Poincaré lemma

In mathematics, the Poincaré lemma gives a sufficient condition for a closed differential form to be exact (while an exact form is necessarily closed). Precisely, it states that every closed p-form on an open ball in Rⁿ is exact for p with 1 ≤ p ≤ n.^[1] The lemma was introduced by Henri Poincaré in 1886.^[2][3]

Especially in calculus, the Poincaré lemma also says that every closed 1-form on a simply connected open subset in ${\displaystyle \mathbb {R} ^{n}}$ is exact.

In the language of cohomology, the Poincaré lemma says that the k-th de Rham cohomology group of a contractible open subset of a manifold M (e.g., ${\displaystyle M=\mathbb {R} ^{n}}$) vanishes for ${\displaystyle k\geq 1}$. In particular, it implies that the de Rham complex yields a resolution of the constant sheaf ${\displaystyle \mathbb {R} _{M}}$ on M. The singular cohomology of a contractible space vanishes in positive degree, but the Poincaré lemma does not follow from this, since the fact that the singular cohomology of a manifold can be computed as the de Rham cohomology of it, that is, the de Rham theorem, relies on the Poincaré lemma. It does, however, mean that it is enough to prove the Poincaré lemma for open balls; the version for contractible manifolds then follows from the topological consideration.

The Poincaré lemma is also a special case of the homotopy invariance of de Rham cohomology; in fact, it is common to establish the lemma by showing the homotopy invariance or at least a version of it.

A standard proof of the Poincaré lemma uses the homotopy invariance formula (cf. see the proofs below as well as Integration along fibers#Example).^[4][5][6][7] The local form of the homotopy operator is described in Edelen (2005) and the connection of the lemma with the Maurer-Cartan form is explained in Sharpe (1997).^[8][9]

The Poincaré lemma can be proved by means of integration along fibers.^[10][11] (This approach is a straightforward generalization of constructing a primitive function by means of integration in calculus.)

We shall prove the lemma for an open subset ${\displaystyle U\subset \mathbb {R} ^{n}}$ that is star-shaped or a cone over ${\displaystyle [0,1]}$; i.e., if ${\displaystyle x}$ is in ${\displaystyle U}$, then ${\displaystyle tx}$ is in ${\displaystyle U}$ for ${\displaystyle 0\leq t\leq 1}$. This case in particular covers the open ball case, since an open ball can be assumed to centered at the origin without loss of generality.

The trick is to consider differential forms on ${\displaystyle U\times [0,1]\subset \mathbb {R} ^{n+1}}$ (we use ${\displaystyle t}$ for the coordinate on ${\displaystyle [0,1]}$). First define the operator ${\displaystyle \pi _{*}}$ (called the fiber integration) for k-forms on ${\displaystyle U\times [0,1]}$ by

${\displaystyle \pi _{*}\left(\sum _{i_{1}<\cdots <i_{k-1}}f_{i}dt\wedge dx^{i}+\sum _{j_{1}<\cdots <j_{k}}g_{j}dx^{j}\right)=\sum _{i_{1}<\cdots <i_{k-1}}\left(\int _{0}^{1}f_{i}(\cdot ,t)\,dt\right)\,dx^{i}}$

where ${\displaystyle dx^{i}=dx_{i_{1}}\wedge \cdots \wedge dx_{i_{k}}}$, ${\displaystyle f_{i}=f_{i_{1},\dots ,i_{k}}}$ and similarly for ${\displaystyle dx^{j}}$ and ${\displaystyle g_{j}}$. Now, for ${\displaystyle \alpha =f\,dt\wedge dx^{i}}$, since ${\displaystyle d\alpha =-\sum _{l}{\frac {\partial f}{\partial x_{l}}}dt\wedge dx_{l}\wedge dx^{i}}$, using the differentiation under the integral sign, we have:

${\displaystyle \pi _{*}(d\alpha )=-d(\pi _{*}\alpha )=\alpha _{1}-\alpha _{0}-d(\pi _{*}\alpha )}$

where ${\displaystyle \alpha _{0},\alpha _{1}}$ denote the restrictions of ${\displaystyle \alpha }$ to the hyperplanes ${\displaystyle t=0,t=1}$ and they are zero since ${\displaystyle dt}$ is zero there. If ${\displaystyle \alpha =f\,dx^{j}}$, then a similar computation gives

${\displaystyle \pi _{*}(d\alpha )=\alpha _{1}-\alpha _{0}-d(\pi _{*}\alpha )}$.

Thus, the above formula holds for any ${\displaystyle k}$-form ${\displaystyle \alpha }$ on ${\displaystyle U\times [0,1]}$. Finally, let ${\displaystyle h(x,t)=tx}$ and then set ${\displaystyle J=\pi _{*}\circ h^{*}}$. Then, with the notation ${\displaystyle h_{t}=h(\cdot ,t)}$, we get: for any ${\displaystyle k}$-form ${\displaystyle \omega }$ on ${\displaystyle U}$,

${\displaystyle h_{1}^{*}\omega -h_{0}^{*}\omega =Jd\omega +dJ\omega ,}$

the formula known as the homotopy formula. The operator ${\displaystyle J}$ is called the homotopy operator (also called a chain homotopy). Now, if ${\displaystyle \omega }$ is closed, ${\displaystyle Jd\omega =0}$. On the other hand, ${\displaystyle h_{1}^{*}\omega =\omega }$ and ${\displaystyle h_{0}^{*}\omega =0}$, the latter because there is no nonzero higher form at a point. Hence,

${\displaystyle \omega =dJ\omega ,}$

which proves the Poincaré lemma.

The same proof in fact shows the Poincaré lemma for any contractible open subset U of a manifold. Indeed, given such a U, we have the homotopy ${\displaystyle h_{t}}$ with ${\displaystyle h_{1}=}$ the identity and ${\displaystyle h_{0}(U)=}$ a point. Approximating such ${\displaystyle h_{t}}$,^{[clarification needed]}, we can assume ${\displaystyle h_{t}}$ is in fact smooth. The fiber integration ${\displaystyle \pi _{*}}$ is also defined for ${\displaystyle \pi :U\times [0,1]\to U}$. Hence, the same argument goes through.

Cartan's magic formula for Lie derivatives can be used to give a short proof of the Poincaré lemma. The formula states that the Lie derivative along a vector field ${\displaystyle \xi }$ is given as: ^[12]

${\displaystyle L_{\xi }=d\,i(\xi )+i(\xi )d}$

where ${\displaystyle i(\xi )}$ denotes the interior product; i.e., ${\displaystyle i(\xi )\omega =\omega (\xi ,\cdot )}$.

Let ${\displaystyle f_{t}:U\to U}$ be a smooth family of smooth maps for some open subset U of ${\displaystyle \mathbb {R} ^{n}}$ such that ${\displaystyle f_{t}}$ is defined for t in some closed interval I and ${\displaystyle f_{t}}$ is a diffeomorphism for t in the interior of I. Let ${\displaystyle \xi _{t}(x)}$ denote the tangent vectors to the curve ${\displaystyle f_{t}(x)}$; i.e., ${\displaystyle {\frac {d}{dt}}f_{t}(x)=\xi _{t}(f_{t}(x))}$. For a fixed t in the interior of I, let ${\displaystyle g_{s}=f_{t+s}\circ f_{t}^{-1}}$. Then ${\displaystyle g_{0}=\operatorname {id} ,\,{\frac {d}{ds}}g_{s}|_{s=0}=\xi _{t}}$. Thus, by the definition of a Lie derivative,

${\displaystyle (L_{\xi _{t}}\omega )(f_{t}(x))={\frac {d}{ds}}g_{s}^{*}\omega (f_{t}(x))|_{s=0}={\frac {d}{ds}}f_{t+s}^{*}\omega (x)|_{s=0}={\frac {d}{dt}}f_{t}^{*}\omega (x)}$.

That is,

${\displaystyle {\frac {d}{dt}}f_{t}^{*}\omega =f_{t}^{*}L_{\xi _{t}}\omega .}$

Assume ${\displaystyle I=[0,1]}$. Then, integrating both sides of the above and then using Cartan's formula and the differentiation under the integral sign, we get: for ${\displaystyle 0<t_{0}<t_{1}<1}$,

${\displaystyle f_{t_{1}}^{*}\omega -f_{t_{0}}^{*}\omega =d\int _{t_{0}}^{t_{1}}f_{t}^{*}i(\xi _{t})\omega \,dt+\int _{t_{0}}^{t_{1}}f_{t}^{*}i(\xi _{t})d\omega \,dt}$

where the integration means the integration of each coefficient in a differential form. Letting ${\displaystyle t_{0},t_{1}\to 0,1}$, we then have:

${\displaystyle f_{1}^{*}\omega -f_{0}^{*}\omega =dJ\omega +Jd\omega }$

with the notation ${\displaystyle J\omega =\int _{0}^{1}f_{t}^{*}i(\xi _{t})\omega \,dt.}$

Now, assume ${\displaystyle U}$ is an open ball with center ${\displaystyle x_{0}}$; then we can take ${\displaystyle f_{t}(x)=t(x-x_{0})+x_{0}}$. Then the above formula becomes:

${\displaystyle \omega =dJ\omega +Jd\omega }$,

which proves the Poincaré lemma when ${\displaystyle \omega }$ is closed.

In two dimensions the Poincaré lemma can be proved directly for closed 1-forms and 2-forms as follows.^[13]

If ω = p dx + q dy is a closed 1-form on (a, b) × (c, d), then p_y = q_x. If ω = df then p = f_x and q = f_y. Set

${\displaystyle g(x,y)=\int _{a}^{x}p(t,y)\,dt,}$

so that g_x = p. Then h = f − g must satisfy h_x = 0 and h_y = q − g_y. The right hand side here is independent of x since its partial derivative with respect to x is 0. So

${\displaystyle h(x,y)=\int _{c}^{y}q(a,s)\,ds-g(a,y)=\int _{c}^{y}q(a,s)\,ds,}$

and hence

${\displaystyle f(x,y)=\int _{a}^{x}p(t,y)\,dt+\int _{c}^{y}q(a,s)\,ds.}$

Similarly, if Ω = r dx ∧ dy then Ω = d(a dx + b dy) with b_x − a_y = r. Thus a solution is given by a = 0 and

${\displaystyle b(x,y)=\int _{a}^{x}r(t,y)\,dt.}$

By definition, the k-th de Rham cohomology group ${\displaystyle \operatorname {H} _{dR}^{k}(U)}$ of an open subset U of a manifold M is defined as the quotient vector space

${\displaystyle \operatorname {H} _{dR}^{k}(U)=\{{\textrm {closed}}\,k{\text{-forms}}\,{\textrm {on}}\,U\}/\{{\textrm {exact}}\,k{\text{-forms}}\,{\textrm {on}}\,U\}.}$

Hence, the conclusion of the Poincaré lemma is precisely that ${\displaystyle \operatorname {H} _{dR}^{k}(U)=0}$ for ${\displaystyle k\geq 1}$. Now, differential forms determine a cochain complex called the de Rham complex:

${\displaystyle \Omega ^{*}:0\to \Omega ^{0}{\overset {d^{0}}{\to }}\Omega ^{1}{\overset {d^{1}}{\to }}\cdots \to \Omega ^{n}\to 0}$

where n = the dimension of M and ${\displaystyle \Omega ^{k}}$ denotes the sheaf of differential k-forms; i.e., ${\displaystyle \Omega ^{k}(U)}$ consists of k-forms on U for each open subset U of M. It then gives rise to the complex (the augmented complex)

${\displaystyle 0\to \mathbb {R} _{M}{\overset {\epsilon }{\to }}\Omega ^{0}{\overset {d^{0}}{\to }}\Omega ^{1}{\overset {d^{1}}{\to }}\cdots \to \Omega ^{n}\to 0}$

where ${\displaystyle \mathbb {R} _{M}}$ is the constant sheaf with values in ${\displaystyle \mathbb {R} }$; i.e., it is the sheaf of locally constant real-valued functions and ${\displaystyle \epsilon }$ the inclusion.

The kernel of ${\displaystyle d^{0}}$ is ${\displaystyle \mathbb {R} _{M}}$, since the smooth functions with zero derivatives are locally constant. Also, a sequence of sheaves is exact if and only if it is so locally. The Poincaré lemma thus says the rest of the sequence is exact too (since a manifold is locally diffeomorphic to an open subset of ${\displaystyle \mathbb {R} ^{n}}$ and then each point has an open ball as a neighborhood). In the language of homological algebra, it means that the de Rham complex determines a resolution of the constant sheaf ${\displaystyle \mathbb {R} _{M}}$. This then implies the de Rham theorem; i.e., the de Rham cohomology of a manifold coincides with the singular cohomology of it (in short, because the singular cohomology can be viewed as a sheaf cohomology.)

Once one knows the de Rham theorem, the conclusion of the Poincaré lemma can then be obtained purely topologically. For example, it implies a version of the Poincaré lemma for contractible or simply connected open sets (see §Simply connected case).

Especially in calculus, the Poincaré lemma is stated for a simply connected open subset ${\displaystyle U\subset \mathbb {R} ^{n}}$. In that case, the lemma says that each closed 1-form on U is exact. This version can be seen using algebraic topology as follows. The rational Hurewicz theorem (or rather the real analog of that) says that ${\displaystyle \operatorname {H} _{1}(U;\mathbb {R} )=0}$ since U is simply connected. Since ${\displaystyle \mathbb {R} }$ is a field, the k-th cohomology ${\displaystyle \operatorname {H} ^{k}(U;\mathbb {R} )}$ is the dual vector space of the k-th homology ${\displaystyle \operatorname {H} _{k}(U;\mathbb {R} )}$. In particular, ${\displaystyle \operatorname {H} ^{1}(U;\mathbb {R} )=0.}$ By the de Rham theorem (which follows from the Poincaré lemma for open balls), ${\displaystyle \operatorname {H} ^{1}(U;\mathbb {R} )}$ is the same as the first de Rham cohomology group (see §Implication to de Rham cohomology). Hence, each closed 1-form on U is exact.

There is a version of Poincaré lemma for compactly supported differential forms:^[14]

The pull-back along a proper map preserve compact supports; thus, the same proof as the usual one goes through.^[15]

On complex manifolds, the use of the Dolbeault operators ${\displaystyle \partial }$ and ${\displaystyle {\bar {\partial }}}$ for complex differential forms, which refine the exterior derivative by the formula ${\displaystyle d=\partial +{\bar {\partial }}}$, lead to the notion of ${\displaystyle {\bar {\partial }}}$-closed and ${\displaystyle {\bar {\partial }}}$-exact differential forms. The local exactness result for such closed forms is known as the Dolbeault–Grothendieck lemma (or ${\displaystyle {\bar {\partial }}}$-Poincaré lemma); cf. § On polynomial differential forms. Importantly, the geometry of the domain on which a ${\displaystyle {\bar {\partial }}}$-closed differential form is ${\displaystyle {\bar {\partial }}}$-exact is more restricted than for the Poincaré lemma, since the proof of the Dolbeault–Grothendieck lemma holds on a polydisk (a product of disks in the complex plane, on which the multidimensional Cauchy's integral formula may be applied) and there exist counterexamples to the lemma even on contractible domains.^{[Note 1]} The ${\displaystyle {\bar {\partial }}}$-Poincaré lemma holds in more generality for pseudoconvex domains.^[16]

Using both the Poincaré lemma and the ${\displaystyle {\bar {\partial }}}$-Poincaré lemma, a refined local ${\displaystyle \partial {\bar {\partial }}}$-Poincaré lemma can be proven, which is valid on domains upon which both the aforementioned lemmas are applicable. This lemma states that ${\displaystyle d}$-closed complex differential forms are actually locally ${\displaystyle \partial {\bar {\partial }}}$-exact (rather than just ${\displaystyle d}$ or ${\displaystyle {\bar {\partial }}}$-exact, as implied by the above lemmas).

The relative Poincaré lemma generalizes Poincaré lemma from a point to a submanifold (or some more general locally closed subset). It states: let V be a submanifold of a manifold M and U a tubular neighborhood of V. If ${\displaystyle \sigma }$ is a closed k-form on U, k ≥ 1, that vanishes on V, then there exists a (k-1)-form ${\displaystyle \eta }$ on U such that ${\displaystyle d\eta =\sigma }$ and ${\displaystyle \eta }$ vanishes on V.^[17]

The relative Poincaré lemma can be proved in the same way the original Poincaré lemma is proved. Indeed, since U is a tubular neighborhood, there is a smooth strong deformation retract from U to V; i.e., there is a smooth homotopy ${\displaystyle h_{t}:U\to U}$ from the projection ${\displaystyle U\to V}$ to the identity such that ${\displaystyle h_{t}}$ is the identity on V. Then we have the homotopy formula on U:

${\displaystyle h_{1}^{*}-h_{0}^{*}=dJ+Jd}$

where ${\displaystyle J}$ is the homotopy operator given by either Lie derivatives or integration along fibers. Now, ${\displaystyle h_{0}(U)\subset V}$ and so ${\displaystyle h_{0}^{*}\sigma =0}$. Since ${\displaystyle d\sigma =0}$ and ${\displaystyle h_{1}^{*}\sigma =\sigma }$, we get ${\displaystyle \sigma =dJ\sigma }$; take ${\displaystyle \eta =J\sigma }$. That ${\displaystyle \eta }$ vanishes on V follows from the definition of J and the fact ${\displaystyle h_{t}(V)\subset V}$. (So the proof actually goes through if U is not a tubular neighborhood but if U deformation-retracts to V with homotopy relative to V.) ${\displaystyle \square }$

In characteristic zero, the following Poincaré lemma holds for polynomial differential forms.^[18]

Let k be a field of characteristic zero, ${\displaystyle R=k[x_{1},\dots ,x_{n}]}$ the polynomial ring and ${\displaystyle \Omega ^{1}}$ the vector space with a basis written as ${\displaystyle dx_{1},\dots ,dx_{n}}$. Then let ${\displaystyle \Omega ^{p}=\wedge ^{p}\Omega ^{1}}$ be the p-th exterior power of ${\displaystyle \Omega ^{1}}$ over ${\displaystyle R}$. Then the sequence of vector spaces

${\displaystyle 0\to k\to \Omega ^{0}{\overset {d}{\to }}\Omega ^{1}{\overset {d}{\to }}\cdots \to 0}$

is exact, where the differential ${\displaystyle d}$ is defined by the usual way; i.e., the linearity and

${\displaystyle d(f\,dx_{i_{i}}\wedge \cdots \wedge dx_{i_{p}})=\sum _{j}{\frac {\partial f}{dx_{j}}}dx_{j}\wedge dx_{i_{i}}\wedge \cdots \wedge dx_{i_{p}}.}$

This version of the lemma is seen by a calculus-like argument. First note that ${\displaystyle \ker(d:R\to \Omega ^{1})=k}$, clearly. Thus, we only need to check the exactness at ${\displaystyle p>0}$. Let ${\displaystyle \omega }$ be a ${\displaystyle p}$-form. Then we write

${\displaystyle \omega =\omega _{0}\wedge dx_{1}+\omega _{1}}$

where the ${\displaystyle \omega _{i}}$'s do not involve ${\displaystyle dx_{1}}$. Define the integration in ${\displaystyle x_{1}}$ by the linearity and

${\displaystyle \int x_{1}^{r}\,dx_{1}={\frac {x_{1}^{r+1}}{r+1}},}$

which is well-defined by the char zero assumption. Then let

${\displaystyle \eta =\int \omega _{0}\,dx_{1}}$

where the integration is applied to each coefficient in ${\displaystyle \omega _{0}}$. Clearly, the fundamental theorem of calculus holds in our formal setup and thus we get:

${\displaystyle d\eta =\omega _{0}\wedge \,dx_{1}+\sigma }$

where ${\displaystyle \sigma }$ does not involve ${\displaystyle dx_{1}}$. Hence, ${\displaystyle \omega -d\eta }$ does not involve ${\displaystyle dx_{1}}$. Replacing ${\displaystyle \omega }$ by ${\displaystyle \omega -d\eta }$, we can thus assume ${\displaystyle \omega }$ does not involve ${\displaystyle dx_{1}}$. From the assumption ${\displaystyle d\omega =0}$, it easily follows that each coefficient in ${\displaystyle \omega }$ is independent of ${\displaystyle x_{1}}$; i.e., ${\displaystyle \omega }$ is a polynomial differential form in the variables ${\displaystyle x_{2},\dots ,x_{n}}$. Hence, we are done by induction. ${\displaystyle \square }$

Remark: With the same proof, the same results hold when ${\displaystyle R=k[\![x_{1},\dots ,x_{n}]\!]}$ is the ring of formal power series or the ring of germs of holomorphic functions.^[19] A suitably modified proof also shows the ${\displaystyle {\bar {\partial }}}$-Poincaré lemma; namely, the use of the fundamental theorem of calculus is replaced by Cauchy's integral formula.^[20]

The Poincaré lemma generally fails for singular spaces. For example, if one considers algebraic differential forms on a complex algebraic variety (in the Zariski topology), the lemma is not true for those differential forms.^[21] One way to resolve this is to use formal forms and the resulting algebraic de Rham cohomology can compute a singular cohomology.^[22]

However, the variants of the lemma still likely hold for some singular spaces (precise formulation and proof depend on the definitions of such spaces and non-smooth differential forms on them.) For example, Kontsevich and Soibelman claim the lemma holds for certain variants of different forms (called PA forms) on their piecewise algebraic spaces.^[23]

The homotopy invariance fails for intersection cohomology; in particular, the Poincaré lemma fails for such cohomology.

• Hartshorne, Robin (1975). "On the de rham cohomology of algebraic varieties". Publications Mathématiques de l'Institut des Hautes Études Scientifiques. 45 (1): 6–99. doi:10.1007/BF02684298. ISSN 1618-1913.
• Illusie, Luc (2012), Around the Poincaré lemma, after Beilinson (PDF) (talk notes)
• Napier, Terrence; Ramachandran, Mohan (2011), An introduction to Riemann surfaces, Birkhäuser, ISBN 978-0-8176-4693-6
• Conlon, Lawrence (2001). Differentiable Manifolds (2nd ed.). Springer. doi:10.1007/978-0-8176-4767-4. ISBN 978-0-8176-4766-7.
• Warner, Frank W. (1983), Foundations of differentiable manifolds and Lie groups, Graduate Texts in Mathematics, vol. 94, Springer, ISBN 0-387-90894-3

• "Poincaré lemma", ncatlab.org
• https://mathoverflow.net/questions/287385/p-adic-poincaré-lemma