[Math] Pullback distributes over wedge product

differential-formsdifferential-geometry

I'm looking to prove that the pullback of a smooth function distributes over wedge product, i.e. $$\varphi^*(\omega \wedge \eta) = \varphi^* \omega \wedge \varphi^* \eta. $$

Here the question is answered. This is an excerpt from the answer:

$f^*(\omega\wedge \theta)(v_1,\cdots ,v_p,w_1,\cdots ,w_q)=(\omega\wedge \theta)(f_*(v_1),\cdots ,f_*(v_p),f_*(w_1),\cdots ,f_*(w_q)).$ using the summation formula for wedge product. Which will be same as $\omega(f∗(v_1),⋯,f∗(v_p))\wedge \theta(f∗(w_1),⋯,f∗(w_q)).$ Which is (by definition) same as $f_*(\omega)\wedge f_*(\theta).$

The part I have trouble with is the third line. $\omega(f∗(v_1),⋯,f∗(v_p))$ and $\theta(f∗(w_1),⋯,f∗(w_q))$ are real numbers, so how can we wedge them? There might be some abuse of notation here I'm not familiar with.

When I try to show $\varphi^*(\omega \wedge \eta) = \varphi^* \omega \wedge \varphi^* \eta $, my attempt breaks down when I try to simplify $(\varphi^*\omega \wedge \varphi^* \eta)(v_1, \dotsc, v_{p+q})$. Should I try to work with decomposable forms?

Best Answer

The answer mentioned should have noted that we can say: \begin{equation} \begin{aligned} \varphi^*(\omega)(v_1, \dotsc, v_k)&\varphi^*(\eta)(v_{k+1}, \dotsc, v_{k+l}) \\&= \omega(dF^*(v_1), \dotsc, dF^*(v_k))\eta(dF^*(v_{k+1}), \dotsc, dF^*(v_{k+l})) \end{aligned} \end{equation} and we can extend this termwise result over the $\text{Alt}$ map.

Related Question