Gradient Vector Field
In the presence of a Riemannian metric or a symplectic form, to every smooth function is associated a vector field (the gradient or Hamiltonian vector field). These vector fields vanish exactly at the critical points of the original function, and thus the critical points are stationary, i.e. constant trajectories of the flow associated to the vector field.
Read more about this topic: Critical Point (mathematics)
Famous quotes containing the word field:
“She is as in a field a silken tent
At midday when a sunny summer breeze
Has dried the dew and all its ropes relent,”
—Robert Frost (1874–1963)