On Two Kinds of Differential Operators on General Smooth Surfaces

Abstract: Two kinds of differential operators that can be generally defined on an arbitrary smooth surface in a finite dimensional Euclid space are studied, one is termed as surface gradient and the other one as Levi-Civita gradient. The surface gradient operator is originated from the differentiability of a tensor field defined on the surface. Some integral and differential identities have been theoretically studied that play the important role in the studies on continuous mediums whose geometrical configurations can be taken as surfaces and on interactions between fluids and deformable boundaries. The definition of Levi-Civita gradient is based on Levi-Civita connections generally defined on Riemann manifolds. It can be used to set up some differential identities in the intrinsic/coordiantes-independent form that play the essential role in the theory of vorticity dynamics for two dimensional flows on general fixed smooth surfaces.