volume element

Fundamental theorem of geometric calculus for line integrals (relativistic.)

December 16, 2020 math and physics play , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

[This post is best viewed in PDF form, due to latex elements that I could not format with wordpress mathjax.]

Background for this particular post can be found in

  1. Curvilinear coordinates and gradient in spacetime, and reciprocal frames, and
  2. Lorentz transformations in Space Time Algebra (STA)
  3. A couple more reciprocal frame examples.

Motivation.

I’ve been slowly working my way towards a statement of the fundamental theorem of integral calculus, where the functions being integrated are elements of the Dirac algebra (space time multivectors in the geometric algebra parlance.)

This is interesting because we want to be able to do line, surface, 3-volume and 4-volume space time integrals. We have many \(\mathbb{R}^3\) integral theorems
\begin{equation}\label{eqn:fundamentalTheoremOfGC:40a}
\int_A^B d\Bl \cdot \spacegrad f = f(B) – f(A),
\end{equation}
\begin{equation}\label{eqn:fundamentalTheoremOfGC:60a}
\int_S dA\, \ncap \cross \spacegrad f = \int_{\partial S} d\Bx\, f,
\end{equation}
\begin{equation}\label{eqn:fundamentalTheoremOfGC:80a}
\int_S dA\, \ncap \cdot \lr{ \spacegrad \cross \Bf} = \int_{\partial S} d\Bx \cdot \Bf,
\end{equation}
\begin{equation}\label{eqn:fundamentalTheoremOfGC:100a}
\int_S dx dy \lr{ \PD{y}{P} – \PD{x}{Q} }
=
\int_{\partial S} P dx + Q dy,
\end{equation}
\begin{equation}\label{eqn:fundamentalTheoremOfGC:120a}
\int_V dV\, \spacegrad f = \int_{\partial V} dA\, \ncap f,
\end{equation}
\begin{equation}\label{eqn:fundamentalTheoremOfGC:140a}
\int_V dV\, \spacegrad \cross \Bf = \int_{\partial V} dA\, \ncap \cross \Bf,
\end{equation}
\begin{equation}\label{eqn:fundamentalTheoremOfGC:160a}
\int_V dV\, \spacegrad \cdot \Bf = \int_{\partial V} dA\, \ncap \cdot \Bf,
\end{equation}
and want to know how to generalize these to four dimensions and also make sure that we are handling the relativistic mixed signature correctly. If our starting point was the mess of equations above, we’d be in trouble, since it is not obvious how these generalize. All the theorems with unit normals have to be handled completely differently in four dimensions since we don’t have a unique normal to any given spacetime plane.
What comes to our rescue is the Fundamental Theorem of Geometric Calculus (FTGC), which has the form
\begin{equation}\label{eqn:fundamentalTheoremOfGC:40}
\int F d^n \Bx\, \lrpartial G = \int F d^{n-1} \Bx\, G,
\end{equation}
where \(F,G\) are multivectors functions (i.e. sums of products of vectors.) We’ve seen ([2], [1]) that all the identities above are special cases of the fundamental theorem.

Do we need any special care to state the FTGC correctly for our relativistic case? It turns out that the answer is no! Tangent and reciprocal frame vectors do all the heavy lifting, and we can use the fundamental theorem as is, even in our mixed signature space. The only real change that we need to make is use spacetime gradient and vector derivative operators instead of their spatial equivalents. We will see how this works below. Note that instead of starting with \ref{eqn:fundamentalTheoremOfGC:40} directly, I will attempt to build up to that point in a progressive fashion that is hopefully does not require the reader to make too many unjustified mental leaps.

Multivector line integrals.

We want to define multivector line integrals to start with. Recall that in \(\mathbb{R}^3\) we would say that for scalar functions \( f\), the integral
\begin{equation}\label{eqn:fundamentalTheoremOfGC:180b}
\int d\Bx\, f = \int f d\Bx,
\end{equation}
is a line integral. Also, for vector functions \( \Bf \) we call
\begin{equation}\label{eqn:fundamentalTheoremOfGC:200}
\int d\Bx \cdot \Bf = \inv{2} \int d\Bx\, \Bf + \Bf d\Bx.
\end{equation}
a line integral. In order to generalize line integrals to multivector functions, we will allow our multivector functions to be placed on either or both sides of the differential.

Definition 1.1: Line integral.

Given a single variable parameterization \( x = x(u) \), we write \( d^1\Bx = \Bx_u du \), and call
\begin{equation}\label{eqn:fundamentalTheoremOfGC:220a}
\int F d^1\Bx\, G,
\end{equation}
a line integral, where \( F,G \) are arbitrary multivector functions.

We must be careful not to reorder any of the factors in the integrand, since the differential may not commute with either \( F \) or \( G \). Here is a simple example where the integrand has a product of a vector and differential.

Problem: Circular parameterization.

Given a circular parameterization \( x(\theta) = \gamma_1 e^{-i\theta} \), where \( i = \gamma_1 \gamma_2 \), the unit bivector for the \(x,y\) plane. Compute the line integral
\begin{equation}\label{eqn:fundamentalTheoremOfGC:100}
\int_0^{\pi/4} F(\theta)\, d^1 \Bx\, G(\theta),
\end{equation}
where \( F(\theta) = \Bx^\theta + \gamma_3 + \gamma_1 \gamma_0 \) is a multivector valued function, and \( G(\theta) = \gamma_0 \) is vector valued.

Answer

The tangent vector for the curve is
\begin{equation}\label{eqn:fundamentalTheoremOfGC:60}
\Bx_\theta
= -\gamma_1 \gamma_1 \gamma_2 e^{-i\theta}
= \gamma_2 e^{-i\theta},
\end{equation}
with reciprocal vector \( \Bx^\theta = e^{i \theta} \gamma^2 \). The differential element is \( d^1 \Bx = \gamma_2 e^{-i\theta} d\theta \), so the integrand is
\begin{equation}\label{eqn:fundamentalTheoremOfGC:80}
\begin{aligned}
\int_0^{\pi/4} \lr{ \Bx^\theta + \gamma_3 + \gamma_1 \gamma_0 } d^1 \Bx\, \gamma_0
&=
\int_0^{\pi/4} \lr{ e^{i\theta} \gamma^2 + \gamma_3 + \gamma_1 \gamma_0 } \gamma_2 e^{-i\theta} d\theta\, \gamma_0 \\
&=
\frac{\pi}{4} \gamma_0 + \lr{ \gamma_{32} + \gamma_{102} } \inv{-i} \lr{ e^{-i\pi/4} – 1 } \gamma_0 \\
&=
\frac{\pi}{4} \gamma_0 + \inv{\sqrt{2}} \lr{ \gamma_{32} + \gamma_{102} } \gamma_{120} \lr{ 1 – \gamma_{12} } \\
&=
\frac{\pi}{4} \gamma_0 + \inv{\sqrt{2}} \lr{ \gamma_{310} + 1 } \lr{ 1 – \gamma_{12} }.
\end{aligned}
\end{equation}
Observe how care is required not to reorder any terms. This particular end result is a multivector with scalar, vector, bivector, and trivector grades, but no pseudoscalar component. The grades in the end result depend on both the function in the integrand and on the path. For example, had we integrated all the way around the circle, the end result would have been the vector \( 2 \pi \gamma_0 \) (i.e. a \( \gamma_0 \) weighted unit circle circumference), as all the other grades would have been killed by the complex exponential integrated over a full period.

Problem: Line integral for boosted time direction vector.

Let \( x = e^{\vcap \alpha/2} \gamma_0 e^{-\vcap \alpha/2} \) represent the spacetime curve of all the boosts of \( \gamma_0 \) along a specific velocity direction vector, where \( \vcap = (v \wedge \gamma_0)/\Norm{v \wedge \gamma_0} \) is a unit spatial bivector for any constant vector \( v \). Compute the line integral
\begin{equation}\label{eqn:fundamentalTheoremOfGC:240}
\int x\, d^1 \Bx.
\end{equation}

Answer

Observe that \( \vcap \) and \( \gamma_0 \) anticommute, so we may write our boost as a one sided exponential
\begin{equation}\label{eqn:fundamentalTheoremOfGC:260}
x(\alpha) = \gamma_0 e^{-\vcap \alpha} = e^{\vcap \alpha} \gamma_0 = \lr{ \cosh\alpha + \vcap \sinh\alpha } \gamma_0.
\end{equation}
The tangent vector is just
\begin{equation}\label{eqn:fundamentalTheoremOfGC:280}
\Bx_\alpha = \PD{\alpha}{x} = e^{\vcap\alpha} \vcap \gamma_0.
\end{equation}
Let’s get a bit of intuition about the nature of this vector. It’s square is
\begin{equation}\label{eqn:fundamentalTheoremOfGC:300}
\begin{aligned}
\Bx_\alpha^2
&=
e^{\vcap\alpha} \vcap \gamma_0
e^{\vcap\alpha} \vcap \gamma_0 \\
&=
-e^{\vcap\alpha} \vcap e^{-\vcap\alpha} \vcap (\gamma_0)^2 \\
&=
-1,
\end{aligned}
\end{equation}
so we see that the tangent vector is a spacelike unit vector. As the vector representing points on the curve is necessarily timelike (due to Lorentz invariance), these two must be orthogonal at all points. Let’s confirm this algebraically
\begin{equation}\label{eqn:fundamentalTheoremOfGC:320}
\begin{aligned}
x \cdot \Bx_\alpha
&=
\gpgradezero{ e^{\vcap \alpha} \gamma_0 e^{\vcap \alpha} \vcap \gamma_0 } \\
&=
\gpgradezero{ e^{-\vcap \alpha} e^{\vcap \alpha} \vcap (\gamma_0)^2 } \\
&=
\gpgradezero{ \vcap } \\
&= 0.
\end{aligned}
\end{equation}
Here we used \( e^{\vcap \alpha} \gamma_0 = \gamma_0 e^{-\vcap \alpha} \), and \( \gpgradezero{A B} = \gpgradezero{B A} \). Geometrically, we have the curious fact that the direction vectors to points on the curve are perpendicular (with respect to our relativistic dot product) to the tangent vectors on the curve, as illustrated in fig. 1.

fig. 1. Tangent perpendicularity in mixed metric.

Perfect differentials.

Having seen a couple examples of multivector line integrals, let’s now move on to figure out the structure of a line integral that has a “perfect” differential integrand. We can take a hint from the \(\mathbb{R}^3\) vector result that we already know, namely
\begin{equation}\label{eqn:fundamentalTheoremOfGC:120}
\int_A^B d\Bl \cdot \spacegrad f = f(B) – f(A).
\end{equation}
It seems reasonable to guess that the relativistic generalization of this is
\begin{equation}\label{eqn:fundamentalTheoremOfGC:140}
\int_A^B dx \cdot \grad f = f(B) – f(A).
\end{equation}
Let’s check that, by expanding in coordinates
\begin{equation}\label{eqn:fundamentalTheoremOfGC:160}
\begin{aligned}
\int_A^B dx \cdot \grad f
&=
\int_A^B d\tau \frac{dx^\mu}{d\tau} \partial_\mu f \\
&=
\int_A^B d\tau \frac{dx^\mu}{d\tau} \PD{x^\mu}{f} \\
&=
\int_A^B d\tau \frac{df}{d\tau} \\
&=
f(B) – f(A).
\end{aligned}
\end{equation}
If we drop the dot product, will we have such a nice result? Let’s see:
\begin{equation}\label{eqn:fundamentalTheoremOfGC:180}
\begin{aligned}
\int_A^B dx \grad f
&=
\int_A^B d\tau \frac{dx^\mu}{d\tau} \gamma_\mu \gamma^\nu \partial_\nu f \\
&=
\int_A^B d\tau \frac{dx^\mu}{d\tau} \PD{x^\mu}{f}
+
\int_A^B
d\tau
\sum_{\mu \ne \nu} \gamma_\mu \gamma^\nu
\frac{dx^\mu}{d\tau} \PD{x^\nu}{f}.
\end{aligned}
\end{equation}
This scalar component of this integrand is a perfect differential, but the bivector part of the integrand is a complete mess, that we have no hope of generally integrating. It happens that if we consider one of the simplest parameterization examples, we can get a strong hint of how to generalize the differential operator to one that ends up providing a perfect differential. In particular, let’s integrate over a linear constant path, such as \( x(\tau) = \tau \gamma_0 \). For this path, we have
\begin{equation}\label{eqn:fundamentalTheoremOfGC:200a}
\begin{aligned}
\int_A^B dx \grad f
&=
\int_A^B \gamma_0 d\tau \lr{
\gamma^0 \partial_0 +
\gamma^1 \partial_1 +
\gamma^2 \partial_2 +
\gamma^3 \partial_3 } f \\
&=
\int_A^B d\tau \lr{
\PD{\tau}{f} +
\gamma_0 \gamma^1 \PD{x^1}{f} +
\gamma_0 \gamma^2 \PD{x^2}{f} +
\gamma_0 \gamma^3 \PD{x^3}{f}
}.
\end{aligned}
\end{equation}
Just because the path does not have any \( x^1, x^2, x^3 \) component dependencies does not mean that these last three partials are neccessarily zero. For example \( f = f(x(\tau)) = \lr{ x^0 }^2 \gamma_0 + x^1 \gamma_1 \) will have a non-zero contribution from the \( \partial_1 \) operator. In that particular case, we can easily integrate \( f \), but we have to know the specifics of the function to do the integral. However, if we had a differential operator that did not include any component off the integration path, we would ahve a perfect differential. That is, if we were to replace the gradient with the projection of the gradient onto the tangent space, we would have a perfect differential. We see that the function of the dot product in \ref{eqn:fundamentalTheoremOfGC:140} has the same effect, as it rejects any component of the gradient that does not lie on the tangent space.

Definition 1.2: Vector derivative.

Given a spacetime manifold parameterized by \( x = x(u^0, \cdots u^{N-1}) \), with tangent vectors \( \Bx_\mu = \PDi{u^\mu}{x} \), and reciprocal vectors \( \Bx^\mu \in \textrm{Span}\setlr{\Bx_\nu} \), such that \( \Bx^\mu \cdot \Bx_\nu = {\delta^\mu}_\nu \), the vector derivative is defined as
\begin{equation}\label{eqn:fundamentalTheoremOfGC:240a}
\partial = \sum_{\mu = 0}^{N-1} \Bx^\mu \PD{u^\mu}{}.
\end{equation}
Observe that if this is a full parameterization of the space (\(N = 4\)), then the vector derivative is identical to the gradient. The vector derivative is the projection of the gradient onto the tangent space at the point of evaluation.Furthermore, we designate \( \lrpartial \) as the vector derivative allowed to act bidirectionally, as follows
\begin{equation}\label{eqn:fundamentalTheoremOfGC:260a}
R \lrpartial S
=
R \Bx^\mu \PD{u^\mu}{S}
+
\PD{u^\mu}{R} \Bx^\mu S,
\end{equation}
where \( R, S \) are multivectors, and summation convention is implied. In this bidirectional action,
the vector factors of the vector derivative must stay in place (as they do not neccessarily commute with \( R,S\)), but the derivative operators apply in a chain rule like fashion to both functions.

Noting that \( \Bx_u \cdot \grad = \Bx_u \cdot \partial \), we may rewrite the scalar line integral identity \ref{eqn:fundamentalTheoremOfGC:140} as
\begin{equation}\label{eqn:fundamentalTheoremOfGC:220}
\int_A^B dx \cdot \partial f = f(B) – f(A).
\end{equation}
However, as our example hinted at, the fundamental theorem for line integrals has a multivector generalization that does not rely on a dot product to do the tangent space filtering, and is more powerful. That generalization has the following form.

Theorem 1.1: Fundamental theorem for line integrals.

Given multivector functions \( F, G \), and a single parameter curve \( x(u) \) with line element \( d^1 \Bx = \Bx_u du \), then
\begin{equation}\label{eqn:fundamentalTheoremOfGC:280a}
\int_A^B F d^1\Bx \lrpartial G = F(B) G(B) – F(A) G(A).
\end{equation}

Start proof:

Writing out the integrand explicitly, we find
\begin{equation}\label{eqn:fundamentalTheoremOfGC:340}
\int_A^B F d^1\Bx \lrpartial G
=
\int_A^B \lr{
\PD{\alpha}{F} d\alpha\, \Bx_\alpha \Bx^\alpha G
+
F d\alpha\, \Bx_\alpha \Bx^\alpha \PD{\alpha}{G }
}
\end{equation}
However for a single parameter curve, we have \( \Bx^\alpha = 1/\Bx_\alpha \), so we are left with
\begin{equation}\label{eqn:fundamentalTheoremOfGC:360}
\begin{aligned}
\int_A^B F d^1\Bx \lrpartial G
&=
\int_A^B d\alpha\, \PD{\alpha}{(F G)} \\
&=
\evalbar{F G}{B}
–
\evalbar{F G}{A}.
\end{aligned}
\end{equation}

End proof.

More to come.

In the next installment we will explore surface integrals in spacetime, and the generalization of the fundamental theorem to multivector space time integrals.

References

[1] Peeter Joot. Geometric Algebra for Electrical Engineers. Kindle Direct Publishing, 2019.

[2] A. Macdonald. Vector and Geometric Calculus. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2012.

Fundamental Theorem of Geometric Calculus

September 20, 2016 math and physics play , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

[Click here for a PDF of this post with nicer formatting]

Stokes Theorem

The Fundamental Theorem of (Geometric) Calculus is a generalization of Stokes theorem to multivector integrals. Notationally, it looks like Stokes theorem with all the dot and wedge products removed. It is worth restating Stokes theorem and all the definitions associated with it for reference

Stokes’ Theorem

For blades \(F \in \bigwedge^{s}\), and \(m\) volume element \(d^k \Bx, s < k\), \begin{equation*} \int_V d^k \Bx \cdot (\boldpartial \wedge F) = \oint_{\partial V} d^{k-1} \Bx \cdot F. \end{equation*} This is a loaded and abstract statement, and requires many definitions to make it useful

  • The volume integral is over a \(m\) dimensional surface (manifold).
  • Integration over the boundary of the manifold \(V\) is indicated by \( \partial V \).
  • This manifold is assumed to be spanned by a parameterized vector \( \Bx(u^1, u^2, \cdots, u^k) \).
  • A curvilinear coordinate basis \( \setlr{ \Bx_i } \) can be defined on the manifold by
    \begin{equation}\label{eqn:fundamentalTheoremOfCalculus:40}
    \Bx_i \equiv \PD{u^i}{\Bx} \equiv \partial_i \Bx.
    \end{equation}

  • A dual basis \( \setlr{\Bx^i} \) reciprocal to the tangent vector basis \( \Bx_i \) can be calculated subject to the requirement \( \Bx_i \cdot \Bx^j = \delta_i^j \).
  • The vector derivative \(\boldpartial\), the projection of the gradient onto the tangent space of the manifold, is defined by
    \begin{equation}\label{eqn:fundamentalTheoremOfCalculus:100}
    \boldpartial = \Bx^i \partial_i = \sum_{i=1}^k \Bx_i \PD{u^i}{}.
    \end{equation}

  • The volume element is defined by
    \begin{equation}\label{eqn:fundamentalTheoremOfCalculus:60}
    d^k \Bx = d\Bx_1 \wedge d\Bx_2 \cdots \wedge d\Bx_k,
    \end{equation}

    where

    \begin{equation}\label{eqn:fundamentalTheoremOfCalculus:80}
    d\Bx_k = \Bx_k du^k,\qquad \text{(no sum)}.
    \end{equation}

  • The volume element is non-zero on the manifold, or \( \Bx_1 \wedge \cdots \wedge \Bx_k \ne 0 \).
  • The surface area element \( d^{k-1} \Bx \), is defined by
    \begin{equation}\label{eqn:fundamentalTheoremOfCalculus:120}
    d^{k-1} \Bx = \sum_{i = 1}^k (-1)^{k-i} d\Bx_1 \wedge d\Bx_2 \cdots \widehat{d\Bx_i} \cdots \wedge d\Bx_k,
    \end{equation}

    where \( \widehat{d\Bx_i} \) indicates the omission of \( d\Bx_i \).

  • My proof for this theorem was restricted to a simple “rectangular” volume parameterized by the ranges
    \(
    [u^1(0), u^1(1) ] \otimes
    [u^2(0), u^2(1) ] \otimes \cdots \otimes
    [u^k(0), u^k(1) ] \)

  • The precise meaning that should be given to oriented area integral is
    \begin{equation}\label{eqn:fundamentalTheoremOfCalculus:140}
    \oint_{\partial V} d^{k-1} \Bx \cdot F
    =
    \sum_{i = 1}^k (-1)^{k-i} \int \evalrange{
    \lr{ \lr{ d\Bx_1 \wedge d\Bx_2 \cdots \widehat{d\Bx_i} \cdots \wedge d\Bx_k } \cdot F }
    }{u^i = u^i(0)}{u^i(1)},
    \end{equation}

    where both the a area form and the blade \( F \) are evaluated at the end points of the parameterization range.

After the work of stating exactly what is meant by this theorem, most of the proof follows from the fact that for \( s < k \) the volume curl dot product can be expanded as \begin{equation}\label{eqn:fundamentalTheoremOfCalculus:160} \int_V d^k \Bx \cdot (\boldpartial \wedge F) = \int_V d^k \Bx \cdot (\Bx^i \wedge \partial_i F) = \int_V \lr{ d^k \Bx \cdot \Bx^i } \cdot \partial_i F. \end{equation} Each of the \(du^i\) integrals can be evaluated directly, since each of the remaining \(d\Bx_j = du^j \PDi{u^j}{}, i \ne j \) is calculated with \( u^i \) held fixed. This allows for the integration over a ``rectangular'' parameterization region, proving the theorem for such a volume parameterization. A more general proof requires a triangulation of the volume and surface, but the basic principle of the theorem is evident, without that additional work.

Fundamental Theorem of Calculus

There is a Geometric Algebra generalization of Stokes theorem that does not have the blade grade restriction of Stokes theorem. In [2] this is stated as

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:fundamentalTheoremOfCalculus:180}
\int_V d^k \Bx \boldpartial F = \oint_{\partial V} d^{k-1} \Bx F.
\end{equation}

A similar expression is used in [1] where it is also pointed out there is a variant with the vector derivative acting to the left

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:fundamentalTheoremOfCalculus:200}
\int_V F d^k \Bx \boldpartial = \oint_{\partial V} F d^{k-1} \Bx.
\end{equation}

In [3] it is pointed out that a bidirectional formulation is possible, providing the most general expression of the Fundamental Theorem of (Geometric) Calculus

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:fundamentalTheoremOfCalculus:220}
\boxed{
\int_V F d^k \Bx \boldpartial G = \oint_{\partial V} F d^{k-1} \Bx G.
}
\end{equation}

Here the vector derivative acts both to the left and right on \( F \) and \( G \). The specific action of this operator is
\begin{equation}\label{eqn:fundamentalTheoremOfCalculus:240}
\begin{aligned}
F \boldpartial G
&=
(F \boldpartial) G
+
F (\boldpartial G) \\
&=
(\partial_i F) \Bx^i G
+
F \Bx^i (\partial_i G).
\end{aligned}
\end{equation}

The fundamental theorem can be demonstrated by direct expansion. With the vector derivative \( \boldpartial \) and its partials \( \partial_i \) acting bidirectionally, that is

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:fundamentalTheoremOfCalculus:260}
\begin{aligned}
\int_V F d^k \Bx \boldpartial G
&=
\int_V F d^k \Bx \Bx^i \partial_i G \\
&=
\int_V F \lr{ d^k \Bx \cdot \Bx^i + d^k \Bx \wedge \Bx^i } \partial_i G.
\end{aligned}
\end{equation}

Both the reciprocal frame vectors and the curvilinear basis span the tangent space of the manifold, since we can write any reciprocal frame vector as a set of projections in the curvilinear basis

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:fundamentalTheoremOfCalculus:280}
\Bx^i = \sum_j \lr{ \Bx^i \cdot \Bx^j } \Bx_j,
\end{equation}

so \( \Bx^i \in sectionpan \setlr{ \Bx_j, j \in [1,k] } \).
This means that \( d^k \Bx \wedge \Bx^i = 0 \), and

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:fundamentalTheoremOfCalculus:300}
\begin{aligned}
\int_V F d^k \Bx \boldpartial G
&=
\int_V F \lr{ d^k \Bx \cdot \Bx^i } \partial_i G \\
&=
\sum_{i = 1}^{k}
\int_V
du^1 du^2 \cdots \widehat{ du^i} \cdots du^k
F \lr{
(-1)^{k-i}
\Bx_1 \wedge \Bx_2 \cdots \widehat{\Bx_i} \cdots \wedge \Bx_k } \partial_i G du^i \\
&=
\sum_{i = 1}^{k}
(-1)^{k-i}
\int_{u^1}
\int_{u^2}
\cdots
\int_{u^{i-1}}
\int_{u^{i+1}}
\cdots
\int_{u^k}
\evalrange{ \lr{
F d\Bx_1 \wedge d\Bx_2 \cdots \widehat{d\Bx_i} \cdots \wedge d\Bx_k G
}
}{u^i = u^i(0)}{u^i(1)}.
\end{aligned}
\end{equation}

Adding in the same notational sugar that we used in Stokes theorem, this proves the Fundamental theorem \ref{eqn:fundamentalTheoremOfCalculus:220} for “rectangular” parameterizations. Note that such a parameterization need not actually be rectangular.

Example: Application to Maxwell’s equation

{example:fundamentalTheoremOfCalculus:1}

Maxwell’s equation is an example of a first order gradient equation

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:fundamentalTheoremOfCalculus:320}
\grad F = \inv{\epsilon_0 c} J.
\end{equation}

Integrating over a four-volume (where the vector derivative equals the gradient), and applying the Fundamental theorem, we have

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:fundamentalTheoremOfCalculus:340}
\inv{\epsilon_0 c} \int d^4 x J = \oint d^3 x F.
\end{equation}

Observe that the surface area element product with \( F \) has both vector and trivector terms. This can be demonstrated by considering some examples

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:fundamentalTheoremOfCalculus:360}
\begin{aligned}
\gamma_{012} \gamma_{01} &\propto \gamma_2 \\
\gamma_{012} \gamma_{23} &\propto \gamma_{023}.
\end{aligned}
\end{equation}

On the other hand, the four volume integral of \( J \) has only trivector parts. This means that the integral can be split into a pair of same-grade equations

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:fundamentalTheoremOfCalculus:380}
\begin{aligned}
\inv{\epsilon_0 c} \int d^4 x \cdot J &=
\oint \gpgradethree{ d^3 x F} \\
0 &=
\oint d^3 x \cdot F.
\end{aligned}
\end{equation}

The first can be put into a slightly tidier form using a duality transformation
\begin{equation}\label{eqn:fundamentalTheoremOfCalculus:400}
\begin{aligned}
\gpgradethree{ d^3 x F}
&=
-\gpgradethree{ d^3 x I^2 F} \\
&=
\gpgradethree{ I d^3 x I F} \\
&=
(I d^3 x) \wedge (I F).
\end{aligned}
\end{equation}

Letting \( n \Abs{d^3 x} = I d^3 x \), this gives

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:fundamentalTheoremOfCalculus:420}
\oint \Abs{d^3 x} n \wedge (I F) = \inv{\epsilon_0 c} \int d^4 x \cdot J.
\end{equation}

Note that this normal is normal to a three-volume subspace of the spacetime volume. For example, if one component of that spacetime surface area element is \( \gamma_{012} c dt dx dy \), then the normal to that area component is \( \gamma_3 \).

A second set of duality transformations

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:fundamentalTheoremOfCalculus:440}
\begin{aligned}
n \wedge (IF)
&=
\gpgradethree{ n I F} \\
&=
-\gpgradethree{ I n F} \\
&=
-\gpgradethree{ I (n \cdot F)} \\
&=
-I (n \cdot F),
\end{aligned}
\end{equation}

and
\begin{equation}\label{eqn:fundamentalTheoremOfCalculus:460}
\begin{aligned}
I d^4 x \cdot J
&=
\gpgradeone{ I d^4 x \cdot J } \\
&=
\gpgradeone{ I d^4 x J } \\
&=
\gpgradeone{ (I d^4 x) J } \\
&=
(I d^4 x) J,
\end{aligned}
\end{equation}

can further tidy things up, leaving us with

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:fundamentalTheoremOfCalculus:500}
\boxed{
\begin{aligned}
\oint \Abs{d^3 x} n \cdot F &= \inv{\epsilon_0 c} \int (I d^4 x) J \\
\oint d^3 x \cdot F &= 0.
\end{aligned}
}
\end{equation}

The Fundamental theorem of calculus immediately provides relations between the Faraday bivector \( F \) and the four-current \( J \).

References

[1] C. Doran and A.N. Lasenby. Geometric algebra for physicists. Cambridge University Press New York, Cambridge, UK, 1st edition, 2003.

[2] A. Macdonald. Vector and Geometric Calculus. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2012.

[3] Garret Sobczyk and Omar Le\’on S\’anchez. Fundamental theorem of calculus. Advances in Applied Clifford Algebras, 21\penalty0 (1):\penalty0 221–231, 2011. URL https://arxiv.org/abs/0809.4526.

Stokes integrals for Maxwell’s equations in Geometric Algebra

September 4, 2016 math and physics play , , , , , , , , , ,

[Click here for a PDF of this post with nicer formatting]

Recall that the relativistic form of Maxwell’s equation in Geometric Algebra is

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:maxwellStokes:20}
\grad F = \inv{c \epsilon_0} J.
\end{equation}

where \( \grad = \gamma^\mu \partial_\mu \) is the spacetime gradient, and \( J = (c\rho, \BJ) = J^\mu \gamma_\mu \) is the four (vector) current density. The pseudoscalar for the space is denoted \( I = \gamma_0 \gamma_1 \gamma_2 \gamma_3 \), where the basis elements satisfy \( \gamma_0^2 = 1 = -\gamma_k^2 \), and a dual basis satisfies \( \gamma_\mu \cdot \gamma^\nu = \delta_\mu^\nu \). The electromagnetic field \( F \) is a composite multivector \( F = \BE + I c \BB \). This is actually a bivector because spatial vectors have a bivector representation in the space time algebra of the form \( \BE = E^k \gamma_k \gamma_0 \).

Previously, I wrote out the Stokes integrals for Maxwell’s equation in GA form using some three parameter spacetime manifold volumes. This time I’m going to use two and three parameter spatial volumes, again with the Geometric Algebra form of Stokes theorem.

Multiplication by a timelike unit vector transforms Maxwell’s equation from their relativistic form. When that vector is the standard basis timelike unit vector \( \gamma_0 \), we obtain Maxwell’s equations from the point of view of a stationary observer

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:stokesMaxwellSpaceTimeSplit:40}
\lr{\partial_0 + \spacegrad} \lr{ \BE + c I \BB } = \inv{\epsilon_0 c} \lr{ c \rho – \BJ },
\end{equation}

Extracting the scalar, vector, bivector, and trivector grades respectively, we have
\begin{equation}\label{eqn:stokesMaxwellSpaceTimeSplit:60}
\begin{aligned}
\spacegrad \cdot \BE &= \frac{\rho}{\epsilon_0} \\
c I \spacegrad \wedge \BB &= -\partial_0 \BE – \inv{\epsilon_0 c} \BJ \\
\spacegrad \wedge \BE &= – I c \partial_0 \BB \\
c I \spacegrad \cdot \BB &= 0.
\end{aligned}
\end{equation}

Each of these can be written as a curl equation

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:stokesMaxwellSpaceTimeSplit:80}
\boxed{
\begin{aligned}
\spacegrad \wedge (I \BE) &= I \frac{\rho}{\epsilon_0} \\
\inv{\mu_0} \spacegrad \wedge \BB &= \epsilon_0 I \partial_t \BE + I \BJ \\
\spacegrad \wedge \BE &= -I \partial_t \BB \\
\spacegrad \wedge (I \BB) &= 0,
\end{aligned}
}
\end{equation}

a form that allows for direct application of Stokes integrals. The first and last of these require a three parameter volume element, whereas the two bivector grade equations can be integrated using either two or three parameter volume elements. Suppose that we have can parameterize the space with parameters \( u, v, w \), for which the gradient has the representation

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:stokesMaxwellSpaceTimeSplit:100}
\spacegrad = \Bx^u \partial_u + \Bx^v \partial_v + \Bx^w \partial_w,
\end{equation}

but we integrate over a two parameter subset of this space spanned by \( \Bx(u,v) \), with area element

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:stokesMaxwellSpaceTimeSplit:120}
\begin{aligned}
d^2 \Bx
&= d\Bx_u \wedge d\Bx_v \\
&=
\PD{u}{\Bx}
\wedge
\PD{v}{\Bx}
\,du dv \\
&=
\Bx_u
\wedge
\Bx_v
\,du dv,
\end{aligned}
\end{equation}

as illustrated in fig. 1.

 

twoParameterAreaElementFig1

fig. 1. Two parameter manifold.

Our curvilinear coordinates \( \Bx_u, \Bx_v, \Bx_w \) are dual to the reciprocal basis \( \Bx^u, \Bx^v, \Bx^w \), but we won’t actually have to calculate that reciprocal basis. Instead we need only know that it can be calculated and is defined by the relations \( \Bx_a \cdot \Bx^b = \delta_a^b \). Knowing that we can reduce (say),

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:stokesMaxwellSpaceTimeSplit:140}
\begin{aligned}
d^2 \Bx \cdot ( \spacegrad \wedge \BE )
&=
d^2 \Bx \cdot ( \Bx^a \partial_a \wedge \BE ) \\
&=
(\Bx_u \wedge \Bx_v) \cdot ( \Bx^a \wedge \partial_a \BE ) \,du dv \\
&=
(((\Bx_u \wedge \Bx_v) \cdot \Bx^a) \cdot \partial_a \BE \,du dv \\
&=
d\Bx_u \cdot \partial_v \BE \,dv
-d\Bx_v \cdot \partial_u \BE \,du,
\end{aligned}
\end{equation}

Because each of the differentials, for example \( d\Bx_u = (\PDi{u}{\Bx}) du \), is calculated with the other (i.e.\( v \)) held constant, this is directly integrable, leaving

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:stokesMaxwellSpaceTimeSplit:160}
\begin{aligned}
\int d^2 \Bx \cdot ( \spacegrad \wedge \BE )
&=
\int \evalrange{\lr{d\Bx_u \cdot \BE}}{v=0}{v=1}
-\int \evalrange{\lr{d\Bx_v \cdot \BE}}{u=0}{u=1} \\
&=
\oint d\Bx \cdot \BE.
\end{aligned}
\end{equation}

That direct integration of one of the parameters, while the others are held constant, is the basic idea behind Stokes theorem.

The pseudoscalar grade Maxwell’s equations from \ref{eqn:stokesMaxwellSpaceTimeSplit:80} require a three parameter volume element to apply Stokes theorem to. Again, allowing for curvilinear coordinates such a differential expands as

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:stokesMaxwellSpaceTimeSplit:180}
\begin{aligned}
d^3 \Bx \cdot (\spacegrad \wedge (I\BB))
&=
(( \Bx_u \wedge \Bx_v \wedge \Bx_w ) \cdot \Bx^a ) \cdot \partial_a (I\BB) \,du dv dw \\
&=
(d\Bx_u \wedge d\Bx_v) \cdot \partial_w (I\BB) dw
+(d\Bx_v \wedge d\Bx_w) \cdot \partial_u (I\BB) du
+(d\Bx_w \wedge d\Bx_u) \cdot \partial_v (I\BB) dv.
\end{aligned}
\end{equation}

Like the two parameter volume, this is directly integrable

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:stokesMaxwellSpaceTimeSplit:200}
\int
d^3 \Bx \cdot (\spacegrad \wedge (I\BB))
=
\int \evalbar{(d\Bx_u \wedge d\Bx_v) \cdot (I\BB) }{\Delta w}
+\int \evalbar{(d\Bx_v \wedge d\Bx_w) \cdot (I\BB)}{\Delta u}
+\int \evalbar{(d\Bx_w \wedge d\Bx_u) \cdot (I\BB)}{\Delta v}.
\end{equation}

After some thought (or a craft project such as that of fig. 2) is can be observed that this is conceptually an oriented surface integral

threeParameterSurfaceFig2

fig. 2. Oriented three parameter surface.

Noting that

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:stokesMaxwellSpaceTimeSplit:221}
\begin{aligned}
d^2 \Bx \cdot (I\Bf)
&= \gpgradezero{ d^2 \Bx I B } \\
&= I (d^2\Bx \wedge \Bf)
\end{aligned}
\end{equation}

we can now write down the results of application of Stokes theorem to each of Maxwell’s equations in their curl forms

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:stokesMaxwellSpaceTimeSplit:220}
\boxed{
\begin{aligned}
\oint d\Bx \cdot \BE &= -I \partial_t \int d^2 \Bx \wedge \BB \\
\inv{\mu_0} \oint d\Bx \cdot \BB &= \epsilon_0 I \partial_t \int d^2 \Bx \wedge \BE + I \int d^2 \Bx \wedge \BJ \\
\oint d^2 \Bx \wedge \BE &= \inv{\epsilon_0} \int (d^3 \Bx \cdot I) \rho \\
\oint d^2 \Bx \wedge \BB &= 0.
\end{aligned}
}
\end{equation}

In the three parameter surface integrals the specific meaning to apply to \( d^2 \Bx \wedge \Bf \) is
\begin{equation}\label{eqn:stokesMaxwellSpaceTimeSplit:240}
\oint d^2 \Bx \wedge \Bf
=
\int \evalbar{\lr{d\Bx_u \wedge d\Bx_v \wedge \Bf}}{\Delta w}
+\int \evalbar{\lr{d\Bx_v \wedge d\Bx_w \wedge \Bf}}{\Delta u}
+\int \evalbar{\lr{d\Bx_w \wedge d\Bx_u \wedge \Bf}}{\Delta v}.
\end{equation}

Note that in each case only the component of the vector \( \Bf \) that is projected onto the normal to the area element contributes.