Is curl actually a cross product

derivativesfluid dynamicsVector Fieldsvectors

I tried deriving curl for some vector $\vec{v}$, everything in a cylindrical coordinate system.
I looked at cross products in this coordinates:
https://bridge.math.oregonstate.edu/workshops/mini04/13.pdf

So when I calculate the Curl, I get
$$\vec{\nabla} \times \vec{V} = \begin{vmatrix} \hat{r}\ & \hat{\theta} & \hat{z} \\ \partial/\partial r & (1/r)\partial/\partial \theta & \partial/\partial z \\ 0 & V_{\theta} & 0 \end{vmatrix}$$
Which are the Del-operator components, and the vector components. However, upon looking at curl formulas, that determinant is incorrect. If curl was a cross product between two vectors that exist in an orthonormal basis, then it should have this form. How come is the curl different than the way we would go about doing a cross product.

Best Answer

Even in cartesian coordinates, the curl isn't really a cross product.

A cross product is a map with the following properties:

  1. It takes two vectors from $\mathbb{R}^3$ and outputs a third vector in $\mathbb{R}^3$;
  2. It's anticommutative;
  3. It's rotationally invariant.

The curl has only property 3, not 1 or 2. It doesn't even make sense to discuss property 2, since it doesn't make sense to write the partial derivative operator on the right.

The cross-product notation for the curl is just a helpful mnemonic for certain properties of the curl, such as the fact that its output is a vector, it has a handedness, and that the divergence of a curl is zero.