Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2014 / ia / Paper 3 / 4A / b

A sufficient condition is that $G$ be an open simply connected domain, with $\mathbf{F}$ continuously differentiable. Under this condition a curl-free vector field has a global potential of a conservative vector field and hence path independence by the fundamental theorem for line integrals. One way to see the global step is to deform the closed loop formed by two paths into a point inside $G$: the integral is unchanged during the deformation because the curl is zero, as expressed by Stokes theorem. Therefore simple connectivity is a sufficient domain hypothesis. It is not a claim that every particular curl-free field needs such a domain; a given field can have a global potential on a domain with holes.