Surface Integral - Advanced Issues

Advanced Issues

Let us notice that we defined the surface integral by using a parametrization of the surface S. We know that a given surface might have several parametrizations. For example, if we move the locations of the North Pole and South Pole on a sphere, the latitude and longitude change for all the points on the sphere. A natural question is then whether the definition of the surface integral depends on the chosen parametrization. For integrals of scalar fields, the answer to this question is simple, the value of the surface integral will be the same no matter what parametrization one uses.

For integrals of vector fields things are more complicated, because the surface normal is involved. It can be proved that given two parametrizations of the same surface, whose surface normals point in the same direction, one obtains the same value for the surface integral with both parametrizations. If, however, the normals for these parametrizations point in opposite directions, the value of the surface integral obtained using one parametrization is the negative of the one obtained via the other parametrization. It follows that given a surface, we do not need to stick to any unique parametrization; but, when integrating vector fields, we do need to decide in advance which direction the normal will point to and then choose any parametrization consistent with that direction.

Another issue is that sometimes surfaces do not have parametrizations which cover the whole surface; this is true for example for the surface of a cylinder (of finite height). The obvious solution is then to split that surface in several pieces, calculate the surface integral on each piece, and then add them all up. This is indeed how things work, but when integrating vector fields one needs to again be careful how to choose the normal-pointing vector for each piece of the surface, so that when the pieces are put back together, the results are consistent. For the cylinder, this means that if we decide that for the side region the normal will point out of the body, then for the top and bottom circular parts the normal must point out of the body too.

Lastly, there are surfaces which do not admit a surface normal at each point with consistent results (for example, the Möbius strip). If such a surface is split into pieces, on each piece a parametrization and corresponding surface normal is chosen, and the pieces are put back together, we will find that the normal vectors coming from different pieces cannot be reconciled. This means that at some junction between two pieces we will have normal vectors pointing in opposite directions. Such a surface is called non-orientable, and on this kind of surface one cannot talk about integrating vector fields.