This class will be an introduction to differential forms, a central tool in modern topology, geometry, and physics. The course begins where MATH222 ends, with Green's theorem, the divergence theorem, and Stokes' theorem. All of these theorems are special cases of one theorem, known as the general Stokes' theorem, about integration of differential forms. The objective of the first part of the course will be to understand and prove this theorem. We will then discuss manifolds and what can be learned about them using differential forms, concentrating on de Rham cohomology. |