Differential form

A differential form is an alternating covariant tensor field designed for coordinate-independent integration.

A differential three-form is a smooth, totally antisymmetric covariant tensor of rank three. For a Killing-Yano two-form, its covariant derivative is such a tensor, because it is antisymmetric in the first two and last two slots.

A smooth section of ${\bigwedge }^k(T^{\ast }X\otimes \mathbb{C})\otimes E$ is a differential form with values in the complex vector bundle $E$. A connection on a vector bundle extends to these forms by the graded Leibniz rule.

For a holomorphic vector bundle $E$, this sheaf assigns to $U$ the smooth $E$-valued differential forms of type (p, q) on $U$. Its Dolbeault operator acts coefficientwise in a holomorphic local frame and squares to zero.

On a smooth manifold, ${\mathcal{A}}^k(U)$ is the space of smooth complex-valued degree-$k$ differential forms on $U$. Restriction of forms supplies the sheaf maps. Smooth partitions of unity make this a fine sheaf.

On a complex manifold, this sheaf consists of smooth differential forms of type (p, q). The type decomposition of the complexified tangent bundle gives ${\mathcal{A}}^k={⨁}_{p+q=k}{\mathcal{A}}^{p,q}$.

A volume form is a nowhere-vanishing differential form of top degree on an oriented manifold. A metric supplies the canonical local density $\sqrt{|\det g|}$ and hence a metric volume form after choosing orientation.

On an oriented Riemannian manifold, the metric volume form is the volume form taking value one on positively oriented orthonormal frames. In an oriented manifold chart it has the displayed expression. Under an orientation-preserving coordinate change with Jacobian $A$, $\det g$ acquires the factor $(\det A{)}^2$, precisely matching the transformation of the top exterior product. Thus the expressions agree on chart overlaps. Orientation is needed to make a globally positive form, though the volume density exists without it.

The oriented metric volume form on a two-dimensional surface. On the unit sphere with standard orientation, $\omega =\sin \theta d\theta \wedge d\phi$ and $\int \omega =4\pi$. Its pullback of a differential form under a map measures signed local area.

On an oriented $d$-dimensional pseudo-Riemannian manifold, the metric volume tensor is the totally antisymmetric tensor with ${ϵ}_{1\dots d}=\sqrt{|\det g|}$ in positively oriented coordinates. It supplies the components of the volume form. It differs from the coordinate Levi-Civita symbol, whose entries are just $0,1,-1$. Raising indices with a Lorentzian metric can change signs; the metric, dimension and orientation must be specified.

A vector field preserves a chosen volume form $\omega$ when its local flow pulls $\omega$ back to itself. Infinitesimally this is ${\mathcal{L}}_X\omega =0$, using the Lie derivative. The condition depends on the chosen volume form.

Suppose a nonempty compact $(n+1)$-manifold with a volume form has $n$ pointwise independent volume-preserving vector fields that commute and are tangent to its boundary. If restriction $H_{\mathrm{dR}}^1(M)\to H_{\mathrm{dR}}^1(\partial M)$ is injective, the boundary must have at least two connected components.

Indeed $\eta ={\iota }_{X_1}\cdots {\iota }_{X_n}\omega$ is nowhere zero. Cartan's magic formula and commutation show $d\eta =0$, while boundary tangency gives $j^{\ast }\eta =0$. Injectivity in de Rham cohomology makes $\eta =df$. On a connected boundary $f$ is constant; a maximum or minimum differing from that boundary value would be an interior critical point, contradicting $df\ne 0$. Empty boundary is also impossible.

A 2-form is an alternating covariant tensor field of rank two. Curvature forms and electromagnetic field strengths are standard examples.

The wedge product is the alternating tensor product of differential forms. It is associative and graded-commutative and satisfies the graded Leibniz rule for the exterior derivative.

A smooth map $\varphi :M\to N$ pulls a differential form on $N$ back to one on $M$ by applying $d\varphi$ to each vector argument. Pullback commutes with wedge products and the exterior derivative.

The interior product contracts a differential form with a vector field in its first argument:

A differential 1-form is a smooth section of the cotangent bundle; it assigns a covector to every point of a smooth manifold.

Let $W$ consist of real-linear maps $\alpha$ from smooth vector fields to smooth functions such that $X_p=0$ implies $\alpha (X)(p)=0$. These are exactly evaluations by smooth differential one-forms. Define ${\omega }_p(v)=\alpha (X)(p)$ using any global field with $X_p=v$; the vanishing condition makes it well-defined. Bump-extended local frame vectors make its coefficients smooth. Also $\alpha (fX)(p)=f(p)\alpha (X)(p)$, so real linearity and pointwise vanishing automatically give $C^{\infty }$-linearity. The evaluation correspondence is a natural module isomorphism.

The exterior derivative is the unique graded derivation $d:{\Omega }^p(M)\to {\Omega }^{p+1}(M)$ that agrees with the differential on functions and satisfies $d^2=0$.

An $\mathbb{R}$-linear degree-one graded derivation of the exterior algebra of smooth differential forms that equals the differential on functions and squares to zero is unique. A smooth bump function and the graded Leibniz rule first establish locality. Then $d(d{x}^i)=0$, and applying the graded Leibniz rule to $\alpha ={\sum }_I{a}_{I}d{x}^I$ gives the displayed coordinate formula. The chain rule makes that formula coordinate-independent.

For a smooth one-form $\alpha$ and smooth vector fields $X,Y$,In coordinates the derivatives of the components of $X,Y$ cancel against the Lie bracket of vector fields, leaving $({\partial }_i{\alpha }_j-{\partial }_j{\alpha }_i)X^i{Y}^j$. This formula extends the coordinate definition of the exterior derivative to arbitrary frames.

If $X$ is an oriented $n$-manifold with boundary, $F:\partial X\hookrightarrow X$ is the inclusion, and $\omega$ is a compactly supported $(n-1)$-form, thenwhere the boundary has the outward-normal-first boundary orientation. A subordinate partition of unity reduces the theorem to the fundamental theorem of calculus in oriented coordinate half-spaces; local finiteness and compact support ensure that only finitely many terms contribute.

A differential form $\alpha$ is closed when $d\alpha =0$.

A differential one-form is closed when its exterior derivative vanishes. In coordinates, $\eta ={\eta }_{i}d{x}^i$ is closed exactly when ${\partial }_i{\eta }_j={\partial }_j{\eta }_i$. The Poincare lemma makes it locally an exact differential form, but global exactness can fail through nonzero integrals around closed curves.

Every smooth closed differential form of positive degree is locally an exact differential form. On a coordinate ball centered at zero, put $F_t(x)=tx$ and let $R=x^i{\partial }_i$ be the radial vector field. Define the degree-lowering operatorFor a $p$-form with $p>0$, the integrand has a factor $t^{p-1}$ in its coordinate coefficients and is smooth at zero. Cartan's magic formula and differentiation of the pullback of a differential form give ${\partial }_t(F_t^{\ast }\alpha )=t^{-1}{F}_t^{\ast }(d{\iota }_R\alpha +{\iota }_{R}d\alpha )$. Integrating from zero to one gives $dK\alpha +Kd\alpha =\alpha$, since $F_0^{\ast }\alpha =0$ in positive degree. If $d\alpha =0$, take $\beta =K\alpha$. The local potential of a closed differential one-form gives the explicit degree-one construction. Global exactness can fail through nonzero periods, measured by de Rham cohomology.

On a star-shaped domain, let ${\rho }_t(x)=tx$ and $R=\sum x_j{\partial }_{x_j}$. On positive-degree differential forms, $H\alpha ={\int }_0^1{\rho }_t^{\ast }({\iota }_R\alpha )dt/t$ satisfies $dH+Hd=\mathrm{id}-{\rho }_0^{\ast }$. It gives a primitive of every closed positive-degree form. On a star-shaped domain in a complex vector space, contraction with the two type components of $R$ shows that $H$ sends type $(p,q)$ into $(p-1,q)\oplus (p,q-1)$. There is no primitive assertion for a nonzero constant function.

On a fiberwise star-shaped neighborhood, let $H_s$ scale fibers by $s$ and let $E$ be the radial vector field. For a closed differential form $\delta$ with zero pullback to the zero section, the homotopy primitive $\eta ={\int }_0^1{s}^{-1}{H}_s^{\ast }({\iota }_E\delta )ds$ satisfies $d\eta =\delta$. For a two-form, it vanishes as an ambient covector along that section, providing the fixed-submanifold condition in the relative Moser theorem.

On a star-shaped planar domain containing zero, let $\eta$ be a smooth closed differential one-form and set $f(x)={\int }_{[0,x]}\eta$. Green theorem on the triangle with vertices $0,x,x+h$ gives $f(x+h)-f(x)={\int }_{[x,x+h]}\eta$. Dividing by a displacement and taking its limit proves $df=\eta$. Thus every such form is an exact differential form, a degree-one version of the Poincare lemma which uses only the planar integral theorem.

For a smooth differential one-form $\alpha ={\alpha }_i(x)d{x}^i$ with $d\alpha =0$, take a manifold chart identifying a neighborhood with a ball centered at zero, and set $\Phi (x)={\int }_0^1{x}^i{\alpha }_i(sx)ds$. Closedness means ${\partial }_j{\alpha }_i={\partial }_i{\alpha }_j$. ConsequentlyThus $d\Phi =\alpha$ in any dimension. This is the one-form case of the Poincare lemma, and applies to spacetime as well as three-dimensional vector calculus. A global potential need not exist on a domain with nonzero periods.

A differential form is exact when it is the exterior derivative of a form of one lower degree. Since $d^2=0$, every exact form is closed.

The $p$th de Rham cohomology group is the quotient of closed $p$-forms by exact $p$-forms.

The complex of smooth differential forms resolves the constant complex sheaf by the Poincare lemma and consists of fine sheaves. Its global cohomology therefore agrees with sheaf cohomology of that constant sheaf. A good-cover Čech-de Rham double complex gives an explicit comparison, used in Čech-de Rham curvature descent.

For a compact connected oriented boundaryless $n$-dimensional smooth manifold, choose a Riemannian metric. Harmonic functions are constant because $⟨f,\Delta f⟩=\Vert df{\Vert }^2$, and Hodge star commutes with the Hodge Laplacian. Thus the Hodge star operator identifies the constant functions with the harmonic differential forms of top degree, exactly $\mathbb{R}{\omega }_g$. The Hodge decomposition theorem identifies these with the top de Rham cohomology. The metric volume form has nonzero class by Stokes theorem. The harmonic-representative theorem is stated in Denis Auroux's Hodge theory lecture.

A closed differential form of degree one on the two-sphere has primitives on its north-punctured and south-punctured charts by the Poincare lemma. The overlap is connected, so their difference is constant. Adjust one constant and glue the primitives. Thus every closed one-form is an exact differential form, proving the first de Rham cohomology vanishes.

For a free smooth action of a finite group $G$ on a smooth manifold $M$, the quotient projection inducesInvariant differential forms descend uniquely through local inverse branches of the covering map. Averaging by $|G{|}^{-1}{\sum }_{g\in G}{g}^{\ast }$ commutes with the exterior derivative, produces invariant representatives of invariant classes, and produces an invariant primitive for every invariant exact form. Hence taking invariant forms and taking invariant cohomology give the same result over the real numbers.

On a compact connected oriented $n$-dimensional smooth manifold without boundary, integration is a linear isomorphism $H_{\mathrm{dR}}^n(M)\to \mathbb{R}$. Thus two top-degree differential forms have the same de Rham cohomology class exactly when their integrals agree.

A compact Lie group has finitely many connected components, each an oriented compact manifold of dimension $n$. Componentwise integration identifies its top-degree de Rham cohomology with one real coordinate per component. For a connected group, if top-degree classes are represented by invariant forms, the invariant volume form on a Lie group spans the cohomology: invariant top forms are one-dimensional, and its positive integral proves that its class is nonzero by the Generalized Stokes theorem. A disconnected group cannot have an invariant representative of every top-degree class, since left translations permute its components. For example, $S^1\times \mathbb{Z}/2$ has two independent degree-one classes but only one independent invariant top form.

Let $S^1$ act on $M\times S^1$ by rotation of the second factor. Averaging a differential form over this action is a cochain map. Every rotation is homotopic to the identity through smooth rotations, and integrating Cartan's magic formula along them gives a cochain homotopy between the averaging map and the identity. Consequently every de Rham cohomology class has a rotation-invariant representative, and an invariant exact form has an invariant primitive obtained by averaging any primitive.

Choose a closed one-form $\nu$ on $S^1$ with integral one and let $p:M\times S^1\to M$ be projection. Every rotation-invariant $k$-form is uniquelyThe exterior derivative acts componentwise. Averaging therefore proves thatis the displayed isomorphism.

Smoothly homotopic maps induce the same map on de Rham cohomology. Integrating Cartan's magic formula along a homotopy gives a cochain homotopy

For an open cover $X=U\cup V$, restriction of forms gives a short exact sequence of cochain complexesand hence a long exact sequence in de Rham cohomology.

On an oriented Riemannian $n$-manifold, the Hodge star is determined byIt maps $p$-forms to $(n-p)$-forms and satisfies ${\ast }^2=(-1{)}^{p(n-p)}$ on $p$-forms.

For a Hermitian manifold with the pointwise Hermitian inner product linear in the first variable, define the conjugate-linear star by $\alpha \wedge \ast \beta =⟨\alpha ,\beta ⟩{\omega }^n/n!$. It is the usual real Hodge star operator extended complex-linearly and then composed with complex conjugation. It has the displayed bidegree and satisfies ${\ast }^2=(-1{)}^{p+q}$ on $(p,q)$-forms.

For inner products linear in the first argument, define ${\ast }_E$ by contraction in $\psi \wedge {\ast }_E\eta =(\psi ,\eta )dV$. It is conjugate-linear and takes $(p,q)$-forms with values in $E$ to $(n-p,n-q)$-forms with values in $E^{\ast }$. With induced dual metrics, ${\ast }_{E^{\ast }}{\ast }_E=(-1{)}^{p+q}$.

On an oriented Euclidean metric four-space, the Hodge star operator on two-forms is an orthogonal involution. Its two eigenspaces each have dimension three. A self-dual two-form has eigenvalue $+1$, while an anti-self-dual two-form has eigenvalue $-1$. The splitting uses the metric-normalized Riemannian volume form; an arbitrarily rescaled volume in the defining wedge identity would rescale the operator itself.

The Hodge star operator is self-adjoint on real two-forms in four Euclidean dimensions, so its opposite eigenspaces are orthogonal. Since $H\wedge G=⟨H,\ast G⟩{\mathrm{vol}}_g$, a self-dual two-form and an anti-self-dual two-form also have zero wedge product of differential forms. Applied to Lie-algebra components with an invariant pairing, this identity eliminates mixed terms from the Yang-Mills action.

On $m$-forms in an oriented Riemannian manifold of dimension $2m$, the Hodge star operator is orthogonal and satisfies ${\ast }^2=(-1{)}^{m^2}$. HenceIt is self-adjoint when $m$ is even and skew-adjoint when $m$ is odd.

If a metric in dimension $n$ is rescaled by $\tilde{g}=e^{2\omega }g$, then its Hodge star on $p$-forms satisfies $\tilde{\ast }=e^{(n-2p)\omega }\ast$. The exponent vanishes for middle-degree forms with $n=2p$, so their self-dual and anti-self-dual subspaces depend only on the conformal class.

The Hodge star extends complex-linearly to complex differential forms. With the Hermitian pointwise inner product, it is characterized byOn a Hermitian manifold it maps forms of type $(p,q)$ to forms of type $(n-q,n-p)$.

On an oriented Riemannian four-manifold, a two-form $\alpha$ is self-dual when $\ast \alpha =\alpha$.

For $w=x^1+i{x}^2$, $z=x^3+i{x}^4$ and the standard oriented Euclidean metric, the real and imaginary parts of $dw\wedge dz$, together with $i(dw\wedge d\bar{w}+dz\wedge d\bar{z})$, span the self-dual two-forms. The printed complex four-form $dw\wedge dz\wedge d\bar{w}\wedge d\bar{z}$ is four times the metric volume form and gives the same orientation.

On an oriented Riemannian four-manifold, a two-form $\alpha$ is anti-self-dual when $\ast \alpha =-\alpha$.

If an exact two-form $\beta =d\alpha$ on a compact oriented Riemannian four-manifold is anti-self-dual, thenso $\beta =0$.

The codifferential is the formal $L^2$ adjoint of the exterior derivative. On $p$-forms in dimension $n$, one convention is

On an oriented boundaryless Riemannian manifold, apply Stokes theorem to the compactly supported form $f\ast \alpha$. The graded Leibniz rule gives $\int df\wedge \ast \alpha =-\int fd\ast \alpha$. The Hodge star operator identifies these top forms with the scalar integrands displayed above. This proves that the codifferential on one-forms is $\delta =-\ast d\ast$, the formal adjoint of the exterior derivative. Compact support of $f$ suffices.

A differential form is coclosed when its codifferential vanishes. On a closed Riemannian manifold, a form is a harmonic differential form exactly when it is both a closed differential form and coclosed: the identity $⟨\Delta \alpha ,\alpha ⟩=\Vert d\alpha {\Vert }^2+\Vert \delta \alpha {\Vert }^2$ proves the converse as well as necessity.

The Hodge Laplacian acts on differential forms by $\Delta =d\delta +\delta d$. On a compact manifold,

For a real one-form $\alpha$, the Hodge Laplacian differs from the rough Laplacian by the action of Ricci curvature: $(\mathrm{Ric}\cdot \alpha )(X)=\alpha ({\mathrm{Ric}}^{♯}X)$, where $g({\mathrm{Ric}}^{♯}X,Y)=\mathrm{Ric}(X,Y)$. Equivalently, with the nonnegative scalar Laplacian convention,

On a closed Riemannian manifold with nonnegative Ricci curvature, integration of the Bochner-Weitzenbock formula for one-forms for a harmonic one-form givesBoth terms are nonnegative, so $\nabla \alpha =0$. Riemannian volume density makes the argument valid even without orientation.

On a compact connected Riemannian manifold without boundary with nonnegative Ricci curvature, the Bochner formula for one-forms makes every harmonic one-form parallel. Evaluation at any point is then injective: a parallel form that is zero there stays zero along every path. Hence $\dim {\mathcal{H}}^1(M)\le \dim M$. Flat tori attain equality. Positive-definite Ricci curvature at even one point instead forces ${\mathcal{H}}^1=0$, because the Bochner integral makes its Ricci contraction vanish everywhere.

On an oriented Riemannian manifold, the codifferential convention $\delta =(-1{)}^{n(p+1)+1}\ast d\ast$ and ${\ast }^2=(-1{)}^{p(n-p)}$ give $d\ast \alpha =(-1{)}^p\ast \delta \alpha$ and $\delta \ast \alpha =(-1{)}^{p+1}\ast d\alpha$. Applying these twice proves the displayed identity. Thus the Hodge star operator preserves harmonic differential forms even without compactness.

On a compact oriented Riemannian manifold without boundary, the codifferential is the $L^2$ adjoint operator of the exterior derivative. ConsequentlyEvery eigenvalue of the Hodge Laplacian is therefore nonnegative.

On a compact oriented Riemannian manifold, the Green operator $G$ is the inverse of the Hodge Laplacian on the orthogonal complement of harmonic forms and is zero on harmonic forms. If $H$ is harmonic projection, thenIt commutes with every differential operator that commutes with $\Delta$.

A differential form is harmonic when it lies in the kernel of the Hodge Laplacian $\Delta =d\delta +\delta d$. On a compact manifold, this is equivalent to $d\alpha =0$ and $\delta \alpha =0$.

A harmonic one-form is a differential one-form $\alpha$ satisfying $\Delta \alpha =0$ for the Hodge Laplacian. On a closed manifold, the Hodge decomposition theorem identifies these forms with degree-one de Rham cohomology. The Bochner-Weitzenbock formula for one-forms implies that harmonic one-forms are parallel under nonnegative Ricci curvature.

On a closed oriented Riemannian manifold, a smooth isometric action of a connected Lie group fixes every harmonic differential form. Each group element is connected to the identity through a smooth path, so its action is smoothly homotopic to the identity and fixes de Rham cohomology. Isometries preserve the Hodge Laplacian; uniqueness of the harmonic representative, from the Hodge decomposition theorem, then makes each form itself fixed.

On a compact oriented Riemannian manifold,as an $L^2$-orthogonal direct sum. Every de Rham cohomology class consequently has a unique harmonic representative.

On a compact oriented Riemannian manifold without boundary, every real linear functional on ${\mathcal{H}}^p$ has a unique $L^2$ representing harmonic form $h_f$: $f(\phi )=⟨\phi ,h_f{⟩}_{L^2}$. If $h_a$ is an orthonormal harmonic basis, then $h_f={\sum }_{a}f(h_a)h_a$. The Hodge star gives a harmonic $(n-p)$-form ${\psi }_0=\ast h_f$ satisfying $f(\phi )={\int }_M\phi \wedge {\psi }_0$. The ambiguity of harmonic wedge-pairing representatives describes all smooth representatives with this same functional.

On a compact oriented Riemannian manifold without boundary, a smooth $(n-p)$-form $\chi$ annihilates all harmonic $p$-forms under wedge integration exactly when its harmonic projection vanishes. Indeed ${\int }_M\phi \wedge \chi =⟨\ast \phi ,\chi {⟩}_{L^2}$, and the Hodge star maps ${\mathcal{H}}^p$ isomorphically onto ${\mathcal{H}}^{n-p}$. By the Hodge decomposition theorem, this annihilator isThus both exact and coexact additions are allowed; a harmonic representative is unique. The potentials of these additions need not be unique, and out-of-range degree spaces are zero. For a concrete coexact ambiguity, take the torus $(\mathbb{R}/2\pi \mathbb{Z}{)}^2$ with metric $d{x}^2+d{y}^2$. The form $\chi =\delta (\sin ydx\wedge dy)=\cos ydx$ annihilates every harmonic one-form by orthogonality, yet $d\chi =\sin ydx\wedge dy$ is nonzero. Thus an annihilating representative need not even be closed, let alone exact.

On a compact oriented Riemannian manifold of dimension four without boundary, every exact three-form has a self-dual two-form primitive. Write $\beta =d\omega$ and use the Hodge decomposition theorem to split $\omega =h+d\xi +\delta \psi$. Then $\beta =d\delta \psi$. For $a=\delta \psi$, the codifferential identity $\delta =-\ast d\ast$ and the fact ${\ast }^2=1$ on two-forms give $\ast a=-d\ast \psi$, so $d\ast a=0$. Thus $\sigma =a+\ast a$ satisfies $\ast \sigma =\sigma$ and $d\sigma =\beta$. It is twice the self-dual projection of $a$, rather than the projection itself.

An exact differential is the differential $df$ of a scalar potential and integrates to zero around every closed curve.

The Lie derivative of a differential form measures its infinitesimal change under the flow generated by a vector field.

Cartan's magic formula is ${\mathcal{L}}_X=d{\iota }_X+{\iota }_{X}d$. It immediately implies that the Lie derivative commutes with the exterior derivative.