Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-year-1-of-the-natural-sciences-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2017/paper-1/12/b/i/solution

There is a global-domain issue in the printed question. Write away from the origin. Direct partial differentiation gives
Thus the differential one-form is a closed differential form for every real . The Poincaré lemma makes it locally an exact differential form on small neighborhoods avoiding the origin. There is no additional condition such as .
However, the stated domain is the whole punctured plane, which is not simply connected. To test global exactness, use the closed ellipse , , . Here and
The line integral of a globally exact differential form around any closed curve would be zero. Consequently
The distinction is precisely that of the elliptically scaled angular one-form. The remaining parts can be answered consistently using a local angle branch, as follows.

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