Let \(a:S^2\to S^2\) be the antipodal map on the 2-sphere: \(a(x)=-x\), and let \[ p:S^2\to \mathbb {R}\mathrm {P}^2=S^2/x\sim -x,\qquad p(x)=[x] \] be the projection to the projective plane. Let \(\omega \) be a 2-form on \(\mathbb {R}\mathrm {P}^2\).
- Prove that \(\int _{S^2}p^*\omega =0\). Hint: \(p^*\omega \) is \(a\)-invariant.
- Prove that there is a 1-form \(\eta \) on \(\mathbb {R}\mathrm {P}^2\) such that \(\omega =d\eta \). You are allowed to use the fact that if \(\zeta \) is a 2-form on \(S^2\) and \(\int _{S^2}\zeta =0\) then \(\zeta \) is exact, but you are not allowed to use de Rham’s theorem.