Why is Green's theorem for circular boundaries a consequence of Stoke's theorem?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Chris L T521
  • Start date Start date
Click For Summary
Green's theorem for regions in $\mathbb{R}^2$ with circular boundaries can be derived from Stokes' theorem by recognizing that both theorems relate line integrals around a closed curve to surface integrals over the region it encloses. The circular boundaries can be treated as special cases of more general curves in Stokes' theorem. The proof involves applying Stokes' theorem to a surface bounded by the circles and demonstrating that the line integral around the circular boundary corresponds to the area integral defined by Green's theorem. This relationship highlights the interconnectedness of these theorems in vector calculus. Understanding this connection deepens the comprehension of how different mathematical principles relate to one another.
Chris L T521
Gold Member
MHB
Messages
913
Reaction score
0
Here's this week's problem.

-----

Problem: Show that Green's theorem for regions in $\mathbb{R}^2$ with boundary consisting of a disjoint union of one or more circles is a consequence of Stoke's theorem.

-----

 
Physics news on Phys.org
No one answered this week's question. You can find my solution below:

Pf: Let $C_1\subset\mathbb{R}$ be a circle with counterclockwise (positive) orientation and let $C_i\subset\text{Int}\,C_1$ for $i\geq 2$ be circles with clockwise (negative) orientation. For some region in $\mathbb{R}^2$ who's boundary is (homotopic to) a circle $C$, we know by Green's theorem that
\[\int_C f\,dx+g\,dy = \iint\limits_{R}\left(\frac{\partial g}{\partial x}-\frac{\partial f}{\partial y}\right)\,dA.\]
Now, if we take our region $M=M_1\backslash M_2\backslash M_3\backslash\cdots$ where $M_i=\text{Int}\,C_i$ for each $i\geq 1$, then it follows that $\displaystyle\partial M=\bigsqcup_i C_i$ (here, the box cup represents a disjoint union).

By Stoke's theorem, if we take $\omega=f\,dx+g\,dy$, we have that
\[\begin{aligned}\int_{\partial M}\omega &= \int_{\bigsqcup_i C_i} f\,dx+g\,dy\\ &= \sum_i \int_{C_i}f\,dx+g\,dy \\ &= \sum_i\int_{M_i}\left(\frac{\partial g}{\partial x}-\frac{\partial f}{\partial y}\right)\,dA\\ &= \int_M\left(\frac{\partial g}{\partial x}-\frac{\partial f}{\partial y}\right)\,dA\\ &= \int_M \,d\omega.\end{aligned}\]

Thus, Green's theorem for a region who's boundary is a disjoint union of one or more circles is a consequence of Stoke's theorem. Q.E.D.
 

Similar threads

Replies
3
Views
2K
  • · Replies 2 ·
Replies
2
Views
2K
  • · Replies 7 ·
Replies
7
Views
2K
  • · Replies 7 ·
Replies
7
Views
2K
  • · Replies 1 ·
Replies
1
Views
3K
  • · Replies 6 ·
Replies
6
Views
3K
  • · Replies 5 ·
Replies
5
Views
3K
  • · Replies 1 ·
Replies
1
Views
2K
  • · Replies 3 ·
Replies
3
Views
3K
  • · Replies 1 ·
Replies
1
Views
1K