1. NPTEL โ Physics โ Mathematical Physics - 1
Lecture 6
Stokeโs Theorem
Let S be a surface in space and the boundary of S is simple closed curve c. Let ๐นโ(๐ฅ, ๐ฆ, ๐ง) is a continuous
function that has continuous partial derivatives in S, then,
โซ๐ (โโโ ร ๐นโ) . nห ๐๐ = โฎ๐ถ ๐นโ. ๐๐โ where ๐ฬ is an outward drawn normal to the elemental surface ๐๐ and ๐
๐โ is taken along C.
Proof of Stokes Theorem
We have shown that circulation around a small mesh is written as,
โ ๐ดโ. ๐๐โ = (โโโ ร ๐ดโ) ๐๐ฅ๐๐ฆ
4 ๐ ๐๐๐๐
(Refer to physical interpretation of curl where the velocity vector ๐ฃโ is replaced by ๐ดโ)
The surface integrals (i.e. RHS of the above equation) can be added together. Again (as in the divergence
theorem case) the line integrals of the interior line segments cancel identically. Only the integral around
the perimeter survives, giving
โ๐๐ฅ๐ก๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ก๐ ๐ดโ. ๐๐โ = โ๐๐๐๐ก๐๐๐๐๐ (โโโ ร ๐ดโ). ๐๐ โ
Then, โฎ ๐ดโ. ๐๐โ = โซ(โโโ ร ๐ด
โ). ๐๐ โ
Example
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Verify Stokes theorem for ๐นโ = (2๐ฅ โ ๐ฆ)๐ฬ โ ๐ฆ๐ง2๐ฬ โ ๐ฆ2๐ง๐ฬ for the paraboloid S devoted by
๐ง = ๐(๐ฅ, ๐ฆ) = 1 โ (๐ฅ2 + ๐ฆ2) ๐ง โฅ 0
Or the upper half surface of a sphere.
In z = 0 plane the boundary c of the surface S is a circle ๐ฅ2 + ๐ฆ2 = 1
A convenient way to determine the line integral (refer to Stokeโs theorem) is to substitute
๐ฅ = cos ๐ก, ๐ฆ = ๐ ๐๐๐ก. 0 โค ๐ก โค 2๐ and ๐ง = 0.
Thus
โฎ ๐นโ. ๐๐โ = โฎ(2๐ฅ โ ๐ฆ). (๐๐ฅ iห + ๐๐ฆ หj + ๐๐ง kห )
๐ ๐
= โฎ (2๐ฅ โ ๐ฆ)๐๐ฅ = โซ
2๐
(2๐๐๐ ๐ก โ ๐ ๐๐๐ก)(โ๐ ๐๐๐ก)๐๐ก
๐ 0
=๐
Also
โโโ ร ๐นโ = Kห (๐งฬ), ๐๐ โซ(โโโ ร ๐นโ). ๐๐ โ = โซ ๐งฬ.
nห ๐๐
= โซ ๐๐ฅ๐๐ฆ = โซ๐ฅ=โ1
1 โซ๐ฆ=โโ1โ๐ฅ2 ๐๐ฅ๐๐ฆ
โ1โ๐ฅ2
= ๐. (verified)
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Greenโs theorem in a plane
Let R be a closed bounded region in the ๐ฅ๐ฆ plane which has a boundary C. Let ๐น1(๐ฅ, ๐ฆ) and ๐น2(๐ฅ,๐ฆ)
functions that are continuous partial derivatives in a domain that contains R, then
โซ ( โ ) ๐๐ฅ๐๐ฆ = โฎ(๐น1๐๐ฅ + ๐น2 ๐๐ฆ)
๐ฟ๐น2
๐ฟ๐ฅ ๐ฟ๐ฆ
๐ฟ๐น1
๐ ๐
We shall present this theorem without proof.
Example
Verify Greenโs theorem for,
๐น1(๐ฅ, ๐ฆ) = ๐ฆ2 โ 7๐ฆ
๐น2(๐ฅ, ๐ฆ) = 2๐ฅ๐ฆ + 2๐ฅ
And C is a circle ๐ฅ2 + ๐ฆ2 = 1
Thus,
โซ (๐ฟ๐น2 โ
๐ฟ๐ฅ
๐ฟ๐ฆ
๐
๐ฟ๐น1
)๐๐ฅ๐๐ฆ
= โซ๐
[(2๐ฆ + 2) โ (2๐ฆ โ 7)]๐๐ฅ๐๐ฆ
= 9 โซ ๐๐ฅ๐๐ฆ = 9๐
Where ๐ is the area of the circle of unit radius. Since C is a circle, it is
convenient to introduce
๐ฅ = ๐๐๐ ๐ก, ๐ฆ = ๐ ๐๐๐ก, ๐๐ฅ = โ๐ ๐๐๐ก, ๐๐ฆ = ๐๐๐ ๐ก
So, ๐น1 = ๐ ๐๐2๐ก โ 7๐ ๐๐๐ก, ๐น2 = 2๐๐๐ ๐ก ๐ ๐๐๐ก + 2๐๐๐ ๐ก
2๐
โฎ(๐น1๐๐ฅ + ๐น2 ๐๐ฆ) = โซ (๐ ๐๐2๐ก โ 7๐ ๐๐๐ก)(โ๐ ๐๐๐ก) + (2๐๐๐ ๐ก
๐ ๐๐๐ก + ๐๐๐ ๐ก)(๐๐๐ ๐ก)๐๐ก
๐ถ
0
= 9๐
Thus Greenโs theorem is verified.
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Vector calculus in curvilinear coordinate system
It is very important for the students to understand vector calculus in curvilinear systems where the basis
vectors (such as ๐ฬ, ๏ฑฬ etc) are not constants.
For a point in eartesian coordinate space, ๐โ = (๐ฅ, ๐ฆ, ๐ง) is used to denote the distances from the three
orthogonal axes. In cylindrical coordinates, the same point is denoted by (๐, ๐, ๐ง). While these quantities
are not necessarily distances (such as ๐ being an angle), however to convert them to distances, we use the
relations,
๐ฅ = ๐๐๐๐ ๐, ๐ฆ = ๐๐ ๐๐๐, ๐ง = ๐ง
So the same point in space in terms of distances is (๐๐๐๐ ๐, ๐๐ ๐๐๐, ๐ง).
Let us now discuss the scenario for basis vectors. A coordinate system {๐ฅ๐} allows us to define bases for
all of these vector spaces through.
eฬ = ๐
i
๐๐
๐๐ฅ๐
For Cartesian systems, the basis vectors are eห ๏ฝ iห , eห ๏ฝ หj and eห ๏ฝ kห pointing along the three
x y z
orthogonal coordinate axes. They are also constants, that is their directions do not change with the point ๐ .
Now for curvilinear coordinates, such as for a cylindrical polar coordinate system, the basis vectors are
given by,
eฬ ๏ฝ
1 ๏ถr
๏ฝ ๏ญsin๏ชeฬ ๏ซ cos๏ชeฬ
p x y
๏ช x y
z z
eฬ ๏ฝ
๏ถr
๏ฝ cos๏ชeฬ ๏ซ sin๏ชeฬ
eฬ ๏ฝ eฬ
๏ถ๏ฒ
๏ฒ ๏ถ๏ช
The in the definition of ๐ฬ๐ is needed for the vector to be properly normalized to 1.
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1
๏ฒ
An inversion of the above relations is also possible which will yield eหx , eหy and eหz in terms of eห๏ฒ , ๐ฬ
๐and
eหz .
Similarly a vector field ๐น , can be written in the cylindrical polar coordinates as
{(๐น๐ฅ๐๐๐ ๏ช + ๐น๐ฆ๐ ๐๐๏ช), (โ๐น๐ฅ๐ ๐๐๏ช + ๐น๐ฆ๐๐๐ ๏ช), ๐น๐ง}
The basis vectors obey the usual relations for an orthogonal right handed bases, that is
5. NPTEL โ Physics โ Mathematical Physics - 1
eห๏ก .eห๏ข ๏ฝ ๏ค๏ก๏ข and eห๏ก ๏ดeห๏ข ๏ฝ ๏ฅห๏ง ๏ฅ๏ก๏ข๏ง
๐๐ผ๐ฝ๐พ = 1 ๐๐ ๐ผ, ๐ฝ, ๐พ are cyclic
= โ1 otherwise
= 0 if two indices are same
Partial derivatives: Partial derivatives with respect to the coordinates can be a good starting point for our
present discussion.
For example,
๐๐ = ๐๐๐ ๏ช๐๐ฅ + ๐ ๐๐๏ช๐๐ฆ
๐๐ = โ ๏ฒ ๐ ๐๐๏ช๐๐ฅ + ๏ฒ ๐๐๐ ๏ช๐๐ฆ
๐๐ง = ๐๐ง
While the inverse relations are,
๐
๐๐ฅ = ๐๐๐ ๏ช ๐๐ โ ๐๏ช
๐ ๐๐
๐
๐๐ฆ = ๐ ๐๐๏ช๐๐ + ๐๏ช
๐๐๐
๐๐
and ๐๐ง = ๐๐ง
Thus the del (โโโ) operator is written by using the
relations,
๐๐ฅ
โโโ= (๐๐ฆ) = eหx ๐๐ฅ + eหy ๐๐ฆ + eหz ๐๐ง
๐๐ง
eฬ๏ช ๏ง 1
eฬ ๏ถ ๏ซ ๏ถ ๏ซ eฬ ๏ถ ๏ฝ ๏ถ
๏ฆ๏ถ p ๏ถ
p p ๏ช z z
๏จ z ๏ธ
๏ท
๏ท
๏ช
๏ท
๏ฒ ๏ง ๏ฒ
๏ง
๏ง๏ถ ๏ท
Thus gradient of a scalar field is written as, ๐ด = ๐๐2
โโโ๐ฃ(๐, ๐, ๐ง) = eห๏ฒ ๏ถ ๐ฃ +
๏ฒ
๏ถ๏ฆ ๐ฃ + eหz
๏ถ z ๐ฃ
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๏ฒ
eฬ๏ฆ
While the divergence is written as,
6. NPTEL โ Physics โ Mathematical Physics - 1
โโโ. ๐น = ๏ถ๏ฒ (๐๐น๐) +
๏ฒ
๏ถ๏ช ๐น๏ช + ๏ถ z ๐น๐ง
A derivation of the divergence formula can be shown as follows. There are
two non zero partial derivatives of the unit vectors, namely
1
๏ถ๏ช eหp =-cos ๐ eหx -sin๐ eหy =- eห๏ฒ
๏ถ๐ ๐ฬ๏ฒ = โ๐ ๐๐ฯ eห + ๐๐๐ ฯ eห = โ eห
x y ๏ช
Thus the divergence in general is NOT given by โโโ. ๐น (๐พ ) = โ๐ ๐๐๐น๐ (๐พ ) which is only
true for an orthogonal coordinate system where the basis vectors are constant in space.
Hence using the product rule,
โโโ. ๐น = [ eห๏ฒ ๏ถ๏ฒ +
๏ฒ
๏ถ๏ช + eหz ๏ถ z ] . [๐น๐ eห๏ฒ + ๐น๏ช eห๏ช
+ ๐น๏ฒ eหz ]
eฬ๏ช
= ๏ถ๏ฒ ๐น๏ฒ +
๏ฒ
. [ ๏ถ๏ช (๐น๏ฒ eฬ๏ฒ ) + ๏ถ๏ช (๐น๏ช eฬ๏ช )] + ๏ถz ๐น๐ง
eฬ๏ช
=
๏ถ๏ฒ (๏ฒ๐น๏ฒ) ๏ถ๏ช ๐น๏ช
๏ฒ ๏ฒ
+ + ๏ถz ๐น
๐ง
For the curl working along similar lines,
โโโx๐น = [ eห๏ฒ ๏ถ๏ฒ +
๏ฒ
๏ถ๏ช + eหz ๏ถ z ] ๏ด [๐น๏ฒ eห๏ฒ + ๐น๏ช eห๏ช
+ ๐น๏ฒ eหz ]
eฬ๏ช
= eฬ๏ฒ ๐ฅ [ eฬ๏ฒ๏ถ๏ฒ ๐น
๏ช + eฬz ๏ถ๏ฒ ๐น
๐ง ] +
eฬ๏ฆ
๏ฒ
๐ฅ[ eห๏ฒ ๏ถ๏ช ๐น๏ฒ โ eห๏ฒ ๐น๏ช + eหz
๏ถ๏ช ๐น๐ง ]
Thus โโโx๐น =
eห๏ฒ [
๏ถ๏ช ๐น๐ง
๏ฒ
โ ๏ถ z ๐น๏ช] + eห๏ช [โ ๏ถ๏ฒ ๐น๐ง + ๏ถ z ๐น๏ฒ] +
eหz [
๏ถ๏ฒ (๏ฒ๐น๏ช)
๏ฒ
โ
๏ถ๏ช ๐น๏ฒ
๏ฒ
]
Also a Laplacian โโโ2 is defined
as,
โโโ2= โโโ. โโโ=
1
. ๏ถ (๏ฒ ๏ถ ) + ๏ถ 2
+ ๏ถ 2
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๏ฒ ๏ฒ ๏ฒ
๏ฒ2 ๏ช
1
z
7. NPTEL โ Physics โ Mathematical Physics - 1
Example
A vector field is given by,
๐น = ๐ผ
eฬ where ๐ผ is a constant
๏ฒ ๏ช
The divergence of ๐น is
โ. ๐น = [
โโ eฬ ๏ถ
๏ฒ ๏ฒ +
eฬ๏ช
๏ฒ ๏ช z z
๏ถ eฬ ๏ถ
+ ] .
๐ผ
๏ฒ
eฬ๏ช
= 0
The corresponding expressions in spherical polar coordinates are given by, (the
reader should work them out)
โโโ. ๐น = 1
๏ถ (๐2๐น )
+
๐ 2 r ๐
1 1
๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐
๐
๏ฑ ๐
๏ถ ๏ถ
(๐ ๐๐๐๐น ) + ๐น
๏ช ๏ช
Also
โโโx๐น =
๏ถ๏ง (๐พ๐น๐) โ ๏ถ๏ฑ ๐น๐ ]
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1
๐๐ ๐๐
๐
eห [ ๏ถ (๐น ๐ ๐๐๐) โ ๏ถ ๐น ] + 1
eห [โ ๏ถ (๐พ๐น
+
r ๏ฑ ๐ ๏ ๐ ๏ฑ ๏ง ๐
๐
1
๐ ๐๐๐ ๏ ๐
๏ถ ๐น ] + 1
eฬ [
๐ ๏
And the Laplacian,
โโโ2=
1 ๐2 ๏ง
๏ถ (๐ ๐ ) +
2
๐
1
๐ ๐ ๐๐
๐
2 ๏ฑ
๏ถ (๐ ๐๐๐ ) +
๏ฑ
๏ถ
1
๐2๐ ๐๐2
๐
2
๏
๏ถ