How do I apply Stokes' theorem on this differential form?

161 Views Asked by At

I want to calculate the integral

$ \int_\gamma \log(1+x^2)dx + \cos(1+y^2)dy + (\sin(x^4) + y + \sin(z^2))dz$

where $\gamma = (\cos(t) + \sin(t), \cos(t)+ 2\sin(t), \cos(t) - \sin(t))$ for $0 \leq t \lt 2\pi$.

I want to apply Stoke's theorem, and so I've calculated

$dw = (\cos(x^4 4x^3) dx \wedge dz + dy \wedge dz$.

I don't know how to integrate this over the area inside $\gamma$. Any help would be appreciated!

1

There are 1 best solutions below

0
On BEST ANSWER

Notice that projecting the curve onto the $xz$-plane gives a circle of radius $\sqrt{2}$, since

$$ x^2 + z^2 = (\cos(t)+\sin(t))^2 + (\cos(t)-\sin(t))^2 = 2\cos^2(t) + 2\sin^2(t) = 2 $$

So it will be easiest to integrate over the area's "shadow" in the $xz$-plane. Also notice that the curve lies entirely on the plane $3x - 2y - z = 0$ (also easily verified by plugging in the components of $\gamma$ for $x,y,z$), so we can write $y$ as a function of $x$ and $z$ as

$$ y = \frac{3x-z}{2} $$ Therefore, by taking the differential, we get $$ dy = \frac{3dx - dz}{2} $$ Let's denote by $R$ the region in the $xz$-plane which is the projection/shadow of the area we are integrating over. Then the integral becomes

$$ \begin {eqnarray} \int dw &=& \int_R 4x^3 \cos(x^4) \, dx \wedge dz + \frac{1}{2}\int_R (3dx - dz) \wedge dz \\ &=& \int_R 4x^3 \cos(x^4) \, dx \wedge dz + \frac{3}{2} \int_R \, dx \wedge dz \end {eqnarray} $$

The second integral is just $3/2$ times the area of the region $R$. Since $R$ is a disc of radius $\sqrt{2}$, this area is $2\pi$, and so the second integral is $3\pi$.

The integrand of the left/first integral depends only on $x$, and is an odd function. Since the region $R$ is symmetric about the $z$ axis, the integral will be zero. So overall, I think the entire integral will be $3\pi$.