English

The exterior derivative and the mean value equality in $\mathbb{R}^n$

Differential Geometry 2026-03-25 v3 Numerical Analysis Numerical Analysis

Abstract

This survey revisits classical results in vector calculus and analysis by exploring a generalised perspective on the exterior derivative, interpreting it as a measure of "infinitesimal flux". This viewpoint leads to a higher-dimensional analogue of the Mean Value Theorem, valid for differential kk-forms, and provides a natural formulation of Stokes' theorem that mirrors the exact hypotheses of the Fundamental Theorem of Calculus -- without requiring full C1C^1 smoothness of the differential form. As a numerical application, we propose an algorithm for exterior differentiation in Rn\mathbb{R}^n that relies solely on black-box access to the differential form, offering a practical tool for computation without the need for mesh discretization or explicit symbolic expressions.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2510.00999,
  title  = {The exterior derivative and the mean value equality in $\mathbb{R}^n$},
  author = {Daniel Fadel and Henrique N. Sá Earp and Tomás S. R. Silva},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2510.00999},
  year   = {2026}
}

Comments

27 pages. Accepted for publication in the S\~ao Paulo Journal of Mathematical Sciences. Final version, incorporating minor revisions and expository improvements