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The curl of a vector field F, denoted by curl F, or , or rot F, is an operator that maps C k functions in R 3 to C k−1 functions in R 3, and in particular, it maps continuously differentiable functions R 3 → R 3 to continuous functions R 3 → R 3. It can be defined in several ways, to be mentioned below:
C: curl, G: gradient, L: Laplacian, CC: curl of curl. Each arrow is labeled with the result of an identity, specifically, the result of applying the operator at the arrow's tail to the operator at its head. The blue circle in the middle means curl of curl exists, whereas the other two red circles (dashed) mean that DD and GG do not exist.
This is a (dualized) (1 + 1)-dimensional case, for a 1-form (dualized because it is a statement about vector fields). This special case is often just referred to as Stokes' theorem in many introductory university vector calculus courses and is used in physics and engineering. It is also sometimes known as the curl theorem.
If a vector field F with zero divergence is defined on a ball in R 3, then there exists some vector field G on the ball with F = curl G. For regions in R 3 more topologically complicated than this, the latter statement might be false (see Poincaré lemma). The degree of failure of the truth of the statement, measured by the homology of the ...
An illustration of Stokes' theorem, with surface Σ, its boundary ∂Σ and the normal vector n.The direction of positive circulation of the bounding contour ∂Σ, and the direction n of positive flux through the surface Σ, are related by a right-hand-rule (i.e., the right hand the fingers circulate along ∂Σ and the thumb is directed along n).
Vector calculus or vector analysis is a branch of mathematics concerned with the differentiation and integration of vector fields, primarily in three-dimensional Euclidean space, . [1] The term vector calculus is sometimes used as a synonym for the broader subject of multivariable calculus, which spans vector calculus as well as partial differentiation and multiple integration.
Vectors are defined in spherical coordinates by (r, θ, φ), where r is the length of the vector, θ is the angle between the positive Z-axis and the vector in question (0 ≤ θ ≤ π), and; φ is the angle between the projection of the vector onto the xy-plane and the positive X-axis (0 ≤ φ < 2π).
This article uses the standard notation ISO 80000-2, which supersedes ISO 31-11, for spherical coordinates (other sources may reverse the definitions of θ and φ): The polar angle is denoted by θ ∈ [ 0 , π ] {\displaystyle \theta \in [0,\pi ]} : it is the angle between the z -axis and the radial vector connecting the origin to the point in ...