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Poopsilon
Jun5-11, 10:55 PM
So I'm going over Rudin's chapter on differential forms in his Principles of Mathematical Analysis and I'm looking at Example 10.36 which gives the 1 form \eta = \frac{xdy-ydx}{x^2+y^2} on the set \mathbb{R}^2-{0} and then parametrizes the circle \gamma(t)=(rcos(t),rsin(t)) for fixed r>0 and 0≤t≤2pi.

Nowd\eta=0yet direct computation shows that \int_{\gamma}\eta=2\pi.

Thus by Stokes' Theorem we can then conclude that gamma is not the boundary of any 2-chain of class C'' in the punctured plane.

Now I understand that because the origin is not included we can't just use the disk of radius r as our 2-surface with boundary equal to gamma (I think this is related to the Cauchy Residue Theorem) but what if we extended ourselves to \mathbb{R}^3-{0} than we could parametrize some sort of cone-like 2-surface with boundary equal to gamma which we could probably make C'' which would then by Stokes' Theorem force the integral to be \int_{\gamma}\eta=0 thus contradicting the integral given above.

Also what is up with this C'' requirement? I can't figure out why its important.

quasar987
Jun6-11, 07:47 AM
The formula for eta as it stands can be interpreted as a 1-form on R² - 0 or R³ - "z axis". If you want a 1-form on R³ - 0, you need to specify in addition what eta is to be on "z-axis" - 0. But you're gonna have trouble doing that in a continuous fashion!

Poopsilon
Jun6-11, 08:50 AM
Can't I just leave it is as so it doesn't even involve the z axis just sits inside the xy-plane?

quasar987
Jun6-11, 10:08 AM
We if you're going to talk about a 1-form on R³ - 0, you better tell what its value is on each point of R³ - 0. Otherwise, that's not a 1-form on R³ - 0.

It's like if you say "consider the function f: R-->R defined by f(0)=0". That's nonsense: the formula f(0)=0 only defines a map f:{0}-->R.

Poopsilon
Jun6-11, 02:05 PM
Ah Sorry you are completely right the interpretation I will have to have is R³ - 'z-axis' which would disallow any type of cone structure with boundary gamma. Could you tell me why the C'' condition is important for my surface, I mean C' I understand because you need to be able to take the Jacobian upon changing variables, but why C''?

quasar987
Jun6-11, 02:46 PM
I don't know about the C² thing.

lavinia
Jun13-11, 07:36 AM
I think that technically you would need to show that eta has no extension to a closed 1 form in R^3 - 0.

Try pulling such a form back to the unit sphere via the inclusion map and then reducing the problem to the planar case.