[proofplan]
By the definition of the integral of a $2$-form over an oriented parametrised surface (see [Integration of Differential Forms](/theorems/1529)), $\int_S \omega_F = \int_D r^* \omega_F$. We compute the pullback $r^* \omega_F$ explicitly: pulling back the coordinate $1$-forms $dx, dy, dz$ yields linear combinations of $du$ and $dv$ whose wedge products produce $2 \times 2$ Jacobian minors. Collecting the three terms in $\omega_F$, the coefficient of $du \wedge dv$ is precisely the $3 \times 3$ determinant whose rows are $F(r)$, $r_u$, and $r_v$ — that is, the scalar triple product $F(r) \cdot (r_u \times r_v)$. The result follows by interpreting $\int_D h\, du \wedge dv$ as the [Lebesgue integral](/page/Lebesgue%20Integral) $\int_D h\, d\mathcal{L}^2$, which is valid because the parametrisation is orientation-compatible.
[/proofplan]
[step:Reduce the surface integral to a pullback integral over the parameter domain]
By the definition of the integral of a differential form over an oriented parametrised submanifold (see [Integration of Differential Forms](/theorems/1529)), for any smooth $2$-form $\omega \in \Omega^2(U)$ on an [open set](/page/Open%20Set) $U \supseteq S$ and any orientation-compatible smooth parametrisation $r: D \to S$,
\begin{align*}
\int_S \omega = \int_D r^* \omega.
\end{align*}
The hypotheses are met: $r \in C^\infty(D; \mathbb{R}^3)$ is an immersion by assumption (so it is a smooth parametrisation), $S = r(D) \subseteq U$ lies in the domain of $\omega_F$, and the parametrisation is orientation-compatible by hypothesis. Applying this with $\omega = \omega_F$ gives
\begin{align*}
\int_S \omega_F = \int_D r^* \omega_F.
\end{align*}
It therefore suffices to compute $r^* \omega_F$ as a $2$-form on $D$.
[guided]
The integral of a $2$-form over an oriented surface is *defined* via parametrisation: we pull the form back to a region of $\mathbb{R}^2$ and integrate the resulting top-degree form there. The well-definedness of this construction — independence of the choice of orientation-compatible parametrisation — is itself part of [Integration of Differential Forms](/theorems/1529); we do not need to reprove it here.
To invoke that theorem we must verify three things:
- $r$ is a smooth parametrisation. Indeed $r \in C^\infty$ and is an immersion by hypothesis.
- The image lies in the domain of the form. We have $S = r(D) \subseteq U$ by hypothesis, and $\omega_F$ is defined on all of $U$.
- The parametrisation respects orientation. This is precisely the orientation-compatibility hypothesis: $r$ pushes $du \wedge dv$ forward to the chosen orientation of $S$.
With these conditions verified, the theorem yields
\begin{align*}
\int_S \omega_F = \int_D r^* \omega_F,
\end{align*}
and the entire problem reduces to computing the pullback $r^* \omega_F$ as a $2$-form on $D$.
[/guided]
[/step]
[step:Pull back the coordinate $1$-forms $dx$, $dy$, $dz$ along $r$]
Write $r = (x, y, z)$ where $x, y, z \in C^\infty(D)$. The pullback of a coordinate $1$-form along a smooth map equals the differential of the corresponding component function. Thus
\begin{align*}
r^* dx &= dx \circ r = x_u\, du + x_v\, dv, \\
r^* dy &= y_u\, du + y_v\, dv, \\
r^* dz &= z_u\, du + z_v\, dv,
\end{align*}
where subscripts denote partial derivatives, e.g. $x_u := \partial_u x$.
[/step]
[step:Compute the pullbacks of the basis $2$-forms $dy \wedge dz$, $dz \wedge dx$, $dx \wedge dy$]
Pullback commutes with the wedge product: for any smooth map $r$ and forms $\alpha, \beta$, one has $r^*(\alpha \wedge \beta) = (r^*\alpha) \wedge (r^*\beta)$. We compute each of the three basis $2$-forms in turn, using the bilinearity of $\wedge$, the antisymmetry $du \wedge dv = -dv \wedge du$, and the vanishing $du \wedge du = dv \wedge dv = 0$.
For the first:
\begin{align*}
r^*(dy \wedge dz) &= (y_u\, du + y_v\, dv) \wedge (z_u\, du + z_v\, dv) \\
&= y_u z_v\, du \wedge dv + y_v z_u\, dv \wedge du \\
&= (y_u z_v - y_v z_u)\, du \wedge dv.
\end{align*}
By the identical computation with $(y, z)$ replaced by $(z, x)$ and then by $(x, y)$:
\begin{align*}
r^*(dz \wedge dx) &= (z_u x_v - z_v x_u)\, du \wedge dv, \\
r^*(dx \wedge dy) &= (x_u y_v - x_v y_u)\, du \wedge dv.
\end{align*}
These three coefficients are exactly the components of the cross product $r_u \times r_v$. Recalling
\begin{align*}
r_u = (x_u, y_u, z_u), \qquad r_v = (x_v, y_v, z_v),
\end{align*}
the standard determinant formula for the cross product gives
\begin{align*}
r_u \times r_v = \bigl( y_u z_v - y_v z_u,\ z_u x_v - z_v x_u,\ x_u y_v - x_v y_u \bigr).
\end{align*}
Denoting the three components by $(r_u \times r_v)_1, (r_u \times r_v)_2, (r_u \times r_v)_3$, we have shown
\begin{align*}
r^*(dy \wedge dz) &= (r_u \times r_v)_1\, du \wedge dv, \\
r^*(dz \wedge dx) &= (r_u \times r_v)_2\, du \wedge dv, \\
r^*(dx \wedge dy) &= (r_u \times r_v)_3\, du \wedge dv.
\end{align*}
[guided]
Each basis $2$-form on $\mathbb{R}^3$ pulls back to a scalar multiple of $du \wedge dv$, because $D$ is two-dimensional and $du \wedge dv$ spans $\Lambda^2 T_{(u,v)}^* D$. The scalar that appears is, in each case, a $2 \times 2$ Jacobian minor of $r$.
The pattern is clearest if we view it as a determinant. For two smooth functions $f, g: D \to \mathbb{R}$,
\begin{align*}
df \wedge dg = (f_u\, du + f_v\, dv) \wedge (g_u\, du + g_v\, dv) = \det \begin{pmatrix} f_u & g_u \\ f_v & g_v \end{pmatrix} du \wedge dv = (f_u g_v - f_v g_u)\, du \wedge dv.
\end{align*}
This is the *Jacobian determinant of the pair $(f, g)$*, sometimes written $\frac{\partial(f,g)}{\partial(u,v)}$.
Applying this with $(f, g) = (y, z)$, $(z, x)$, $(x, y)$ produces the three minors
\begin{align*}
\frac{\partial(y, z)}{\partial(u, v)}, \qquad \frac{\partial(z, x)}{\partial(u, v)}, \qquad \frac{\partial(x, y)}{\partial(u, v)},
\end{align*}
which are precisely the entries of the cross product
\begin{align*}
r_u \times r_v = \det \begin{pmatrix} e_1 & e_2 & e_3 \\ x_u & y_u & z_u \\ x_v & y_v & z_v \end{pmatrix}
\end{align*}
expanded along the first row. (Note the cyclic order $(y,z), (z,x), (x,y)$ — not $(x,y), (x,z), (y,z)$ — which is precisely what makes $\omega_F$ encode the cross product rather than some other combination.)
[/guided]
[/step]
[step:Assemble the pullback $r^* \omega_F$ as a scalar triple product]
By the linearity of pullback,
\begin{align*}
r^* \omega_F &= (F_1 \circ r)\, r^*(dy \wedge dz) + (F_2 \circ r)\, r^*(dz \wedge dx) + (F_3 \circ r)\, r^*(dx \wedge dy).
\end{align*}
Substituting the three pullbacks computed in the previous step,
\begin{align*}
r^* \omega_F &= \Bigl[ (F_1 \circ r)\,(r_u \times r_v)_1 + (F_2 \circ r)\,(r_u \times r_v)_2 + (F_3 \circ r)\,(r_u \times r_v)_3 \Bigr]\, du \wedge dv \\
&= \bigl( F(r(u,v)) \cdot (r_u \times r_v) \bigr)\, du \wedge dv.
\end{align*}
Here the bracket is the Euclidean dot product in $\mathbb{R}^3$ of the vectors $F(r(u,v))$ and $(r_u \times r_v)(u,v)$, which is the scalar triple product of $F(r)$, $r_u$, $r_v$.
[guided]
We have now identified the pullback $r^* \omega_F$ as a single scalar function on $D$ times the standard area form $du \wedge dv$. The scalar function is the scalar triple product
\begin{align*}
F(r) \cdot (r_u \times r_v) = \det \begin{pmatrix} F_1(r) & F_2(r) & F_3(r) \\ x_u & y_u & z_u \\ x_v & y_v & z_v \end{pmatrix},
\end{align*}
which is the geometric quantity computing the signed volume of the parallelepiped spanned by $F(r)$, $r_u$, $r_v$. Equivalently, since $r_u \times r_v$ is normal to $S$ with magnitude equal to the local area scaling factor, $F \cdot (r_u \times r_v)$ measures the normal component of $F$ weighted by infinitesimal surface area — exactly the integrand we expect for a flux.
[/guided]
[/step]
[step:Identify the parameter-domain integral as a Lebesgue integral over $D$]
By orientation-compatibility of $r$, the form $du \wedge dv$ represents the positive orientation on $D$ induced from the orientation of $S$. By definition of the integral of a top-degree form on an oriented open subset of $\mathbb{R}^2$ (again via [Integration of Differential Forms](/theorems/1529)), for any continuous scalar $h: D \to \mathbb{R}$ for which the integral exists,
\begin{align*}
\int_D h\, du \wedge dv = \int_D h(u, v)\, d\mathcal{L}^2(u, v).
\end{align*}
Combining the results of the previous steps,
\begin{align*}
\int_S \omega_F = \int_D r^* \omega_F = \int_D \bigl( F(r(u, v)) \cdot (r_u(u, v) \times r_v(u, v)) \bigr)\, d\mathcal{L}^2(u, v),
\end{align*}
which is the asserted identity.
[guided]
The last equality replaces the "$\,du \wedge dv$" notation, which lives in the theory of differential forms, with "$\,d\mathcal{L}^2(u, v)$", which lives in the theory of Lebesgue integration. The reason this substitution is legitimate is precisely the orientation-compatibility hypothesis: the integral of a top-degree form against the standard orientation of $\mathbb{R}^2$ is *defined* to be the [Lebesgue integral](/page/Lebesgue%20Integral) of its coefficient function. If the parametrisation reversed the orientation, an extra sign would appear; the hypothesis rules this case out.
Chaining the three equalities:
- $\int_S \omega_F = \int_D r^* \omega_F$ (definition of the integral of a $2$-form on a parametrised surface, Step 1);
- $r^* \omega_F = \bigl( F(r) \cdot (r_u \times r_v) \bigr)\, du \wedge dv$ (pullback computation, Steps 2–4);
- $\int_D h\, du \wedge dv = \int_D h\, d\mathcal{L}^2$ (top-degree forms on $\mathbb{R}^2$ with the standard orientation),
we obtain the desired identity. This completes the proof.
[/guided]
[/step]