Better understanding of integration of differential forms.

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On page $100$ of Spivak's Calculus on Manifolds the following definition is made:

If $\omega$ is a $k$-form on $\mathbb{R}^k$, then $\omega = f\ dx_1\land\ldots\land dx_k$ for a unique function $f:\mathbb{R}^k\to\mathbb{R}$. We define $$\int_{[0,1]^k}\omega := \int_{[0,1]^k}f.$$

I wish to get a better grasp of the above definition.


From my understanding of this post one may interpret $\omega$ as a function that, at each point $p\in\mathbb{R}^k$, takes in $k$ vectors $v^1,\ldots,v^k$ representing a $k$-dimensional parallelotope $P$ and spits out a number proportional to its hypervolume. Such number being $$ f(p) \ A(v^1,\ldots,v^k)$$ for a point $p\in P$, a function $f:\mathbb{R}^k\to\mathbb{R}$, and the alternating $k$-tensor $A:{(\mathbb{R}^k)}^k\to\mathbb{R}$ defined by $$A = x_1\land\ldots\land x_k = \text{Alt}(x_1\otimes\ldots\otimes x_k) = \sum_{\sigma\in\mathbb{S}_k}\text{sgn}(\sigma) \prod_{j=1}^k v^{\sigma(j)}_j$$ although the explicit computation of $A$ seems secondary to the fact it is multilinear and alternating.

How should one interpret the numbers $f(p)$ and $A(v_1,\ldots,v_k)$ at the moment of computing the integral?

It would also probably help if someone could provide an example where concrete values are given to the numbers above.

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Well, you can think of the space $M=[0,1]^k$ (WLOG, consider $k=3$ for a better intuition) as having a natural notion of "volume", given by your $A$. It is natural, because the vectors $(1,0,0),(0,1,0),(0,0,1)$, attached at any $p\in M$, span an infinitesimal volume of $$ A((1,0,0),(0,1,0),(0,0,1))= $$ $$ =dx_1\wedge dx_2 \wedge dx_3 ((1,0,0),(0,1,0),(0,0,1))=1. $$ With this "sense of volume", the total volume (i.e., adding together the infinitesimal volumes) of $M$ is 1.

But you can wonder: what if I have another "sense of volume"? An alternative sense of volume is mathematically formalized through your $k$-form $\omega$. In every point $p\in M$, $$ \omega(p)=f(p)dx_1\wedge dx_2 \wedge dx_3 $$ is an externally prescribed way of measuring volumes at the tangent space $T_pM$. This can appears because you are considering another metric on $M$, or because $M$ is a "perfect Euclidean space" but expressed in other coordinates, or whatever other reason. With this new way of measuring volumes (or technically, volume form) the vectors $(1,0,0),(0,1,0),(0,0,1)$ attached at $p$ span an infinitesimal volume $f(p)$. Now, the total volume of $M$ is no longer 1, but the sum of all the infinitesimal volumes $f(p)$, i.e., $$ \int_M \omega=\int_M f. $$