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Irrotational
In vector calculus, a conservative vector field is a vector field that is the gradient of some function. A conservative vector field has the property that its line integral is path independent; the choice of any path between two points does not change the value of the line integral. Path independence of the line integral is equivalent to the vector field under the line integral being conservative. A conservative vector field is also irrotational; in three dimensions, this means that it has vanishing curl. An irrotational vector field is necessarily conservative provided that the domain is simply connected. Conservative vector fields appear naturally in mechanics: They are vector fields representing forces of physical systems in which energy is conserved. For a conservative system, the work done in moving along a path in a configuration space depends on only the endpoints of the path, so it is possible to define potential energy that is independent of the actual path taken. Info ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Conservative Vector Field
In vector calculus, a conservative vector field is a vector field that is the gradient of some function. A conservative vector field has the property that its line integral is path independent; the choice of any path between two points does not change the value of the line integral. Path independence of the line integral is equivalent to the vector field under the line integral being conservative. A conservative vector field is also irrotational; in three dimensions, this means that it has vanishing curl. An irrotational vector field is necessarily conservative provided that the domain is simply connected. Conservative vector fields appear naturally in mechanics: They are vector fields representing forces of physical systems in which energy is conserved. For a conservative system, the work done in moving along a path in a configuration space depends on only the endpoints of the path, so it is possible to define potential energy that is independent of the actual path taken. Inf ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scalar Potential
In mathematical physics, scalar potential, simply stated, describes the situation where the difference in the potential energies of an object in two different positions depends only on the positions, not upon the path taken by the object in traveling from one position to the other. It is a scalar field in three-space: a directionless value ( scalar) that depends only on its location. A familiar example is potential energy due to gravity. A ''scalar potential'' is a fundamental concept in vector analysis and physics (the adjective ''scalar'' is frequently omitted if there is no danger of confusion with '' vector potential''). The scalar potential is an example of a scalar field. Given a vector field , the scalar potential is defined such that: : \mathbf = -\nabla P = - \left( \frac, \frac, \frac \right), where is the gradient of and the second part of the equation is minus the gradient for a function of the Cartesian coordinates . In some cases, mathematicians may us ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Laplace Equation For Irrotational Flow
Irrotational flow occurs where the curl of the velocity of the fluid is zero everywhere. That is when \nabla\times \vec = 0 Similarly, if it is assumed that the fluid is incompressible: \rho(x,y,z,t) = \rho \text Then, starting with the continuity equation: \frac + \nabla\cdot(\rho\vec) = 0 The condition of incompressibility means that the time derivative of the density is 0, and that the density can be pulled out of the divergence, and divided out, thus leaving the continuity equation for an incompressible system: \nabla\cdot\vec = 0 Now, the Helmholtz decomposition can be used to write the velocity as the sum of the gradient of a scalar potential and as the curl of a vector potential. That is: \vec = -\nabla\phi + \nabla\times\vec Note that imposing the condition that \nabla\times\vec = 0 implies that \nabla\times(\nabla\times \vec) = 0 The curl of the gradient is always 0. Note that the curl of the curl of a function is only uniformly 0 for the vector potential be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Helmholtz Decomposition
In physics and mathematics, in the area of vector calculus, Helmholtz's theorem, also known as the fundamental theorem of vector calculus, states that any sufficiently smooth, rapidly decaying vector field in three dimensions can be resolved into the sum of an irrotational (curl-free) vector field and a solenoidal (divergence-free) vector field; this is known as the Helmholtz decomposition or Helmholtz representation. It is named after Hermann von Helmholtz. As an irrotational vector field has a scalar potential and a solenoidal vector field has a vector potential, the Helmholtz decomposition states that a vector field (satisfying appropriate smoothness and decay conditions) can be decomposed as the sum of the form -\nabla \phi + \nabla \times \mathbf, where \phi is a scalar field called "scalar potential", and is a vector field, called a vector potential. Statement of the theorem Let \mathbf be a vector field on a bounded domain V\subseteq\mathbb^3, which is twice continuousl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Exact Differential
In multivariate calculus, a differential or differential form is said to be exact or perfect (''exact differential''), as contrasted with an inexact differential, if it is equal to the general differential dQ for some differentiable function Q in an orthogonal coordinate system. An exact differential is sometimes also called a ''total differential'', or a ''full differential'', or, in the study of differential geometry, it is termed an exact form. The integral of an exact differential over any integral path is path-independent, and this fact is used to identify state functions in thermodynamics. Overview Definition Even if we work in three dimensions here, the definitions of exact differentials for other dimensions are structurally similar to the three dimensional definition. In three dimensions, a form of the type :A(x,y,z) \,dx + B(x,y,z) \,dy + C(x,y,z) \,dz is called a differential form. This form is called ''exact'' on an open domain D \subset \mathbb^3 in space ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Curl (mathematics)
In vector calculus, the curl is a vector operator that describes the infinitesimal circulation of a vector field in three-dimensional Euclidean space. The curl at a point in the field is represented by a vector whose length and direction denote the magnitude and axis of the maximum circulation. The curl of a field is formally defined as the circulation density at each point of the field. A vector field whose curl is zero is called irrotational. The curl is a form of differentiation for vector fields. The corresponding form of the fundamental theorem of calculus is Stokes' theorem, which relates the surface integral of the curl of a vector field to the line integral of the vector field around the boundary curve. is a notation common today to the United States and Americas. In many European countries, particularly in classic scientific literature, the alternative notation is traditionally used, which is spelled as "rotor", and comes from the "rate of rotation", which it re ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Solenoidal Field
In vector calculus a solenoidal vector field (also known as an incompressible vector field, a divergence-free vector field, or a transverse vector field) is a vector field v with divergence zero at all points in the field: \nabla \cdot \mathbf = 0. A common way of expressing this property is to say that the field has no sources or sinks.This statement does not mean that the field lines of a solenoidal field must be closed, neither that they cannot begin or end. For a detailed discussion of the subject, see J. Slepian: "Lines of Force in Electric and Magnetic Fields", American Journal of Physics, vol. 19, pp. 87-90, 1951, and L. Zilberti: "The Misconception of Closed Magnetic Flux Lines", IEEE Magnetics Letters, vol. 8, art. 1306005, 2017. Properties The divergence theorem gives an equivalent integral definition of a solenoidal field; namely that for any closed surface, the net total flux through the surface must be zero: where d\mathbf is the outward normal to each surface e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Line Integral
In mathematics, a line integral is an integral where the function to be integrated is evaluated along a curve. The terms ''path integral'', ''curve integral'', and ''curvilinear integral'' are also used; ''contour integral'' is used as well, although that is typically reserved for line integrals in the complex plane. The function to be integrated may be a scalar field or a vector field. The value of the line integral is the sum of values of the field at all points on the curve, weighted by some scalar function on the curve (commonly arc length or, for a vector field, the scalar product of the vector field with a differential vector in the curve). This weighting distinguishes the line integral from simpler integrals defined on intervals. Many simple formulae in physics, such as the definition of work as W=\mathbf\cdot\mathbf, have natural continuous analogues in terms of line integrals, in this case \textstyle W = \int_L \mathbf(\mathbf)\cdot d\mathbf, which computes the wo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Line Integral
In mathematics, a line integral is an integral where the function to be integrated is evaluated along a curve. The terms ''path integral'', ''curve integral'', and ''curvilinear integral'' are also used; ''contour integral'' is used as well, although that is typically reserved for line integrals in the complex plane. The function to be integrated may be a scalar field or a vector field. The value of the line integral is the sum of values of the field at all points on the curve, weighted by some scalar function on the curve (commonly arc length or, for a vector field, the scalar product of the vector field with a differential vector in the curve). This weighting distinguishes the line integral from simpler integrals defined on intervals. Many simple formulae in physics, such as the definition of work as W=\mathbf\cdot\mathbf, have natural continuous analogues in terms of line integrals, in this case \textstyle W = \int_L \mathbf(\mathbf)\cdot d\mathbf, which computes the wo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gradient Theorem
The gradient theorem, also known as the fundamental theorem of calculus for line integrals, says that a line integral through a gradient field can be evaluated by evaluating the original scalar field at the endpoints of the curve. The theorem is a generalization of the second fundamental theorem of calculus to any curve in a plane or space (generally ''n''-dimensional) rather than just the real line. For as a differentiable function and as any continuous curve in which starts at a point and ends at a point , then \int_ \nabla\varphi(\mathbf)\cdot \mathrm\mathbf = \varphi\left(\mathbf\right) - \varphi\left(\mathbf\right) where denotes the gradient vector field of . The gradient theorem implies that line integrals through gradient fields are path-independent. In physics this theorem is one of the ways of defining a ''conservative'' force. By placing as potential, is a conservative field. Work done by conservative forces does not depend on the path followed by the ob ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vector Calculus
Vector calculus, or vector analysis, is concerned with differentiation and integration of vector fields, primarily in 3-dimensional Euclidean space \mathbb^3. The term "vector calculus" is sometimes used as a synonym for the broader subject of multivariable calculus, which spans vector calculus as well as partial differentiation and multiple integration. Vector calculus plays an important role in differential geometry and in the study of partial differential equations. It is used extensively in physics and engineering, especially in the description of electromagnetic fields, gravitational fields, and fluid flow. Vector calculus was developed from quaternion analysis by J. Willard Gibbs and Oliver Heaviside near the end of the 19th century, and most of the notation and terminology was established by Gibbs and Edwin Bidwell Wilson in their 1901 book, '' Vector Analysis''. In the conventional form using cross products, vector calculus does not generalize to higher dime ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Differentiable Function
In mathematics, a differentiable function of one real variable is a function whose derivative exists at each point in its domain. In other words, the graph of a differentiable function has a non-vertical tangent line at each interior point in its domain. A differentiable function is smooth (the function is locally well approximated as a linear function at each interior point) and does not contain any break, angle, or cusp. If is an interior point in the domain of a function , then is said to be ''differentiable at'' if the derivative f'(x_0) exists. In other words, the graph of has a non-vertical tangent line at the point . is said to be differentiable on if it is differentiable at every point of . is said to be ''continuously differentiable'' if its derivative is also a continuous function over the domain of the function f. Generally speaking, is said to be of class if its first k derivatives f^(x), f^(x), \ldots, f^(x) exist and are continuous over the domain of the fu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
