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I want to compute a integral of a polynomial $f(x, y)$ over a polygon domain $D$ of $n$ sides.

$$ I(f) = \int_{D} f(x, \ y) \ dx \ dy $$

The vertex of this polygon are

$$\vec{p}_{i} = (x_i, \ y_i) \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \forall \ i = 1, \ 2, \ \cdots , \ n$$

The main aproach is transform this integral over the domain in a integral over the boundary using Green's theorem.

$$ \int_{D} \left(\dfrac{\partial Q}{\partial x} - \dfrac{\partial P}{\partial y}\right)\ dA = \oint_{C} P \ dx + Q \ dy $$

Where the path $C$ is

$$ \partial D = C = C_1 \cup C_2 \cup \cdots \cup C_{n} = \bigcup_{i=1}^{n} C_{i} $$

And $C_{i}$ is defined by the linear parametrization with $t \in \left[0, \ 1\right] $

$$ \vec{p}(t) = \left(1-t\right)\cdot \vec{p}_{i} + t \cdot \vec{p}_{i+1} $$ $$ x(t) = \left(1-t\right) \cdot x_{i} + t \cdot x_{i+1} $$ $$ y(t) = \left(1-t\right) \cdot y_{i} + t \cdot y_{i+1} $$

And therefore the integral $I$ is just

$$ I = \sum_{i = 1}^{n} \int_{C_i} P \ dx + Q \ dy = \sum_{i = 1}^{n} \int_{0}^{1} \left(P, \ Q\right) \cdot \dfrac{d\vec{p}}{dt} \ dt $$

$$ \boxed{ I = \sum_{i = 1}^{n} \int_{0}^{1} \left(P, \ Q\right) \cdot \left(\vec{p}_{i+1}-\vec{p}_{i}\right) \ dt} $$

To compute this integral, I can choose whatever I want for $P$ and $Q$ such that

$$ f(x, \ y) = \dfrac{\partial}{\partial x} Q(x, \ y) - \dfrac{\partial}{\partial y} P(x, \ y) $$

And then compute the sum.

The question: Why the expression is not unique?

Like, if I choose a pair $(P_1, \ Q_1)$, I get a function $g_1(x_1, \ y_1, \ \cdots, \ x_{n}, \ y_{n})$. But if I choose another pair $(P_2, \ Q_2)$, I get $g_2(x_1, \ y_1, \ \cdots, \ x_{n}, \ y_{n})$ with

$$ g_1 \ne g_2 $$

Example: In the video Michael Penn - Overkill - The area of a rectangle we have $f(x, y) = 1$.

Then he chose $P = 0$ and $Q = x$ to get

$$ I(1) = \sum_{i = 1}^{n} \dfrac{(x_{i+1}+x_{i})(y_{i+1}-y_{i})}{2} $$

But if I choose $P=-y$ and $Q = 0$ I get

$$ I(1) = \sum_{i=1}^{n} \dfrac{(x_{i+1}-x_{i})(y_{i+1}+y_{i})}{2} $$

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  • $\begingroup$ I don't quite understand the question. Is it surprising for you that, say, in the one-dimensional case the antiderivative is not unique (one can add any constant) or what? Of course, in dimension $1$ the space of closed ($d\omega=0$) differential $0$-forms is rather meager but in dimension $d\ge 2$ the corresponding space of $d-1$-forms is huge. $\endgroup$ Commented Jun 29, 2022 at 10:28
  • $\begingroup$ I looked more about it and I found that if I expand around $j$, the expressions are the same. So the total expression is always the same although the expression inside the sum is not the same. I will add an answer to explain that. Thank you! $\endgroup$ Commented Jul 2, 2022 at 15:00

1 Answer 1

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In the example, I got that

$$ I(1) = \sum_{i=1}^{n} \dfrac{(x_{i+1}+x_{i})(y_{i+1}-y_{i})}{2} = \sum_{i=1}^{n} \dfrac{(x_{i+1}-x_{i})(y_{i+1}+y_{i})}{2} $$

And it's indeed correct. If I expand around $j$, I get that

$$ I(1) = \sum_{i=1}^{j-2} \square + x_{j}\left(y_{j+1}-y_{j-1}\right) + y_{j}\left(x_{j-1}-x_{j+1}\right)+ \sum_{i=j+1}^{n} \square $$

To say that

$$ \dfrac{\partial}{\partial x_{j}} I(1) = y_{j+1} - y_{j-1} $$ $$ \dfrac{\partial}{\partial y_{j}} I(1) = x_{j-1} - x_{j+1} $$

For other polynomials $f$, it's harder to get a closed formula to that.

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