Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-year-1-of-the-natural-sciences-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2022/paper-2/13/b/solution

The curl of is . Thus for it cannot be a gradient field, while for it is zero and all its vector-field potentials are constants. This zero-vector case is allowed by the question.
For the radial vector field , write . Choose a radial primitive
For , the chain rule gives
Hence all vector-field potentials on a connected domain where the field is defined are
The assumed existence of the needed derivatives and integrals justifies this construction. If the domain includes the origin and the field is regular there, choose and extend the primitive there. Any two vector-field potentials differ by a constant on each connected component.

New to topics? Read the docs here!