c Amitabha Lahiri: Lecture Notes on Differential Geometry for Physicists 2011

Chapter 13

Differential forms

There is a special class of tensor fields, which is so useful as to have

a separate treatment. There are called differential p−forms or
p−forms for short.
• A p−form is a (0, p) tensor which is completely antisymmetric,
i.e., given vector fields v1 , · · · , vp ,

ω (v1 , · · · , vi , · · · , vj , · · · , vp ) = −ω (v1 , · · · , vj , · · · , vi , · · · , vp )
(13.1)
for any pair i, j . 2
A 0-form is defined to be a function, i.e. an element of C (M) , ∞

and a 1-form is as defined earlier.

The antisymmetry of any p-form implies that it will give a non-
zero result only when the p vectors are linearly independent. On the
other hand, no more than n vectors can be linearly independent in
an n-dimensional manifold. So p 6 n .
Consider a 2-form A . Given any two vector fields v1 , v2 , we have
A(v1 , v2 ) = −A(v2 , v1 ) . Then the components of A in a chart are

Aij = A (∂i , ∂j ) = −Aji . (13.2)

Similarly, for a p-form ω , the components are ωi1 ···ip , and compo-
nents are multiplied by (−1) whenever any two indices are inter-
changed.  
n
It follows that a p-form has independent components in n-
p

dimensions.
Any 1-form produces a function when acting on a vector field. So
given a pair of 1-forms A, B, it is possible to construct a 2-form ω

47
 48 Chapter 13. Differential forms
c Amitabha Lahiri: Lecture Notes on Differential Geometry for Physicists 2011

by defining

ω(u, v) = A(u)B(v) − B(u)A(v), ∀u, v . (13.3)

• This is usually written as ω = A ⊗ B − B ⊗ A , where ⊗ is called

the outer product. 2
• Then the above construction defines a product written as

ω = A ∧ B = −B ∧ A , (13.4)

and called the wedge product . Clearly, ω is a 2-form. 2

Let us work in a coordinate basis, but the results we find can be
generalized to any basis. The coordinate bases for the vector fields,
{∂i } , and 1-forms, {dxi } , satisfy dxi (∂j ) = δji . A 1-form A can be
written as A = Ai dxi , and a vector field v can be written as v = v i ∂i ,
so that A(v) = Ai v i . Then for the ω defined above and for any pair
of vector fields u, v,

ω(u, v) = A(u)B(v) − B(u)A(v)

= Ai ui Bj v j − Bi ui Aj v j
= (Ai Bj − Bi Aj ) ui v j . (13.5)

The components of ω are ωij = ω(∂i , ∂j ) , so that

ω(u, v) = ω(ui ∂i , v j ∂j ) = ωij ui v j . (13.6)

Then ωij = Ai Bj − Bi Aj for the 2-form defined above. We can now

construct a basis for 2-forms, which we write as dxi ∧ dxj ,

dxi ∧ dxj = dxi ⊗ dxj − dxj ⊗ dxi . (13.7)

Then a 2-form can be expanded in this basis as

1
ω= ωij dxi ∧ dxj , (13.8)
2!
because then

1
ωij dxi ⊗ dxj − dxj ⊗ dxi (u, v)


ω(u, v) =
2!
1
= ωij ui v j − uj v i = ωij ui v j .


(13.9)
2!
 49
c Amitabha Lahiri: Lecture Notes on Differential Geometry for Physicists 2011

Similarly, a basis for p−forms is

dxi1 ∧ · · · ∧ dxip = dx[i1 ⊗ · · · ⊗ dxip ] , (13.10)

where the square brackets stand for total antisymmetrization: all

even permutations of the indices are added and all the odd permu-
tations are subtracted. (Caution: some books define the ‘square
brackets’ as antisymmetrization with a factor 1/p! .) For example,
for a 3-form, a basis is

dxi ∧ dxj ∧ dxk = dxi ⊗ dxj ⊗ dxk − dxj ⊗ dxi ⊗ dxk

+dxj ⊗ dxk ⊗ dxi − dxk ⊗ dxj ⊗ dxi
+dxk ⊗ dxi ⊗ dxj − dxi ⊗ dxk ⊗ dxj . (13.11)

Then an arbitrary 3-form Ω can be written as

1
Ω= Ωijk dxi ∧ dxj ∧ dxk . (13.12)
3!
Note that there is a sum over indices, so that the factorial goes away if
we write each basis 3-form up to permutations, i.e. treating different
permutations as equivalent. Thus a p−form α can be written in
terms of its components as
1
α= αi ···i dxi1 ∧ · · · ∧ dxip . (13.13)
p! 1 p
Examples: A 2-form in two dimensions can be written as
1
ω = ωij dxi ∧ dxj
2!
1
ω12 dx1 ∧ dx2 + ω21 dx2 ∧ dx1


=
2!
1
= (ω12 − ω21 ) dx1 ∧ dx2
2!
= ω12 dx1 ∧ dx2 . (13.14)

2
A 2-form in three dimensions can be written as

1
ω = ωij dxi ∧ dxj
2!
= ω12 dx1 ∧ dx2 + ω23 dx2 ∧ dx3 + ω31 dx3 ∧ dx1 (13.15)
 50 Chapter 13. Differential forms
c Amitabha Lahiri: Lecture Notes on Differential Geometry for Physicists 2011

2
In three dimensions, consider two 1-forms α = αi dxi , β = βi dxi .
Then
1
α∧β = (αi βj − αj βi ) dxi ∧ dxj
2!
= αi βj dxi ∧ dxj
= (α1 β2 − α2 β1 ) dx1 ∧ dx2
+ (α2 β3 − α3 β2 ) dx2 ∧ dx3
+ (α3 β1 − α1 β3 ) dx3 ∧ dx1 . (13.16)
The components are like the cross product of vectors in three dimen-
sions. So we can think of the wedge product as a generalization of
the cross product.
• We can also define the wedge product of a p−form α and a
q−form β as a (p + q)−form satisfying, for any p + q vector fields
v1 , · · · , vp+q ,
1 X
α ∧ β (v1 , · · · , vp+q ) = (−1)deg P α ⊗ β (P (v1 , · · · , vp+q )) .
p!q!
P
(13.17)
Here P stands for a permutation of the vector fields, and deg P is 0 or
1 for even and odd permutations, respectively. In the outer product
on the right hand side, α acts on the first p vector fields in a given
permutation P , and β acts on the remaining q vector fields. 2
The wedge product above can also be defined in terms of the
components of α and β in a chart as follows.
1
α= αi ···i dxi1 ∧ · · · ∧ dxip
p! 1 p
1
β = βj ···j dxj1 ∧ · · · ∧ dxjq
q! 1 q
1
αi1 ···ip βj1 ···jq dxi1 ∧ · · · ∧ dxip ∧ dxj1 ∧ · · · ∧ dxjq .



α∧β =
p!q!
(13.18)
Note that α ∧ β = 0 if p + q > n , and that a term in which some i
is equal to some j must vanish because of the antisymmetry of the
wedge product.

It can be shown by explicit calculation that wedge products are

associative,
α ∧ (β ∧ γ) = (α ∧ β) ∧ γ . (13.19)
 51
c Amitabha Lahiri: Lecture Notes on Differential Geometry for Physicists 2011

Cross-products are not associative, so there is a distinction between

cross-products and wedge products. In fact, for 1-forms in three
dimensions, the above equation is analogous to the identity for the
triple product of vectors,

a × (b × c) = (a × b) × c . (13.20)

For a p-form α and q-form β , we find

α ∧ β = (−1)pq β ∧ α . (13.21)

Proof: Consider the wedge product written in terms of the com-

ponents. We can ignore the parentheses separating the basis forms
since the wedge product is associative. Then we exchange the basis
1-forms. One exchange gives a factor of −1 ,

dxip ∧ dxj1 = −dxj1 ∧ dxip . (13.22)

Continuing this process, we get

dxi1 ∧ · · · ∧ dxip ∧ dxj1 ∧ · · · ∧ dxjq

= (−1)p dxj1 ∧ dxi1 ∧ · · · ∧ dxip ∧ dxj2 ∧ · · · ∧ dxjq
= ···
= (−1)pq dxj1 ∧ · · · ∧ dxjq ∧ dxi1 ∧ · · · ∧ dxip . (13.23)

Putting back the components, we find

α ∧ β = (−1)pq β ∧ α (13.24)

as wanted. 2
• The wedge product defines an algebra on the space of differential
forms. It is called a graded commutative algebra . 2
• Given a vector field v , we can define its contraction with a
p-form by
ιv ω = ω(v, · · · ) (13.25)
with p − 1 empty slots. This is a (p − 1)-form. Note that the position
of v only affects the sign of the contracted form. 2
Example: Consider a 2-form made of the wedge product of two

1-forms, ω = λ ∧ µ = λ ⊗ µ − µ ⊗ λ . Then contraction by v gives

ιv ω = ω(v, • ) = λ(v)µ − µ(v)λ = −ω( • , v) . (13.26)

 52 Chapter 13. Differential forms
c Amitabha Lahiri: Lecture Notes on Differential Geometry for Physicists 2011

If we have a p-form ω = p!1 ωi1 ···ip dxi1 ∧ · · · ∧ dxip , its contraction

with a vector field v = v i ∂i is
1
ιv ω = ωii ···i v i dxi2 ∧ · · · ∧ dxip . (13.27)
(p − 1)! 2 p
1
Note the sum over indices. To see how the factor becomes (p−1)! , we
write the contraction as
1
ιv ω = ωi1 ···ip dxi1 ∧ · · · ∧ dxip v i ∂i .


(13.28)
p!
Since the contraction is done in the first slot, so we consider the
action of each basis 1-form dxik on ∂i by carrying dxik to the first
position and then writing a δiik . This gives a factor of (−1) for each
exchange, but we get the same factor by rearranging the indices of
ω , thus getting a +1 for each index. This leads to an overall factor
of p .
• given a diffeomorphism ϕ : M1 → M2 , the pullback of a 1-
form λ (on M2 ) is ϕ∗ λ , defined by
ϕ∗ λ(v) = λ(ϕ∗ v) (13.29)
for any vector field v on M1 . 2
∗ i
Then we can consider the pullback ϕ dx of a basis 1-form dx . i

For a general 1-form λ = λi dxi , we have ϕ∗ λ = ϕ∗ (λi dxi ) . But

ϕ∗ λ(v) = λ(ϕ∗ v) = λi dxi (ϕ∗ v) . (13.30)
Now, dxi (ϕ∗ v) = ϕ∗ dxi (v) and the thing on the right hand side is a
function on M1 , so we can write this as
ϕ∗ λ(v) = (ϕ∗ λi )ϕ∗ dxi (v) , (13.31)
where ϕ∗ λi are now functions on M1 , i.e.
(ϕ∗ λi )|P = λi |ϕ(P ) (13.32)

So we can write ϕ∗ λ = (ϕ∗ λi ) ϕ∗ dxi . For the wedge product of two

1-forms,
ϕ∗ (λ ∧ µ)(u, v) = (λ ∧ µ)(ϕ∗ u , ϕ∗ v)
= λ ⊗ µ(ϕ∗ u , ϕ∗ v) − µ ⊗ λ(ϕ∗ u , ϕ∗ v)

= λ(ϕ∗ u)µ(ϕ∗ v) − µ(ϕ∗ u)λ(ϕ∗ v)

= ϕ∗ λ(u)ϕ∗ µ(v) − ϕ∗ µ(u)ϕ∗ λ(v)
= (ϕ∗ λ ∧ ϕ∗ µ)(u , v) . (13.33)
 53
c Amitabha Lahiri: Lecture Notes on Differential Geometry for Physicists 2011

Since u, v are arbitrary vector fields it follows that

ϕ∗ (λ ∧ µ) = ϕ∗ λ ∧ ϕ∗ µ
ϕ∗ (dxi ∧ dxj ) = ϕ∗ dxi ∧ ϕdxj . (13.34)

Since the wedge product is associative, we can write (by assuming

an obvious generalization of the above formula)
   
ϕ∗ dxi ∧ dxj ∧ dxk = ϕ∗ dxi ∧ dxj ∧ dxk

= ϕ∗ dxi ∧ dxj ∧ ϕ∗ dxk

= ϕ∗ dxi ∧ ϕ∗ dxj ∧ ϕ∗ dxk , (13.35)

and we can continue this for any number of basis 1-forms. So for any
p-form ω , let us define the pullback ϕ∗ ω by

ϕ∗ ω(v1 , · · · , vp ) = ω (ϕ∗ v1 , · · · , ϕ∗ vp ) , (13.36)

and in terms of components, by

1
ϕ∗ ω = ϕ∗ ωi1 ···ip ϕ∗ dxi1 ∧ · · · ∧ dxip .


(13.37)
p!
We assumed above that the pullback of the wedge product of a
2-form and a 1-form is the wedge product of the pullbacks of the
respective forms, but it is not necessary to make that assumption –
it can be shown explicitly by taking three vector fields and following
the arguments used earlier for the wedge product of two 1-forms.
Then for any p-form α and q-form β we can calculate from this
that
ϕ∗ (α ∧ β) = ϕ∗ α ∧ ϕ∗ β . (13.38)
Thus pullbacks commute with (are distributive over) wedge products.