Hi JB,

Its like Morgan said. We need a little clarification here.

Generally there are four equivalent ways to express the fact that a (vector) field is conservative:
1) A path integral over simple closed curve is zero;
2) Any path integrals with the same end points gives the same value;
3) The field can be expressed as the gradient of a scalar function; and
4) The curl of the field is zero, i.e., it is irrotational.

These statements are mathematically equivalent.

I can think of numerous fields that might be regarded as "circular". So the question is: what do you mean by a circular field? A particular example would be nice.


Dr. R.