PAPER CODE: MT-2

Green’s Theorem: It’s emanation, extent, utilisations in real world

Abstract
In this paper, our objective is to initiate the study of Green’s Theorem:
it’s emanation, extent and its utilisations in real life. Green’s theorem is one of the four
fundamental theorems of calculus, in which all of four are meticulously related to each other. Out
of these, green’s theorem defines the relationship between the macroscopic circulation of curve C
and the sum of the microscopic circulation that is inside the curve C. Due to widespread
applications of Green’s Theorem in finding the area of surfaces through integration, it is
acknowledged in various research fields. The majority of our knowledge of Green’s Theorem in
the field of mathematics is based upon its practical applications in real life. Hence, we have
proved the existence of Green’s Theorem by inculcating some major examples in our paper. First
and foremost is the Planimeter a vital instrument used for measuring areas, usually the areas of
irregular regions on a map or photograph. Secondly, we have encompassed usage of Green’s
Theorem in seismic imaging or tomography. Here tomo represents slice and graph means picture
which is a procedure for estimating the earth’s rock parameters from seismic data after an
earthquake. This can be achieved by using two methods i.e., time reversal acoustics and seismic
interferometry.

Keywords: Green’s Theorem, simply-closed curve, smooth surface,

Double integral

1.1 Introduction and Preliminaries

The well-known "Green's Theorem" gets its name after the great
mathematician George Green (Green, 1828) who stated a result in 1828 in a paper titled “An
Essay on the Application of Mathematical Analysis to the Theories of Electricity and
Magnetism”. This was the first printed version of Green's theorem appearing in modern
textbooks which was published by Augustin-Louis Cauchy in later 19 th century. But its foremost
proof was given by a German Mathematician Bernhard Riemann (Riemann,1869) in his doctoral
dissertation on the theory of functions of a complex variable. Due to its consequences and
feasible implementations, the idea has been enlarged and generalized in various directions. For
example, in vector calculus (Apostal,1960) the Green's theorem relates a line integral around a
simple closed curve C to a double integral over the plane region D bounded by C. It has a most
prominent wide-ranging applications in physics, one is solving two-dimensional flow integrals,
stating that the sum of fluid outflowing from a volume is equal to the total outflow summed
about an enclosing area. Moreover, Planimeters are mechanical instruments which are used to
measure the area of closed regions in the plane and are based on Green’s Theorem. They have
wide applications in real world like in medicine for example to measure the size of the cross-
sections of tumours or organs, in biology to measure the area of leaves or wing sizes of insects,
in agriculture to measure the area of forests.
Some more interesting research of this paper has been taken from the contributions of the below
mentioned mathematicians (Riley,2010), (Cannel, 1999), (Curtis, 2006) and (Abe, 2007).
Now, let us recall the basic definitions and results.
Definition 1(Stewart,2012). In the given plane, a closed curve is a
curve with no endpoints and which completely encloses a surface area.
Definition 2(Strauss et.al. (2007). Let us consider the two variable function z=f(x,y). Then the
line integral over a scalar field can be interpreted as the area under the field carved out by a
particular curve. This can be visualized as the surface created by z = f(x,y) and a curve C in the
xy plane. See (Figure 1).

Figure 1. depicts a line integral over the surface f (x, y) and a curve C
in the xy plane
Definition 3 (Stewart, 1999). Let f is defined on a closed, bounded
rectangular region R in the xy-plane, then the double integral of f over R is defined by

∬ 𝑓(𝑥, 𝑦)𝑑𝐴 = lim ∑𝑁𝑘=1 𝑓(𝑥𝑘∗,𝑦𝑘∗) ∆𝐴𝑘 … (1)

||𝑝||→0

Provided this limit exists, in which case, f is said to be integrable over R.

 Figure 2. depicts a double integral over the closed surface.

Theorem 1 (Green, 1828). Let C be a positively oriented, smooth and

closed curve in a plane, and let D to be the region that is bounded by the region C. Consider P
and Q to be the functions of (x, y) that are defined on the open region that contains D, and have
continuous partial derivatives, then

∂Q ∂P
c(Pdx+Qdy) = D ( ∂x - ∂ y )

dxdy …………………. (2)

Where the path integral is traversed anti-clockwise.
The theorem in general states that how the line integral around a
closed curve equals the double integral of the curl inside the region. Green’s theorem allows us to
integrate regions that are formed by a combination of a line and a plane , also to find the
relationship between the line integral and double integral.
In this section, we will discuss the development of Green’s theorem in
the notion of Seismology and will demonstrate the impact of planimeter.

1.2 Green's Theorem: unlocking the link between mathematical and real
world
Green’s Theorem allows us to connect our understanding of line
integrals and integration of multivariable functions. So this concept is applied this in utilisation
in various fields and different contexts in real-world scenarios. These applications show a clear
view that how Green’s Theorem relates to our real world. In this paper we have majorly
discussed its two most prominent applications which are as follows:
 1. Seismic imaging
2. Planimeter

1.2.1 Green’s Theorem in Seismic Imaging across the Scales

Earthquakes are one of the most devastating natural disasters that can
strike anytime with little or no warning. Recently on 21 March 2023, an earthquake of magnitude
6.6 occurred in Afghanistan, the tremors of which shook parts of northern India and were felt as
far away as Delhi-NCR, Jaipur and Chandigarh. The destructive power of earthquakes leads to
damage to infrastructure, displacement of people and loss of life. The earthquake seismology and
seismic exploration Communities have developed a variety of seismic imaging methods for
passive- and active-source data. Despite the seemingly different approaches and underlying
principles, many of those methods are based in some way or another on green’s theorem.

The two methods for seismic imaging are:

1.Time-reversal acoustics.
2.Green’s function retrieval by noise correlation (a form of seismic

interferometry) Both these methods are rooted in some way or another to green’s theorem.

i) Harnessing the potential of Green's Theorem: Introduction to Time reversal

Acoustic
Time Reversal is a signal processing technique that can be used to
focus wave energy to a selected point in space. It started in the 1960’s as a technique for signal
transmission in the ocean between ships. It has been used for underwater acoustic
communications, biomedical lithotripsy using focused ultrasound, earthquake localization and
characterization, detecting and imaging cracks and defects in structures (non-destructive
evaluation), and focusing sound in rooms. The time reversal technique (Anderson et. al., 2011) is
based upon a feature of the wave equation known as reciprocity: given a solution to the wave
equation, then the time reversal (using a negative time) of that solution is also a solution. This
occurs because the standard wave equation only contains even order derivatives.
 Figure 3: Time reversal focussing through a
random medium
The above Figure is demonstrating the principal of time reversal
acoustic - Each individual contribution of the time-reversed field is a symmetrical signal with
maximum at the same time T for each transducer. When all the transducers of the TRM(Time
Reversal Mirror) work together the summation of all the signals give a perfect time
recompression at the origin.
ii) Advancement of Green's Theorem in Seismic Interferometry
Interferometry examines the general interference phenomena between
pairs of signals in order to gain useful information about the subsurface. Seismic interferometry
(SI) utilizes the cross correlation of signal pairs to reconstruct the impulse response of a given
media. Seismic interferometry consists of simple cross correlation and stacking of actual receiver
responses to approximate the impulse response as if a virtual source was placed at the location of
the applicable receiver.

Figure 4: Image showing practicality of seismic waves to investigate

the subsurface.

Seismic interferometry with body waves in a layered medium. The

upper boundary is a free surface. Figure 4 (a)shows noise observed by receivers just below the
surface, due to uncorrelated noise sources in the subsurface. Figure 4 (b) shows retrieved
reflection response, including multiple reflections.

1.2.2 The Planimeter and Green's Theorem: Instruments for Determining

Area and Evaluating Integrals
A planimeter is a mechanical device used for measuring areas of regions in the plane which are
bounded by smooth boundaries. The measurement is based directly on green’s theorem in
multivariable calculus i.e. the planimeter integrates a line integral of a vector field which has
constant curl.
 Planimeters are mechanical instruments which can measure the
area of closed regions in the plane. Planimeters are used in medicine for example to measure the
size of the cross-sections of tumours or organs, in biology to measure the area of leaves or wing
sizes of insects, in agriculture to measure the area of forests, in engineering it is used to measure
the size of profiles.

Figure 5: A basic planimeter

1.3 Conclusions
The classical Green's theorem is a representation of a line integral of a
vector field around a simple closed curve which is equivalent to the double integral of the curl of
the vector field over the region inside the curve. This theorem has many numerous applications,
including:Fluid flow: It can be used to calculate the circulation of a fluid flow around a closed
loop, which is in turn a phenomenon in physics i.e., dynamics of fluid flow. Electric circuits:
This can be used to calculate the circulation of an electric current around a closed loop which is a
vital part in understanding the behaviour of electric circuits. Computer graphics: This can be used
to calculate the circulation of a vector field in a computer graphics application, which may be
used to create realistic visual effects. Earthquake prediction: It can be used to calculate the
circulation of pressure waves due to seismic waves in the Earth's crust, which helps in predicting
earthquakes. Robotics: This can be used to calculate the circulation of a robot's velocity vector,
which can be further used to determine the robot's movement and path planning. Overall, Green's
theorem is a powerful mathematical tool with many real-world applications in fields such as
physics, engineering, and computer science.

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