solenoidal

Solenoidal is a term used in vector calculus and physics to describe a vector field whose divergence is zero. If F is solenoidal on a domain Ω, then ∇·F = 0. In fluid dynamics, the velocity field of an incompressible fluid is solenoidal, and in electromagnetism the magnetic field B is solenoidal because Gauss's law for magnetism states ∇·B = 0.

In relation to vector potentials, a salient property is that, on a simply connected domain, every solenoidal field can be expressed as the curl of another vector field: F = ∇×A, where A is called the vector potential. The curl of any vector potential is automatically divergence-free.

The Helmholtz decomposition provides a broader framework: under suitable decay conditions at infinity or appropriate boundary conditions on a bounded domain, any suitably smooth vector field F can be decomposed as F = ∇φ + ∇×A, where φ is a scalar potential (the irrotational part) and ∇×A is the solenoidal part. This decomposition is widely used in solving partial differential equations for fluid flows and electromagnetic problems.

Examples and interpretation: solenoidal fields represent circulatory or swirling behavior without net sources or sinks; they conserve volume locally. In numerical simulations, preserving the solenoidal condition (divergence-free property) is important for accurately modeling incompressible flows and magnetic fields.

Limitations and notes: the existence of a global vector potential A with F = ∇×A depends on the domain’s topology; on some non-simply connected domains, a divergence-free field may not admit a global vector potential. Boundary conditions also influence the decomposition and the potentials chosen.