f
@xi; i= 1;:::;n . Thus the operator Dviis just the operator@
@xiof takingi-th partial derivative.
Hence, viewing the vector eld vias a dierential operator we will just use the notation@
@xiinstead
ofvi. Given any vector eld vwith coordinate functions a1;a2;:::;an:U!Rwe have
Dv(f)(x) =nX
i=1ai(x)@f
@xi(x);for anyf2C1(U);
and hence we can write v=nP
i=1ai@
@xi. Note that the coecients aihere are functions and not
constants.
75
7.4.1 Gradient vector eld
Suppose that V;h;iis a Euclidean vector space. Choose a (not necessarily orthonormal) basis
v1;:::;vn. Let us nd the coordinate description of the gradient vector eld rf, i.e. nd the
coecients ajin the expansion rf(x) =nP
1ai(x)@
@xi. By denition we have
hrf(x);hi=dxf(h) =nX
1@f
@xj(x)hj (7.4.1)
for any vector h2Vxwith coordinates ( h1;:::;hn) in the basis v1;:::;vnparallel transported to
Vx. Let us denote gij=hvi;vji. ThusG= (gij) is a symmetric nnmatrix, which is called the
Gram matrix of the basis v1;:::;vn. Then the equation (7.4.1) can be rewritten as
nX
i;j=1gjiaihj=nX
1@f
@xj(x)hj:
Becausehjare arbitrarily numbers it implies that the coecients with hjin the right and left sides
should coincide for all j= 1;:::;n . Hence we get the following system of linear equations:
nX
i=1gijai=@f
@xj(x); j= 1;:::;n; (7.4.2)
or in matrix form
G0
BBB@a1
...
an1
CCCA=0
BBB@@f
@x1(x)
...
@f
@xn(x)1
CCCA;
and thus0
BBB@a1
...
an1
CCCA=G 10
BBB@@f
@x1(x)
...
@f
@xn(x)1
CCCA; (7.4.3)
i.e.
rf=nX
i;j=1gij@f
@xi(x)@
@xj; (7.4.4)
where we denote by gijthe entries of the inverse matrix G 1= (gij) 1
If the basis v1;:::;vnis orthonormal then Gis the unit matrix, and thus in this case
76
rf=nX
1@f
@xj(x)@
@xj; (7.4.5)
i.e.rfhas coordinates (@f
@x1;:::;@f
@xn). However, simple expression (7.4.5) for the gradient holds
only in the orthonormal basis . In the general case one has a more complicated expression
(7.4.4).
7.5 Dierential forms
Similarly to vector elds, we can consider elds of exterior forms , i.e. functions on UVwhich
associate to each point x2Uak-form from k(V
x). These elds of exterior k-forms are called
dierential k-forms .
Thus the relation between k-forms and dierential k-forms is exactly the same as the relation
between vectors and vector-elds. For instance, a dierential 1-form associates with each point
x2Ua linear function (x) on the space Vx. Sometimes we will write xinstead of(x) to leave
space for the arguments of the function (x).
Example 7.2. 1. Letf:V!Rbe a smooth function. Then the dierential dfis a dierential
1-form. Indeed, with each point x2Vit associates a linear function dxfon the space Vx.
As we shall see, most dierential 1-form are not dierentials of functions (just as most vector
elds are not gradient vector elds).
2. A dierential 0-form fonUassociates with each point x2Ua 0-form on Vx, i. e. a number
f(x)2R. Thus dierential 0-forms on Uare just functions U!R.
7.6 Coordinate description of dierential forms
Letx1;:::;xnbe coordinate linear functions on V, which form the basis of Vdual to a chosen
basisv1;:::;vnofV. For each i= 1;:::;n the dierential dxidenes a linear function on each
spaceVx;x2V. Namely, if h= (h1;:::;hn)2Vxthendxi(h) =hi. Indeed
dxxi(h) = lim
t!0xi+thi xi
t=hi;
77
independently of the base point x2V. Thus dierentials dx1;:::;dxnform a basis of the space V
x
for eachx2V. In particular, any dierential 1-form onvcan be written as
=f1dx1+:::+fndxn;
wheref1;:::;fnarefunctions onV. In particular,
df=@f
@x1dx1+:::+@f
@xndxn: (7.6.1)
Let us point out that this simple expression of the dierential of a function holds in an arbitrary
coordinate system , while an analogous simple expression (7.4.5) for the gradient vector eld
is valid only in the case of Cartesian coordinates. This re
ects the fact that while the notion of
dierential is intrinsic and independent of any extra choices, one needs to have a background inner
product to dene the gradient.
Similarly, any dierential 2-form won a 3-dimensional space can be written as
!=b1(x)dx2^dx3+b2(x)dx3^dx1+b3(x)dx1^dx2
whereb1;b2, andb3are functions on V. Any dierential 3-form
on a 3-dimensional space Vhas
the form
=c(x)dx1^dx2^dx3
for a function conV.
More generally, any dierential k-formcan be expressed as
=X
1i1<i2<iknai1:::ikdxi1^^dxik
for some functions ai1:::ikonV.
7.7 Smooth maps and their dierentials
LetV;W be two vector spaces of arbitary (not, necessarily, equal) dimensions and UVbe an
open domain in V.
78
Recall that a map f:U!Wis called dierentiable if for eachx2Uthere exists a linear map
l:Vx!Wf(x)
such that
l(h) = lim
t!0f(x+th) f(x)
t
for anyh2Vx. In other words,
f(x+th) f(x) =tl(h) +o(t);whereo(t)
t!
t!00:
The maplis denoted by dxfand is called the dierential of the map fat the point x2U. Thus,
dxfis a linear map Vx!Wf(x).
The spaceWf(x)can be identied with Wvia a parallel transport, and hence sometimes it is
convenient to think about the dierential as a map Vx!W, In particular, in the case of a linear
function . i.e. when W=Rit is customary to do that, and hence we dened earlier in Section 7.1
the dierential of a function f:U!Rat a point x2Uas a linear function Vx!R, i.e. an
element ofV
x, rather than a linear map Vx!Wf(x).
Let us pick bases in VandWand let (x1;:::;xk) and (y1;:::;yn) be the corresponding coor-
dinate functions. Then each of the spaces VxandWy; x2V; y2Winherits a basis obtained by
parallel transport of the bases of VandW. In terms of these bases, the dierential dxfis given by
the Jacobi matrix
0
BBB@@f1
@x1:::@f1
@xk
::: ::: :::
@fn
@x1:::@fn
@xk1
CCCA
In what follows we will consider only suciently smooth maps, i.e. we assume that all maps
and their coordinate functions are dierentiable as many times as we need it.
7.8 Operator f
LetUbe a domain in a vector space Vandf:U!Wa smooth map. Then the dierential df
denes a linear map
79
dxf:Vx!Wf(x)
for eachx2V.
Let!be a dierential k-form onW. Thus!denes an exterior k-form on the space Wyfor
eachy2W.
Let us dene the dierential k-formf!onUby the formula
(f!)jVx= (dxf)(!jWf(x)):
Here the notation !jWystands for the exterior k-form dened by the dierential form !on the
spaceWy.
In other words, for any kvectors,H1;:::;Hk2Vxwe have
f!(H1;:::;Hk) =!(dxf(H1);:::;dxf(Hk)):
We say that the dierential form f!isinduced from !by the map f, or thatf!is the pull-back
of!byf.
Example 7.3. Let
=h(x)dx1^^dxn. Then formula (3.2) implies
f
=hfdetDfdx 1^^dxn:
Here
detDf=@f1
@x1:::@f1
@xn
::: ::: :::
@fn
@x1:::@fn
@xn
is the determinant of the Jacobian matrix of f= (f1;:::;fn):
Similarly to Proposition 1.9 we get
Proposition 7.4. Given 2maps
U1f!U2g!U3
and a dierential kform!onU3we have
(gf)(!) =f(g!):
80
An important special case of the pull-back operator fis the restriction operator. Namely Let
LVbe an ane subspace. Let j:L,!Vbe the inclusion map. Then given a dierential k-form
on a domain UVwe can consider the form jon the domain U0:=L\U. This form is called
therestriction of the form toU0and it is usually denoted by j0
U. Thus the restricted form j0
U
is the same form but viewed as function of a point a2U0and vectors T1;:::;Tk2La.
7.9 Coordinate description of the operator f
Consider rst the linear case. Let Abe a linear map V!Wand!2p(W). Let us x coordinate
systemsx1;:::;xkinVandy1;:::;yninW. IfAis the matrix of the map Athen we already have
seen in Section 2.7 that
Ayj=lj(x1;:::;xk) =aj1x1+aj2x2+:::+ajkxk; j= 1;:::;n;
and that for any exterior k-form
!=X
1i1<:::<ipnAi1;:::;ipyi1^:::^yip
we have
A!=X
1i;<:::<ipnAi1:::ipli1^:::^lip:
Now consider the non-linear situation. Let !be a dierential p-form onW. Thus it can be
written in the form
!=X
Ai1:::ip(y)dyi1^:::dyip
for some functions Ai1:::iponW.
LetUbe a domain in Vandf:U!Wa smooth map.
Proposition 7.5. f!=PAi1:::;ip(f(x))dfi1^:::^dfip, wheref1;:::;fnare coordinate functions
of the map f.
81
Proof. For each point x2Uwe have, by denition,
f!jVx= (dxf)(!jWfx)
But the coordinate functions of the linear map dxfare just the dierentials dxfiof the coordinate
functions of the map f. Hence the desired formula follows from the linear case proven in the previous
proposition.
7.10 Examples
1. Consider the domain U=fr>0;0'<2gon the plane V=R2with cartesian coordinates
(r;'). LetW=R2be another copy of R2with cartesian coordinates ( x;y). Consider a map
P:V!Wgiven by the formula
P(r;') = (rcos';rsin'):
This map introduces ( r;') as polar coordinates on the plane W. Set!=dx^dy. It is called
the area form onW. Then
P!=d(rcos')^d(rsin') = (cos'dr+rd(cos'))^(sin'dr+rd(sin') =
(cos'dr rsin'd')^(sin'dr+rcos'd') =
cos'sin'dr^dr rsin2'd'^dr+rcos2'dr^d'