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

Published: October 1, 2025 | arXiv ID: 2510.00999v1

By: Daniel Fadel, Henrique N. Sá Earp, Tomás S. R. Silva

Potential Business Impact:

Makes math work better for shapes and computers.

Business Areas:
STEM Education Education, Science and Engineering

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 $k$-forms, and provides a natural formulation of Stokes' theorem that mirrors the exact hypotheses of the Fundamental Theorem of Calculus - without requiring full $C^1$ smoothness of the differential form. As a numerical application, we propose an algorithm for exterior differentiation in $\mathbb{R}^n$ 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.

Country of Origin
🇧🇷 Brazil

Page Count
27 pages

Category
Mathematics:
Differential Geometry