2
$\begingroup$

I am quite confused between Helmholtz decomposition and Laplacian vector fields in the periodic case.

Let $\mathbb{T}^3$ be the $3$-dimensional torus. Then, I thought any divergence-free smooth vector field $v : \mathbb{T}^3 \to \mathbb{R}^3$ can be expressed as a curl of another smooth periodic vector field $V : \mathbb{T}^3 \to \mathbb{R}^3$. That is. $v=\nabla \times V$ according to the following link:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helmholtz_decomposition

However, I came across the notion of Laplacian vector fields, which have both zero curl and zero divergence. Since the Laplace equation has nontrivial solutions on $\mathbb{T}^3$ with the periodic boundary conditions, there must exist nontrivial Laplcian vector fields on $\mathbb{T}^3$, I believe.

For such vector fields, is it possible to apply the Helmholtz decomposition? I am quite confused...

Edit : by "apply the Helmholtz decomposition" I mean the possibility of the Laplacian vector fields on $\mathbb{T}^3$ expressed as a curl of another smooth periodic vector field.

$\endgroup$
0

1 Answer 1

3
$\begingroup$

The correct generalization to $\mathbb{T}^3 = (\mathbb{R}/\mathbb{Z})^3$ is the Hodge decomposition. Every vector field on $\mathbb{T}^3$ is uniquely expressible as $u = \nabla \times v + \nabla w + h$, where $\nabla \cdot h = \nabla \times h = 0$ is a Laplace vector field in your terminology. It is the summands that are unique in the decomposition, obviously $v \mapsto v + \nabla \chi$ and $w \mapsto w + C$ with constant $C$ produce the same $u$. If $\nabla \cdot u = 0$ then the $\nabla w$ term can be dropped, same for $\nabla \times v$ when $\nabla \times u = 0$. There are topological obstructions to expressing the $h$ term as either a curl or a divergence, but $h$ belongs only to a finite dimensional space. In fact, the space of Laplace vector fields is isomorphic to the de Rham cohomology $H^1(\mathbb{T}^3; \mathbb{R}) \cong H^2(\mathbb{T}^3; \mathbb{R}) \cong \mathbb{R}^3$, which in this case consists explicitly of the span $\langle \partial_x, \partial_y, \partial_z \rangle$, using the standard $(x,y,z)$ coordinates on $\mathbb{R}^3$ (before quotienting by $\mathbb{Z}^3$).

Above, I have simply translated the general statement of the Hodge decomposition to $\mathbb{T}^3$ and the language of the OP. The main observation is that, using appropriate Hodge dualization, the sequence of operators (gradient, curl, divergence) becomes the sequence of de Rham differentials $d$ acting on differential forms (dualizing once more, the same sequence becomes the sequence of de Rham codifferentials $\delta$ on forms). The harmonic forms (of degree 1 or 2) of Hodge theory then become the Laplace vector fields of the OP (harmonic forms of degree 0 or 3 become constant functions).

$\endgroup$
1
  • 3
    $\begingroup$ You can also verify the topological obstruction yourself. Let $V$ be the constant $(1,0,0)$ vector field on the torus, and suppose it can be expressed as a the curl of some periodic vector field $W$ on $\mathbb{R}^3$. Now draw the square connecting the four points $(0,0,0), (0,0,1), (0,1,1), (0,1,0)$. By spatial periodicity the line integral of $W$ around the square must be zero. But this contradicts Kelvin-Stokes since the flux of $V$ through that square is equal to $1$. $\endgroup$ Commented Jun 5, 2023 at 14:20

You must log in to answer this question.

Start asking to get answers

Find the answer to your question by asking.

Ask question

Explore related questions

See similar questions with these tags.