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Grassmann algebra
b) The electromagnetic field strength F is a differential 2-form built from the electric
and magnetic fields, which are also taken to be forms. We will define these later in
some detail.
Φ∗ (ω) : M → T ∗ M
p 7→ Φ∗ (ω)(p),
where
Φ∗ (ω)(p)(X1 , . . . , Xn ) := ω(φ(p)) φ∗ (X1 ), . . . , φ∗ (Xn ) ,
for Xi ∈ Tp M .
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The map Φ∗ : Ωn (N ) → Ωn (M ) is R-linear, and its action on Ω0 (M ) is simply
Φ∗ : Ω0 (M ) → Ω0 (M )
f 7→ Φ∗ (f ) := f ◦ φ.
This works for any smooth map φ, and it leads to a slight modification of our mantra:
The tensor product ⊗ does not interact well with forms, since the tensor product of two
forms is not necessarily a form. Hence, we define the following.
Definition. Let M be a smooth manifold. We define the wedge (or exterior ) product of
forms as the map
∧ : Ωn (M ) × Ωm (M ) → Ωn+m (M )
(ω, σ) 7→ ω ∧ σ,
where
1 X
(ω ∧ σ)(X1 , . . . , Xn+m ) := sgn(π)(ω ⊗ σ)(Xπ(1) , . . . , Xπ(n+m) )
n! m!
π∈Sn+m
f ∧ g := f g and f ∧ ω = ω ∧ f = f ω.
Hence
ω ∧ σ = ω ⊗ σ − σ ⊗ ω.
The wedge product is bilinear over C ∞ (M ), that is
(f ω1 + ω2 ) ∧ σ = f ω1 ∧ σ + ω2 ∧ σ,
2
The pull-back distributes over the wedge product.
Φ∗ (ω ∧ σ) = Φ∗ (ω) ∧ Φ∗ (σ).
1 X
sgn(π) Φ∗ (ω) ⊗ Φ∗ (σ) (p)(Xπ(1) , . . . , Xπ(n+m) )
=
n! m!
π∈Sn+m
1 X
= sgn(π)Φ∗ (ω)(p)(Xπ(1) , . . . , Xπ(n) )
n! m!
π∈Sn+m
Φ∗ (σ)(p)(Xπ(n+1) , . . . , Xπ(n+m) )
1 X
= sgn(π)ω(φ(p)) φ∗ (Xπ(1) ), . . . , φ∗ (Xπ(n) )
n! m!
π∈Sn+m
σ(φ(p)) φ∗ (Xπ(n+1) ), . . . , φ∗ (Xπ(n+m) )
1 X
= sgn(π)(ω ⊗ σ)(φ(p)) φ∗ (Xπ(1) ), . . . , φ∗ (Xπ(n+m) )
n! m!
π∈Sn+m
= (ω ∧ σ)(φ(p)) φ∗ (X1 ), . . . , φ∗ (Xn+m )
= Φ∗ (ω ∧ σ)(p)(X1 , . . . , Xn+m ).
Recall that the direct sum of modules has the Cartesian product of the modules as
underlying set and module operations defined componentwise. Also, note that by “algebra”
here we really mean “algebra over a module”.
Example 12.6. Let ψ = ω + σ, where ω ∈ Ω1 (M ) and σ ∈ Ω3 (M ). Of course, this “+” is
neither the addition on Ω1 (M ) nor the one on Ω3 (M ), but rather that on Ω(M ) and, in
fact, ψ ∈ Ω(M ).
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Let ϕ ∈ Ωn (M ), for some n. Then
ϕ ∧ ψ = ϕ ∧ (ω + σ) = ϕ ∧ ω + ϕ ∧ σ,
ω ∧ σ = (−1)nm σ ∧ ω.
ω ∧ σ = ω ⊗ σ − σ ⊗ ω = − σ ∧ ω.
with 1 ≤ a1 < · · · < an ≤ dim M and similarly for the bi . The coefficients ωa1 ···an and
σb1 ···bm are smooth functions in C ∞ (U ). Since dxai , dxbj ∈ Ω1 (M ), we have
Remark 12.9. We should stress that this is only true when ω and σ are pure degree forms,
rather than linear combinations of forms of different degrees. Indeed, if ϕ, ψ ∈ Ω(M ), a
formula like
ϕ ∧ ψ = ···ψ ∧ ϕ
does not make sense in principle, because the different parts of ϕ and ψ can have different
commutation behaviours.
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12.3 The exterior derivative
Recall the definition of the gradient operator at a point p ∈ M . We can extend that
definition to define the (R-linear) operator:
∼
d : C ∞ (M ) −
→ Γ(T ∗ M )
f 7→ df
Remark 12.10. Locally on some chart (U, x) on M , the covector field (or 1-form) df can
be expressed as
df = λa dxa
for some smooth functions λi ∈ C ∞ (U ). To determine what they are, we simply apply both
sides to the vector fields induced by the chart. We have
∂ ∂
df b
= (f ) = ∂b f
∂x ∂xb
and
a ∂ ∂
λa dx = λa (xa ) = λa δba = λb .
∂xb ∂xb
Hence, the local expression of df on (U, x) is
df = ∂a f dxa .
d(f g) = g df + f dg.
We can also understand this as an operator that takes in 0-forms and outputs 1-forms
∼
d : Ω0 (M ) −
→ Ω1 (M ).
This can then be extended to an operator which acts on any n-form. We will need the
following definition.
Definition. Let M be a smooth manifold and let X, Y ∈ Γ(T M ). The commutator (or
Lie bracket) of X and Y is defined as
∼
[X, Y ] : C ∞ (M ) −
→ C ∞ (M )
f 7→ [X, Y ](f ) := X(Y (f )) − Y (X(f )),
∼
where we are using the definition of vector fields as R-linear maps C ∞ (M ) −
→ C ∞ (M ).
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Definition. The exterior derivative on M is the R-linear operator
∼
d : Ωn (M ) −
→ Ωn+1 (M )
ω 7→ dω
Remark 12.11. Note that the operator d is only well-defined when it acts on forms. In order
to define a derivative operator on general tensors we will need to add extra structure to our
differentiable manifold.
Example 12.12. In the case n = 1, the form dω ∈ Ω2 (M ) is given by
Let us check that this is indeed a 2-form, i.e. an antisymmetric, C ∞ (M )-multilinear map
dω : Γ(T M ) × Γ(T M ) → C ∞ (M ).
Moreover, thanks to this identity, it suffices to check C ∞ (M )-linearity in the first argument
only. Additivity is easily checked
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Therefore
[f X, Y ] = f [X, Y ] − Y (f )X.
Hence, we can calculate
= f dω(X, Y ),
Proof. We will work in local coordinates. Let (U, x) be a chart on M and write
dω = dωA ∧ dxA .
Hence
since we have “anticommuted” the 1-form dσB through the n-form dxA , picking up n minus
signs in the process.
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Proof (sketch). We first show that this holds for 0-forms (i.e. smooth functions).
Let f ∈ C ∞ (N ), p ∈ M and X ∈ Tp M . Then
Remark 12.15. Informally, we can write this result as Φ∗ d = dΦ∗ , and say that the exterior
derivative “commutes” with the pull-back.
However, you should bear in mind that the two d’s appearing in the statement are
two different operators. On the left hand side, it is d : Ωn (N ) → Ωn+1 (N ), while it is
d : Ωn (M ) → Ωn+1 (M ) on the right hand side.
Remark 12.16. Of course, we could also combine the operators d into a single operator
acting on the Grassmann algebra on M
d : Ω(M ) → Ω(M )
by linear continuation.
Example 12.17. In the modern formulation of Maxwell’s electrodynamics, the electric and
magnetic fields E and B are taken to be a 1-form and a 2-form on R3 , respectively:
E := Ex dx + Ey dy + Ez dz
B := Bx dy ∧ dz + By dz ∧ dx + Bz dx ∧ dy.
F := B + E ∧ dt.
dF = 0.
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This is called the homogeneous Maxwell’s equation and it is, in fact, equivalent to the two
homogeneous Maxwell’s (vectorial) equations
∇·B=0
∂B
∇×E+ = 0.
∂t
In order to cast the remaining Maxwell’s equations into the language of differential forms,
we need a further operation on forms, called the Hodge star operator.
Recall from the standard theory of electrodynamics that the two equations above imply
the existence of the electric and vector potentials ϕ and A = (Ax , Ay , Az ), satisfying
B=∇×A
∂A
E = −∇ϕ − .
∂t
Similarly, the equation dF = 0 on R4 implies the existence of an electromagnetic 4-potential
(or gauge potential) form A ∈ Ω1 (R4 ) such that
F = dA.
(∀ Y ∈ Γ(T M ) : ω(X, Y ) = 0) ⇒ X = 0.
θ := pi dq i
ω := dθ ∈ Ω2 (T ∗ Q),
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12.4 de Rham cohomology
The last two examples suggest two possible implications. In the electrodynamics example,
we saw that
(dF = 0) ⇒ (∃ A : F = dA),
while in the Hamiltonian mechanics example we saw that
• closed if dω = 0;
The question of whether every closed form is exact and vice versa, i.e. whether the
implications
(dω = 0) ⇔ (∃ σ : ω = dσ)
hold in general, belongs to the branch of mathematics called cohomology theory, to which
we will now provide an introduction.
The answer for the ⇐ direction is affirmative thanks to the following result.
d2 ≡ d ◦ d : Ωn (M ) → Ωn+2 (M )
Definition. Given an object which carries some indices, say Ta1 ,...,an , we define the anti-
symmetrization of Ta1 ,...,an as
1 X
T[a1 ···an ] := sgn(π) Tπ(a1 )···π(an ) .
n!
π∈Sn
1 X
T(a1 ···an ) := Tπ(a1 )···π(an ) .
n!
π∈Sn
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Of course, we can (anti)symmetrize only some of the indices
1
T ab[cd]e = (T abcde − T abdce ).
2
It is easy to check that in a contraction (i.e. a sum), we have
Ta1 ···an S a1 ···[ai ···aj ]···an = Ta1 ···[ai ···aj ]···an S a1 ···an
and
Ta1 ···(ai ···aj )···an S a1 ···[ai ···aj ]···an = 0.
Proof. This can be shown directly using the definition of d. Here, we will instead show it
by working in local coordinates.
Recall that, locally on a chart (U, x), we can write any form ω ∈ Ωn (M ) as
Then, we have
and hence
d2 ω = ∂c ∂b ωa1 ···an dxc ∧ dxb ∧ dxa1 ∧ · · · ∧ dxan .
Since dxc ∧ dxb = − dxb ∧ dxc , we have
Moreover, by Schwarz’s theorem, we have ∂c ∂b ωa1 ···an = ∂b ∂c ωa1 ···an and hence
Thus
We can extend the action of d to the zero vector space 0 := {0} by mapping the zero
in 0 to the zero function in Ω0 (M ). In this way, we obtain the chain of R-linear maps
d d d d d d d d
0 −−→ Ω0 (M ) −−→ Ω1 (M ) −−→ · · · −−→ Ωn (M ) −−→ Ωn+1 (M ) −−→ · · · −−→ Ωdim M (M ) −−→ 0,
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where we now think of the spaces Ωn (M ) as R-vector spaces. Recall from linear algebra
that, given a linear map φ : V → W , one can define the subspace of V
im(φ) := {φ(v) | v ∈ V },
The traditional notation for the spaces on the right hand side above is
so that Z n is the space of closed n-forms and B n is the space of exact n-forms.
Our original question can be restated as: does Z n = B n for all n? We have already
seen that d2 = 0 implies that B n ⊆ Z n for all n (B n is, in fact, a vector subspace of Z n ).
Unfortunately the equality does not hold in general, but we do have the following result.
Z n = Bn , ∀ n > 0.
In the cases where Z n 6= B n , we would like to quantify by how much the closed n-forms
fail to be exact. The answer is provided by the cohomology group.
You can think of the above quotient as Z n / ∼, where ∼ is the equivalence relation
ω ∼ σ :⇔ ω − σ ∈ B n .
The answer to our question as it is addressed in cohomology theory is: every exact n-form
on M is also closed and vice versa if, only if,
H n (M ) ∼
=vec 0.
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Of course, rather than an actual answer, this is yet another restatement of the question.
However, if we are able to determine the spaces H n (M ), then we do get an answer.
A crucial theorem by de Rham states (in more technical terms) that H n (M ) only
depends on the global topology of M . In other words, the cohomology groups are topological
invariants. This is remarkable because H n (M ) is defined in terms of exterior derivatives,
which have everything to do with the local differentiable structure of M , and a given
topological space can be equipped with several inequivalent differentiable structures.
Example 12.22. Let M be any smooth manifold. We have
H 0 (M ) ∼
=vec R(# of connected components of M )
since the closed 0-forms are just the locally constant smooth functions on M . As an
immediate consequence, we have
H 0 (R) ∼
=vec H 0 (S 1 ) ∼
=vec R.
H n (M ) ∼
=vec 0
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