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In the 1-dimensional case antiderivatives $F(x)$ of a function $f(x)$ have the following properties:

  • $F(x)=\int\limits_0^xf(t)dt$
  • $\frac{d}{dx}F(x)=f(x)$
  • $\int\limits_a^bf(t)dt = F(b)-F(a)$

Of which the only the first property directly generalizes to multivariable functions:
$F(x_1,\,\dots,\,x_n):=\int\limits_0^{x_n}\cdots\int\limits_0^{x_1}f(t_1,\,\dots,\,t_n)dt_1\cdots dt_n$

Questions:

  • would it be acceptable to define $F(x_1,\,\dots,\,x_n)$ as the antiderivative of $f(x)$ if every definite integral $\int\limits_{a_n}^{b_n}\cdots\int\limits_{a_1}^{b_1}f(t_1,\,\dots,\,t_n)dt_1\cdots dt_n$
    can be calculated from a fixed number, that only depends on dimension, of evaluations of $F(x_1,\,\dots,\,x_n)$?
  • are methods for calculating definite multivariable integrals of $f(x)$ by means of a fixed number of evaluations of its directly generalized antiderivative $F(\boldsymbol{x})$ already known?

I know of the methods from vector calculus:

  • Gradient theorem
  • Stokes' theorem
  • Divergence theorem
  • Green's theorem

but would not count them as direct generalizations of 1-dimensional integration in the context of this question.

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  • $\begingroup$ Maybe you want to think about forms, and integration as solving $dx=y$? $\endgroup$
    – Pedro
    Commented Nov 10 at 10:53
  • $\begingroup$ @Pedro di you have a reference for doing that in the multivariable case? $\endgroup$ Commented Nov 10 at 11:59
  • $\begingroup$ All three properties generalize to the "anti-derivative" that you wrote. In probability it is called the multivariate distribution function. $\endgroup$ Commented Nov 10 at 12:29
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    $\begingroup$ Solving $dx = y$ is the Poincaré lemma. $\endgroup$ Commented Nov 10 at 14:18

2 Answers 2

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$\newcommand\R{\Bbb R}\newcommand{\1}{\mathbf{1}}\newcommand{\xx}{\mathbf{x}}\newcommand{\yy}{\mathbf{y}}\newcommand{\uu}{\mathbf{u}}\newcommand{\vv}{\mathbf{v}}\newcommand{\0}{\mathbf{0}}$ Your questions were answered by Remark 3.2 and Lemma 5.1 of this paper. For convenience, here is a reproduction of that, with a few little modifications.

Let us say that a function $F\colon\R^p\to\R$ is an antiderivative of a function $f\colon\R^p\to\R$ if \begin{equation*} F^{(1,\dots,1)}=f; \end{equation*} that is, if $F$ is differentiated once with respect to every one of the $p$ arguments of the function $F$, then the result of this $p$-fold partial differentiation is the function $f$. It is assumed that this result does not depend on the order of the arguments with respect to which the partial derivatives are taken. Here and elsewhere, it suffices to assume that the function $f\colon\R^n\to\R$ is continuous. Clearly, this notion of an antiderivative is a generalization of the corresponding notion for functions on $\R$.

Remark: A function $F\colon\R^p\to\R$ is an antiderivative of the function $f$ if and only if one has a representation of the form \begin{equation*} F(\xx)=\int_\0^\xx d\yy\, f(\yy)+\sum_{j=1}^p c_j(x_1,\dots,x_{j-1},x_{j+1},\dots,x_p) \end{equation*} for all $\xx=(x_1,\dots,x_p)\in\R^p$, where $c_1,\dots,c_p$ are functions on $\R^{p-1}$ such that, for each $j\in\{1,\dots,p\}$ and all $(x_1,\dots,x_p)\in\R^p$, the mixed partial derivative $\dfrac{\partial^{p-1}c_j(x_1,\dots,x_{j-1},x_{j+1},\dots,x_p)}{\partial x_1\cdots\partial x_{j-1}\partial x_{j+1}\cdots\partial x_p}$ exists and does not depend on the order of the arguments with respect to which the partial derivatives are taken. The notation $\int_\0^\xx d\yy\, f(\yy)$ is a special case of notation explained in Lemma 1 below.

The "if" part of the above statement is obvious. The "only if" part of it follows from the multidimensional version of the fundamental theorem of calculus to be given by Lemma 1 below.

In particular, the function $F$ on $\R^p$ given by the condition $F(\xx)=\int_\0^\xx d\yy f(\yy)$ for all $\xx\in\R^p$ is clearly an antiderivative of $f$; thus, there always exists an antiderivative of the function $f$. $\quad\Box$

The following lemma is a direct multidimensional generalization of the fundamental theorem of calculus (FTC).

Lemma 1: Let $F$ be any antiderivative of $f$. Take any $\uu=(u_1,\dots,u_p)$ and $\vv=(v_1,\dots,v_p)$ in $\R^p$. Then \begin{equation}\label{eq:FTC} \int_\uu^\vv d\xx f(\xx)=\sum_{J\subseteq[p]}(-1)^{p-|J|}F(\vv_J), \end{equation} where $$\int_\uu^\vv d\xx\; h(\xx):= (-1)^{\sum_{r=1}^p 1(u_r>v_r) }\int_{[\uu\wedge\vv,\uu\vee\vv]} d\xx\; h(\xx);$$ \begin{equation*} \uu\wedge\vv:=(u_1\wedge v_1,\dots, u_p\wedge v_p); \quad \uu\vee\vv:=(u_1\vee v_1,\dots,u_p\vee v_p); \end{equation*} $u\wedge v:=\min(u,v)$ and $u\vee v:=\max(u,v)$ for real $u$ and $v$; $[\uu,\vv]:=\prod_{r=1}^p[u_r,v_r]$; $|J|$ is the cardinality of $J$; $\vv_J:=\uu\1_{[p]\setminus J}+\vv\1_J=\uu+(\vv-\uu)\1_J$; $\1_J:=(1(1\in J),\dots,1(p\in J))$; $\uu\vv:=(u_1v_1,\dots,u_pv_p)$.

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    $\begingroup$ indeed a very helpful answer! $\endgroup$ Commented Nov 10 at 14:12
  • $\begingroup$ so the sum on right of Lemma 1 amounts to calculating the union of certain orthogaonal ranges via the inclusion-exclusion principle. I have apparently rediscovered that fact and could provide python code for that calculation. If it is considered appropriate I could add it to my question or provide it on request. $\endgroup$ Commented Nov 10 at 15:25
  • $\begingroup$ @ManfredWeis : Yes, here we have an instance of the inclusion-exclusion principle. $\endgroup$ Commented Nov 10 at 15:56
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This is just to show that differential forms give a valid answer to this question, as in the comments. Let’s work on $\mathbb{R}^n$ and let the volume form be $\omega$. Then the $n$ form $f \omega$ is closed. By the Poincaré lemma, there is an $n-1$ form $F$ such that $dF = f \omega$. This generalizes your second property. Given a closed region, Stokes’s theorem generalizes your first and third property.

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