Lemme de PoincaréLe lemme de Poincaré est un résultat fondamental en analyse à plusieurs variables et en géométrie différentielle. Il concerne les formes différentielles (implicitement de classe C) sur une variété différentielle (implicitement lisse). D'après le théorème de Schwarz, toute forme différentielle exacte est fermée. Le lemme de Poincaré assure une réciproque partielle : Sous ces hypothèses, la conclusion du lemme de Poincaré se reformule en termes de cohomologie de De Rham. En particulier, toute forme différentielle fermée est localement exacte.
Closed and exact differential formsIn mathematics, especially vector calculus and differential topology, a closed form is a differential form α whose exterior derivative is zero (dα = 0), and an exact form is a differential form, α, that is the exterior derivative of another differential form β. Thus, an exact form is in the of d, and a closed form is in the kernel of d. For an exact form α, α = dβ for some differential form β of degree one less than that of α. The form β is called a "potential form" or "primitive" for α.
Skew coordinatesA system of skew coordinates is a curvilinear coordinate system where the coordinate surfaces are not orthogonal, in contrast to orthogonal coordinates. Skew coordinates tend to be more complicated to work with compared to orthogonal coordinates since the metric tensor will have nonzero off-diagonal components, preventing many simplifications in formulas for tensor algebra and tensor calculus. The nonzero off-diagonal components of the metric tensor are a direct result of the non-orthogonality of the basis vectors of the coordinates, since by definition: where is the metric tensor and the (covariant) basis vectors.
