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The gradient theorem states that if the vector field F is the gradient of some scalar-valued function (i.e., if F is conservative), then F is a path-independent vector field (i.e., the integral of F over some piecewise-differentiable curve is dependent only on end points). This theorem has a powerful converse:
The gradient of a function is called a gradient field. A (continuous) gradient field is always a conservative vector field: its line integral along any path depends only on the endpoints of the path, and can be evaluated by the gradient theorem (the fundamental theorem of calculus for line integrals). Conversely, a (continuous) conservative ...
In vector calculus, a conservative vector field is a vector field that is the gradient of some function. [1] A conservative vector field has the property that its line integral is path independent; the choice of path between two points does not change the value of the line integral. Path independence of the line integral is equivalent to the ...
The gradient is defined from Riesz representation theorem, and inner products in complex analysis involve conjugacy (the gradient of a function at some would be ′ ¯, and the complex inner product would attribute twice a conjugate to ′ in the vector field definition of a line integral).
A vector field V defined on an open set S is called a gradient field or a conservative field if there exists a real-valued function (a scalar field) f on S such that = = (,,, …,). The associated flow is called the gradient flow , and is used in the method of gradient descent .
More generally, for a function of n variables (, …,), also called a scalar field, the gradient is the vector field: = (, …,) = + + where (=,,...,) are mutually orthogonal unit vectors. As the name implies, the gradient is proportional to, and points in the direction of, the function's most rapid (positive) change.
For an incompressible-flow velocity vector field (red, top), its streamlines (dashed) can be computed as the contours of the stream function (bottom). If a line, curve or closed curve is used as start point for a continuous set of streamlines, the result is a stream surface. In the case of a closed curve in a steady flow, fluid that is inside a ...
The principal U(1)-connection ∇ on the line bundle has a curvature F = ∇ 2, which is a two-form that automatically satisfies dF = 0 and can be interpreted as a field strength. If the line bundle is trivial with flat reference connection d we can write ∇ = d + A and F = dA with A the 1-form composed of the electric potential and the ...