Differential complexes and exterior calculus

arXivmath-ph/0601015MaRDI QIDQ6469632FDOQ6469632

Publication date: 8 January 2006

Abstract: In this paper we present a new theory of calculus over

k

-dimensional domains in a smooth

n

-manifold, unifying the discrete, exterior, and continuum theories. The calculus begins at a single point and is extended to chains of finitely many points by linearity, or superposition. It converges to the smooth continuum with respect to a norm on the space of ``pointed chains, culminating in the chainlet complex. Through this complex, we discover a broad theory of coordinate free, multivector analysis in smooth manifolds for which both the classical Newtonian calculus and the Cartan exterior calculus become special cases. The chainlet operators, products and integrals apply to both symmetric and antisymmetric tensor cochains. As corollaries, we obtain the full calculus on Euclidean space, cell complexes, bilayer structures (e.g., soap films) and nonsmooth domains, with equal ease. The power comes from the recently discovered prederivative and preintegral that are antecedent to the Newtonian theory. These lead to new models for the continuum of space and time, and permit analysis of domains that may not be locally Euclidean, or locally connected, or with locally finite mass.

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Integration on manifolds; measures on manifolds (58C35) Exterior algebra, Grassmann algebras (15A75) Differential graded algebras and applications (associative algebraic aspects) (16E45) Geometric measure and integration theory, integral and normal currents in optimization (49Q15)

This page was built for publication: Differential complexes and exterior calculus

Report a bug (only for logged in users!)Click here to report a bug for this page (MaRDI item Q6469632)