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tensor analysis and curvilinear coordinates
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Phil's long expository treatise on tensor analysis, last updated March 31, 2012, with the appendices in a separate file. It covers coordinate transformations, coordinate lines and level surfaces, covariant and contravariant vectors, tangent and reciprocal base vectors, the metric tensor and Jacobian, and translation to standard index notation. It also touches on special and general relativity, continuum mechanics, Christoffel symbols and differential length, area and volume.
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1
Tensor Analysis and Curvilinear Coordinates
Phil Lucht
Rimrock Digital Technology, Salt Lake City, Utah 84103
last update: March 31, 2012
Note: The Appendices for this document are located in a separate document.
Overview an d Summary ........................................................................................................... .............. 5
1. The Transformation F: invertibility, coordinate lines, and level surfaces.................................... 8
Example 1: Polar coordinates (N=2)............................................................................................ ........ 8
Example 2: Spherical coordinates (N=3)............................................................................................. 9
Cartesian Space and Qu asi-Cartesian Space...................................................................................... .11
Pictures A,B, C and D.......................................................................................................................... 11
Coordinate Lines................................................................................................................................. 12
Example 1: Polar coordinates, coordinate lines ................................................................................ .13
Example 2: Spherical coordinates, coordinate lines .......................................................................... 13
Level Surfaces..................................................................................................................................... 14
2. Linear Local Transformations associated with F : scalars and two kinds of vectors ................. 16
(a) Scalars.................................................................................................................... ........................ 17
(b) Contravariant vectors ...................................................................................................... .............. 18
(c) Covariant vectors.......................................................................................................... ................. 18
(d) Bar notation............................................................................................................... .................... 19
(e) Origin of the names co ntravariant and covariant........................................................................... 19
(f) Other vect or types? ........................................................................................................ ................ 20
(g) Linear transformations ..................................................................................................... ............. 20
(h) Vectors that are cont ravariant by definition ............................................................................... ...21
(i) Vector Fields .............................................................................................................. .................... 22
(j) Names an d symbols........................................................................................................................ 22
(k) Definition of the word s "scalar" and "vector". ............................................................................. .23
3. Tangent Base Vectors e n and Inverse Tangent Base Vectors u' n.................................................. 24
(a) Definition of the e n ; the e n are the columns of S ......................................................................... 25
(b) en as a contrava riant vector ........................................................................................................... 26
(c) a semantic question: unit vectors......................................................................................... ......... 27
Example 1: Polar coordinates, tangent base vectors .......................................................................... 27
Example 2: Spherical Coordinates, tangent base vectors................................................................... 29
(d) The inverse tangent base vectors u' n and inverse coordinate lines................................................ 30
Example 1: Polar coordinates: inverse tange nt base vectors and inverse coordinate lines............... 31
4. Notions of length, distance and scalar product in Cartesian Space.............................................. 32
5. The Metric Tensor ........................................................................................................... ................. 34
(a) Definition of the metric tensor............................................................................................ ........... 34
(b) Inverse of the metric tensor............................................................................................... ............ 36
(c) A metric tensor is symmetric............................................................................................... .......... 37
2 (d) det(g) and g nn of a Cartesian-generated metric tensor are non-negative....................................... 37
(e) Definition of two ki nds of rank-2 tensors...................................................................................... 37
(f) Proof that the metric tensor and its inverse are both rank-2 tensors .............................................. 38
(g) Metric tensor c onverts vector types........................................................................................ ....... 40
(h) Vectors in Cartesian space ................................................................................................. ........... 41
(i) Metric tensor: covari ant scalar product and norm......................................................................... 41
(j) Metric tensor and tangent base vectors ..................................................................................... .....43
(k) The Jacobian J ............................................................................................................. .................. 44
(l) Some relations between g, R and S in Picture C........................................................................... 47
Example 1: Polar coordinates: metric tensor and Jacobian............................................................... 48
Example 2: Spherical coordinates: metric tensor and Jacobian ........................................................ 49
(m) Special Relativity and its Metric Tensor: vectors and spinors .................................................... 49
(n) General Relativity an d its Metric Tensor ................................................................................... ...53
(o) Continuum Mechanics a nd its Metric Tensors.............................................................................. 54
6. Reciprocal Base Vectors E n and Inverse Reciprocal Base Vectors U' n........................................ 59
(a) Definition of the E n........................................................................................................................ 59
(b) The Dot Products and Reciprocity (Duality)................................................................................. 60
(c) Covariant partner for E n................................................................................................................ 61
(d) Summary of th e basic facts: ................................................................................................ .......... 62
(e) Repeat the above for the inverse transformation: definition of the U' n........................................ 62
(f) Expanding vectors on different sets of basis vectors ..................................................................... 63
(g) Another way to write the E n.......................................................................................................... 66
(h) Comparison of e ¯n and En.............................................................................................................. 67
(i) Handedness of coordinate systems: the e n , the sign of det(S), and Parity.................................... 68
7. Translation to the Standard Notation ........................................................................................ .....71
(a) Outer Products............................................................................................................. .................. 71
(b) Mixed Tensors and Notation Issues .......................................................................................... ....71
(c) The up/down bell goes off.................................................................................................. ........... 72
(d) Some Preliminary Translations: raisi ng and lowering indices on a vector with g ....................... 73
(e) Contraction of a Pair of Indices........................................................................................... .......... 74
(f) Dealing with the matrix R.................................................................................................. ............ 75
(g) Repeat the above section for S ............................................................................................. ......... 76
(h) About ε and δ ................................................................................................................................. 76
(i) Further translations, the meaning of RT, and Tilted Matrix Multiplication.................................... 77
(j) Tensors of Rank n, direct products, Lie groups, symmetry and Ricci-Levi-Civita........................ 84
(k) The Contraction Tilt-Reversal Rule ......................................................................................... .....87
(l) The Contraction Neutralization Rule .......................................................................................... ...89
(m) Raising and lowering indices on g .......................................................................................... .....90
(n) Other forms of R .......................................................................................................... ................ 91
(o) Summary of facts about R................................................................................................... .......... 92
(p) Repeat all the above for S................................................................................................. ............. 92
(q) Theorem: Sa
b = Rba and Sab = Rb
a ( reflect indices in vertical line between them)............... 92
(r) Orthogonality Rules, the Inversion Rule, and the Cancellation Rule ............................................ 94
(s) The tangent and reciprocal b ase vectors and expansions on same ................................................ 95
(t) Comment on Covariant versus Contravariant ................................................................................ 98
3 (u) The Significance of Tensor Analysis ........................................................................................ ..100
(v) The Christoffel Business: covariant derivatives......................................................................... 102
(w) Expansions of higher order tensors ......................................................................................... ...104
8. Transformation of Differential Length, Area and Volume......................................................... 105
Overview........................................................................................................................................... 105
(a) The differential N-piped mapping ........................................................................................... ....106
(b) Properties of the finite N-piped spanned by the e n in x-space..................................................... 108
(c) Back to the differential N-piped mapping: how edges, areas and volume transform................. 110
1. The Setup. ................................................................................................................................. 110
2. Edge Transformation................................................................................................................. 111
3. Area Transformation......................................................................................................... ........ 111
4. Volume Transformation....................................................................................................... .....113
5. Covariant Magnitudes........................................................................................................ ....... 114
6. Two Theorems : g' / h' n2 = g'nn g' = cof(g' nn) and |(Πx
i≠nei)| = cof(g'nn) ...................... 115
7. Cartesian-View Magnitude Ratios. ........................................................................................... 116
8. Nested Cofactor Formulas. ................................................................................................... ....117
9. Transformation of arbitrary differential vectors, areas and volume......................................... 117
10. Concatenation of Transformations.......................................................................................... 120
Examples of area magnitude transformation for N = 2,3,4............................................................... 120
Example 2: Spherical Coordinates: area patches ............................................................................ 121
(d) Transformation of Differential Volume applied to Integration................................................... 122
(e) Interpretations of the Jacobian............................................................................................ ......... 124
9. The Divergence in cu rvilinear coordinates ................................................................................... 125
(a) Geometric Derivation of the Curvilinear Divergence Formula................................................... 125
(b) Various expressions for div B .............................................................................................. ....... 128
(c) Translation from Pict ure B to Picture M&S................................................................................ 130
(d) Comparison of various authors' notations ................................................................................... 131
10. The Gradient in cu rvilinear coordinates.................................................................................... .133
(a) Expressions for grad f..................................................................................................... ............. 133
(b) Expressions for grad f • B........................................................................................................... 135
11. The Laplacian in curvilinear coordinates ................................................................................... 137
12. The Curl in curvilinear coordinates ........................................................................................ ....139
(a) Definition of curl B ....................................................................................................... .............. 139
(b) Computation of the line integral........................................................................................... ....... 140
(c) Solving for the curl....................................................................................................... ............... 142
(d) Various forms of the curl.................................................................................................. ........... 143
(e) The curl in orthogona l coordinate systems.................................................................................. 145
(f) The curl in N > 3 dimensions............................................................................................... ........ 145
13. The Vector Laplacian in curvilinear coordinates....................................................................... 147
(a) Derivation of the Vector Laplacian in general curvilinear coordinates....................................... 147
(b) The Vector Laplacian in or thogonal curvilinear coordinates ...................................................... 149
(c) The Vector Laplacian in Cartesian coordinates........................................................................... 151
14. Summary of Differential Opera tors in curvilinear coordinates ............................................... 153
(a) divergence................................................................................................................. ................... 154
4 (b) gradient and gradient dot vector........................................................................................... ....... 154
(c) Laplacian .................................................................................................................. ................... 155
(d) curl............................................................................................................................................... 155
(e) vector Laplacian ........................................................................................................... ............... 156
Example 1: Polar coordinates: a practical curvilinear notation....................................................... 157
15. Covariant derivation of all curvilinear differential operator expressions ............................... 159
(a) Review of Sections 9 through 13............................................................................................ .....159
(b) The Covariant Method....................................................................................................... .......... 160
(c) divergence (Section 9)..................................................................................................... ............ 162
(d) gradient and gradient dot vector (Section 10) ............................................................................. 162
(e) Laplacian (Section 11)..................................................................................................... ............ 162
(f) curl (Section 12).......................................................................................................... ................. 163
(g) vector Laplacian (Section 13).............................................................................................. ........ 163
References............................................................................................................................................ 167
5 Overview and Summary
This paper develops elem
entary tens or analysis (also known as tensor algebra or tensor calculus) starting
from Square Zero which is an arbitrar y invertible continuous transformation x' = F(x) in N dimensions.
The subject was "exposed" by Gregorio Ricci in th e late 1800's under the name "absolute differential
calculus". He and his student Tullio Levi-Civita published a masterwork on the subject in 1900 (see
References). Christoffel and others had laid the groundwork a few decades earlier. The general
mathematical classification of this subject is now called differential geometry. Two somewhat different applications of tensor anal ysis are treated concurrently. One is the subject of
curvilinear coordinates in N dimensions, while the ot her involves transformations connecting "frames of
reference". These transformations could be spatial rotations, the Lorentz transformations of special relativity, the transformations involving the effects of gravity in general relativity, or the deformation
transformations associated with the flow of continuous matter. Beyond establishing the tensor analysis formalism, not much is said about this second set of applications. On the other hand, all the basic
expressions for the standard differential operators in general curvilinear coordinates are derived from
scratch. These results are often stated but not so often derived. The first six sections develop the theory of tensor analysis in a simple developmental notation where
all indices are subscripts, just as in normal college physics. After providing motivation, the seventh
section translates this developmental notation to the Standard Notation in use today. The eighth section
treats transformations of length, area and volume and then the curvilinear differential operator expressions
are derived, one per section, with a summary in the penultimate section. The final section rederives all the
same results using the notion of covarian ce and associated covariant derivatives.
The information is presented informally as if it were a set of lectures. Little attention is paid to mathematical rigor. There is no attempt to be concise: examples are given, tangential remarks are inserted, almost all claims are derived in line, and there is a certain amount of repetition. The material is
presented in a planned sequence to minimize the need for forward references, but the sequence is not
perfect. The interlocking pieces of tensor analysis do seem to exhibit a certain logical circularity.
Section 1 introduces the notion of the general invertible transformation x' = F (x) as a mapping
between x-space and x'-space. The range and domain of this mapping are considered in the familiar examples of polar and spherical coordinates. These same examples are used to illustrate the general ideas of coordinate lines and level surfaces. Certain Pictures are introduced to allow different names for the two
inter-mapped spaces, for the function F, and for its associated objects.
Section 2 introduces the linear transformations R and S=R
-1 which approximate the (generally non-
linear) x' = F (x) in the local neighborhood of a point x. It is shown that two types of vectors naturally
arise in the context of this linearization, called cont ravariant and covariant, and an overbar is used to
distinguish a covariant vector. Vector fields are de fined and their transformations stated. The idea of
scalars and vectors as tensors of rank 0 and rank 1 is presented. Section 3 defines the tangent base vectors e
n(x) which are tangent to the x'-coordinate lines in x-
space. In the example of polar coordinates it is shown that er = r^ and eθ = r θ^. The vectors en exist in x-
space and form there a complete basis which in general is non-orthogonal. The tangent base vectors u'
n(x') of the inverse transformation x = F-1(x') are also defined.
Section 4 is brief review of the notions of norm, metric and scalar product in Cartesian Space.
Section 5 addresses the metric tensor, called g ¯ in x-space and g ¯' in x'-space. The metric tensor is first
defined as a matrix object g ¯, and then g ≡ g¯-1. A definition is given for two kinds of (pure) rank-2 tensors
6 (both matrices), and it is then shown that g ¯ transforms as a covariant rank-2 tensor while g is a
contravariant rank-2 tensor. It is demonstrated how g ¯ applied to a contravariant vector V produces a
vector that is covariant V¯= g¯ V, and conversely g V¯ = V . In Cartesian space g = 1, so the two types of
vectors coincide. The role of the metric tensor in the covariant vector dot product is stated, and the metric
tensor is related to the tangent base vectors of Section 3. The Jacobian J and associated functions are
defined, though the significance of J is deferred to Sec tion 8. The last three subsections briefly discuss the
connection between tensor algebra and special relativ ity (with a mention of spinor algebra), general
relativity, and contin uum mechanics.
Section 6 introduces the reciprocal (dual) base vectors En which are later called en in the Standard
Notation. Of special interest are the covariant dot products among the e n and En. It is shown how an
arbitrary vector can be expanded onto different basis sets. It is found that when a contravariant vector in
x-space is expanded on the tangent base vectors e n, the vector components in the expansion are in fact
those of the contravariant vector in x'-space, V' i = RijVj. This fact proves useful in later sections which
express differential operators in x-space in terms of curvilinear coordinates and objects of x'-space. The
reciprocal base vectors U'n of the inverse transformation are also discussed.
Section 7 motivates and then makes the transition from the developmental notation to the Standard
Notation where contravariant indices are up and cova riant ones are down. Although such a transition
might seem completely trivial, confusing issues do ar ise. Once a matrix can have up and down indices,
matrix multiplication and other matrix operations become hazy: a matrix becomes four different matrices.
The matrices R and S act like tensors, but are not tensors, and in fact are not even located in a well-
defined space. The third last subsection discusses th e significance of tensor analysis with respect to
physics in terms of covariant equa tions, and the second last broaches the topic of the covariant derivative
of a vector field with its associated Christoffel sym bols. Finally, the last subsection describes how to
expand tensors of any rank in various bases and notations.
The focus then fully shifts to curvilinear coordinates as an application of tensor analysis. The final sections are all written in the Standard Notation. Section 8 shows how differential length, area and volume transform under x ' = F (x). This section
considers the inverse mapping of a differential ortho gonal N-piped (N dimensiona l parallelepiped) in x'-
space to a skewed one in x-space. It is shown how the scale factors h'
n = g'nn describe that ratio of N-
piped edges, while the Jacobian J = det(g'nn) describes the ratio of N-piped volumes. The relationship
between the vector areas of the N-pipeds is more comp licated, and it is found that the ratio of vector area
magnitudes is cof(g'nn) . Heavy use is made of the results of Appendices A and B, as outlined below.
Sections 9 through 13 use the information of Section 8 and earlier material to derive expressions for
all the standard differential operators expressed in general non-orthogonal curvilinear coordinates:
divergence, gradient, Laplacian, curl, and vector Lapl acian. The last two operators are treated only in N=3
dimensions where the curl has a vector representation, but then the curl is gene ralized to N dimensions.
Section 14 summarizes all the differential operator expressions in a set of tables, and revisits the polar
coordinates example one last time to illustrate a re asonably clean and practical curvilinear notation.
Section 15 rederives the general results of Sections 9 through 13 using the ideas of covariance and
covariant differentiation. These derivations are elegantl y brief, but lean heavily on the idea of tensor
densities (Appendix D) and on the implications of covariance of tensor objects involving covariant
derivatives (Appendix F).
Much of our content is contained in a set of Appendices, which are located in a separate document with its own table of contents.
7
Appendix A develops an alternative expression for the reciprocal base vector En as a generalized
cross product of the tangent base vectors en, applicable when x-space is Cartesian. This alternate E n is
shown to match the En defined in Section 6, and the covariant dot products involving En and en are
verified.
Appendix B presents the geometry of a parallepiped in N dimensions (called an N-piped). Using the
alternate expression for En developed in Appendix A, it is shown that the vector area of the nth pair of
faces on an N-piped spanned by the en is given by ± An, where An = |det(S)| En , revealing a geometric
significance of the reciprocal base vect ors. Scaled by differentials so d An = |det(S)| En(Πi≠n dx'i), this
equation is then used in Section 9 where the divergence of a vector field is defined as the total flux of that
field flowing out through all the faces of the skew ed differential N-piped in x-space divided by its
volume. This same d An appears in Section 8 with regard to th e transformation of N-piped face vector
areas. Appendix C presents a case study of an N=2 non-orthogonal coordinate system, elliptical polar
coordinates. Both the forward and inverse coordinate lines are displayed. The meaning of the curvilinear
(x'-space) component V'
n of a contravariant vector is explored in the context of this system, and the
difficulties of drawing such components in non-Cartesian (curvilinear) x'-space are pondered. Finally, the
Jacobian Integration Rule for changing integration variables is derived.
Appendix D discusses tensor densities and their rules of th e road. Special attention is given to the
Levi-Civita ε tensor, including a derivation of all the εε contraction formulas and their covariant
statements. It is noted that the curl of a vector is a vector density. Appendix E describes direct product and polyadic notations (including dyadics) and shows how to
expand tensors (and tensor densities) of ar bitrary rank on an arbitrary basis.
Appendix F deals with covariant derivatives and the affine connection Γ which tells how the tangent
base vectors e
n(x') change as x' changes. Everything is derived fro m scratch and the results provide the
horsepower to make Section 15 go. The last two appendices provide demonstrations of most ideas presented in this paper. In each
appendix, a connection is first made to continuum mechanics, and then the results are derived both by
"brute force" and by the covariant technique enabled by Appendix F. Ma ple is used to compute the results
for several coordinate systems.
Appendix G shows how to express the dyadic object ( ∇v) in curvilinear coordinates.
Appendix H does the same for the vector object divT where T is a rank-2 tensor.
Appendix I considers computation of the vector Laplacian by two different methods and states the
results for spherical and cylindrical coordinates.
Notations
diag(a,b,c..) means a diagonal matrix with diagonal elements a,b,c..
RHS, LHS refer to the right hand side and left hand side of an equation
QED = which was to be demonstrated ("thus it has been proved")
det(A), A
T = determinant of the matrix A, transpose of a matrix A
n^ = un = unit vector pointing along the nth positive axis of some coordinate system
// indicates a comment on something shown to the left of //
Maple = a computer algebra system similar to Mathematica
V,a means ∂aV which means ∂ V/∂xa, and V;a refers to the corresponding covariant derivative
8 1. The Transformation F: invertibility, coordinate lines, and level surfaces
If x and x' are ele
ments of the vector space RN (N-dimensional reals) , one can specify a mapping
x' = F(x) F: R
N → RN
defined by a set of N continuous (C
2) functions F i , each of N variables,
x'
1 = F1(x1, x2, x3... xN)
x'2 = F2(x1, x2, x3... xN)
... x'
N = FN(x1, x2, x3... xN)
If all functions F
i are linear in all of their arguments, then the mapping F: RN → RN is a linear mapping.
Otherwise the mapping is non-linear.
A mapping is often referred to as a transformation . We shall be interested only in transformations
which are 1-to-1 and are therefore invertible. For such transformations,
x' = F(x) x = F
-1(x') ,
or in an equivalent notation x' = x'(x) x = x(x')
In the transformation x' = F(x), if x roams over the entire R
N of x-space (the domain is RN), we may find
that x' roams over only some subset of RN in x'-space. The 1-to-1 invertible mapping is then between the
domain of mapping F which is all of RN, and the range of mapping F which is this subset.
As just noted, it will be assumed that x' = F(x) is essentially invertible so x = F-1(x') exists for any x '.
By essentially is meant there may be a few problem points in the transformation which can be "fixed up"
in some reasonable manner so that x' = F( x) is invertible.
The functions F i must be C 1 continuous to support the linearization derivatives appearing in Section
2, and they must be C 2 continuous to support some of the differential operators expressed in curvilinear
coordinates in Sections 9-14 and the covariant derivative in Section 7 (v).
Example 1: Polar coordinates (N=2)
(a) The transf
ormation from Cartesian to polar coordinates is given by,
x = (x1, x2 ) = (x,y)
x' = (x1', x2') = (θ,r) // note that r = x 2'
x = F-1(x') ↔ x = rcos( θ) x 1 = x2' cos(x1')
y = r s i n ( θ) x 2 = x2' sin(x1')
9 x' = F( x) ↔ r = x2+y2 x 2' = x12+x22
θ = tan-1(y/x) x 1' = tan-1(x2/x1)
(b) The transformation is non-linear because at least one component function( e.g., r = x2+y2 ) is not of
the form r = Ax + By. In this transformation all functions are non-linear.
(c) Here is a drawing showing the nature of this mapping:
The domain of x' = F( x) in x-space on the right is all of R2, but the range in x'-space is shown in gray.
Imitating the language of complex variables, we can regard this gray range as depicting the principle
branch of the multi-variable function x' = F( x). Other branches are obtained by shifting the gray rectangle
left or right by multiples of 2 π. Still other branches are obtained by taking the other branch of the real
function r = x2+y2 which produces down-facing rectangles. The principle branch plus all the other
branches then fill up the E2 of x'-space, but we care only about the principle branch range shown in gray.
(d) This mapping illustrates a "problem point" involving θ = tan
-1(y/x). This occurs when both x and y
are 0, indicated by the red dot on the right. The inve rse mapping takes the entire red line segment into this
red origin point, so we have a lack of 1-to-1 goi ng on here, meaning that formally the function F is not
invertible. This can be fixed up by eliminating the red line segment from the range of F, retaining only the
point at its left end. Another problem is that both the left and right vertical edges of the gray area map into
the real axis in x-space, and that is fixed by rem oving the right edge. Thus, by doing a suitable trimming
of the range, F can be made fully invertible. No one has ever had major problems using polar coordinates
due to these minor issues.
Example 2: Spherical coordinates (N=3)
(a) The transformation from
Cartesian to spherical coordinates is given by,
x = (x1,x2,x3 ) = (x,y,z)
x' = (x1',x2',x3') = (r,θ,φ)
x = F-1(x') ↔ x = r sin( θ) cos(φ) x 1 = x1'sin(x2')cos(x3')
y = r sin( θ) sin(φ) x 2 = x1'sin(x2')sin(x3')
z = r cos( θ) x 3 = x1'cos(x2')
10 x' = F( x) ↔ r = x2+y2+z2 x 1' = x12+x22+x32
θ = cos-1(z/x2+y2+z2 ) x 2' = cos-1(x3/ x12+x22+x32 )
φ = tan-1(y/x) x 3' = tan-1(x2/x1)
(b) The transformation is non-linear because at least one component function( e.g., r = x2+y2+z2 ) is not
of the form r = Ax + By + Cz. In this transformation, all three functions are non-linear.
(c) Here is a drawing showing the nature of this mapping
The domain of x' = F( x) in x-space on the right is all of E3, but the range in x'-space is the interior of an
infinitely tall rectangular solid on the left we shall call an "office building". We could regard this office
building as depicting the principle branch of the multi-variable function x' = F( x). Other branches are
obtained by shifting the building left and right by multiples of 2 π, or fore and aft by multiples of π, or by
flipping it vertically, taking the other branch of r = x2+y2+z2 . The principle branch plus all the other
branch offices then fill up the E3 of x-space, but we care only about the principle branch office building
whose walls are mostly shown in gray.
(d) This mapping illustrates some "problem points". One is that entire green office building main floor (r=0) maps into the origin in x-space. This problem is fixed by trimming away the main floor keeping only the origin point of the bottom face of the office building. Another problem is that the entire red line
segment ( θ = 0) maps into the red point shown in x-space. This is fixed by throwing out the back wall of
the office building, retaining only a line going up the left edge of the back wall. A similar problem
happens on the front wall (θ = π, blue) and we fix it the same way: throw out the wall but maintain a thin
line which is the left edge of this front wall (this line is missing its bottom point). Thus, by doing a suitable trimming of the range, F is made fully invertible.
11 Cartesian Space and Quasi-Cartesian Space
(a) Carte
sian Space. For the purposes of this document, a Cartesian Space in N dimensions is "the usual"
Hilbert Space EN in which the distance between two vectors is given by the formula
d( x,y) = Σi=1N (xi-yi)2 => [d( x+dx,x)]2 = Σi=1N (dxi)2 metric tensor = diag(1,1,1....1)
as discussed in Section 4 below. The θ-r space in the above Example 1 would be a Cartesian space if it were declar ed that the distance
between two points there was D'
2 = (θ-θ')2 + (r-r')2, but that is not the usual intent in using that space. As
shown below, the metric tensor used there is g = diag (r2,1) and not diag(1,1).
One might argue that our Cartesian Sp ace is in fact a Eu clidean space (hence EN) having Cartesian
coordinates. A non-Cartesian space is sometimes referred to as a "curved space" (non-Euclidean) and the coordinates in such a space as "curvilinear coordinates". An example is the θ-r space above.
With the Cartesian Space metric tensor as g
C = 1 = diag(1,1....1), the above equations can be written
d2(x,y) = gC
ij(xi-yi)(xj-yj) and [d( x+dx,x)]2 = gC
ij dxi dxj ≡ (ds)2
where repeated indices are implicitly summed (sometimes called the Einstein convention).
(b) Quasi-Cartesian Space.
We now define a Quasi-Cartesian Space (not an official term) as one which
has a diagonal metric tensor G whose diagonal elements are independently +1 or -1 instead of all +1 as
with gC. In a Quasi-Cartesian Space the two equations above become
d2(x,y) = Gij(xi-yi)(xj-yj) and [d( x+dx,x)]2 = Gij dxi dxj ≡ (ds)2
and of course this allows for the possibility of a negative distance squared (see Section 5 (i)).
Notice that G-1 = G for any distribution of the ±1's in G. As shown later, this means that that
covariant and contravariant versions of G are the same. The motivation for introducing this Quasi-Cartesian Space is to cover the case of special relativity
which involves 4 dimensional linear transformations with G = diag(1,-1,-1,-1).
Pictures A,B,C and D
We shall alway
s work with one of four different "pictures" involving transformations. In each picture the
spaces and transformations (and their associated objects) have certain names that prove useful in certain situations.
12
The matrices R and S are associated with transforma tion F as described in Section 2 below, while G and
g's are metric tensors. Systems not marked Cartesian could of course be Cartesian, but we think of them as general "curved"
systems with strange metric tensors. And in genera l, all the full transformations might be non-linear.
The polar coordinates example above was presented in the context of Picture B. Picture B is the right
picture for studying curvilinear coordinates where for example x-space = Cartesian coordinates and x'-space = toroidal coordinates. Picture C is useful fo r making statements applying to objects in curved x-
space where we don't want lots of primes floati ng around. Pictures A and D are appropriate for
consideration of general transformations, as well as linear ones like rotations and Lorentz transformations. In Sections 9-14 Picture M&S (Moon & Spencer) is introduced for the special purpose of displaying the differential operator expressions. This is Picture B with x' → u and g' →g on the left side.
The entire rest of this section uses the Picture B context.
Coordinate Lines
Suppose in x'-space one va
ries a single coordinate, say x' i, keeping all the other coordinates fixed. In x'-
space the locus of points thus created is just a straight line parallel to the x' i axis, or for a principle branch
situation like that of the above examples, a straight line segment. When such a straight line or segment is
mapped into x-space, the result is a curve known as a coordinate line . A coordinate line is associated
with a specific x'-space coordinate x' i, so one might refer to the " x' i -coordinate line", x' i being a label.
In N dimensions, a point x in x-space lies on a unique set of N coordinate lines with respect to a
transformation F. Remember that each such line is associated with one of the x' i coordinates. In x'-space,
a point x' lies on a unique intersection of straight lines or segments, and then this all gets mapped into x-
space where point x = F-1(x') then lies on a unique intersection of coordinate lines.
For example, in spherical coordinates we start with some (x,y,z) in x-space and compute the x i' =
(r,θ,φ) in x'-space. Our point x in x-space then lies on the r-coordinate line whose label is r, it lies on the
θ-coordinate line whose label is θ, and it lies on the φ -coordinate line whose label is φ (see below).
13 In general a coordinate "line" is some non-planar curve in N-dimensional x-space, meaning that a
coordinate line might not lie on an N-1 dimensional plane. In the 2D polar coordinates example below,
the red coordinate line does not lie on a 1-dimensional plane (line). In the next example of 3D spherical
coordinates, it happens that every coordinate line does lie on a 2-dimensional plane. But in ellipsoidal
coordinates, another 3D orthogonal system, every coordinate line does not lie on a 2-dimensional plane.
Some authors refer to coordinate lines as level curves , especially in two dimensions mapping the real and
imaginary part of analytic functions w = f(z) ( Ahlfors p 89).
Example 1: Polar coordinates, coordinate lines
Here
are some coordinate lines for our prototype N=2 non-linear transformation, Cartesian to polar
coordinates:
The red circle is a θ-coordinate line, and the blue ray is an r-coordinate line
Example 2: Spherical coordinates, coordinate lines
These coordinate lines are generated ex
actly as descri bed above. In x'-space one holds two coordinates
fixed while allowing one to vary. The locus in x'-sp ace is a line segment or a half line (in the case of
varying r). In x-space, the corresponding coordinate lines are as shown.
14
The green coordinate line is a θ-coordinate line, since only θ is varying.
The red coordinate line is an r-coordinate line, since only r is varying.
The blue coordinate line is a φ -coordinate line, since only φ is varying.
The point x indicated by a black dot in x-space lies on the unique set of coordinates lines shown.
Appendix C gives an example of coordinate lin es for a non-orthogonal 2D coordinate system.
Level Surfaces
(a) Suppose in x'
-space one fixes one coordinate, say x' i, and varies all the other coordinates. In x'-space
the locus of points thus created is just an (N -1 dimensional) plane perpendicular to the x i axis, or for a
principle branch situation like that above, a rectangle or half strip in the case of r. Mapping this planar
surface in x'-space into x-space produces a surface in x-space (of dimension N-1) called a level surface .
The equations of the N different x i level surface types are
a'i(n) = Fi(x1, x2.....xN) i = 1,2...N
where a'
i(n) is some constant value selected for fixed coordinate x' i. By taking some set of closely
spaced values for this constant, { a' i(1), a'i(2).....}, one obtains a family of level surfaces all of the same
general shape which are closely spaced. For some different value of i, the shapes of such a family of level surfaces will in general be different. In general if f(x
1, x2.....xN) = k, the set of points x which make this
equation true for some fixed k is called a level set , so a level set is a surface of dimension N-1. Thus, all
our level curves are also level sets.
15
In the polar coordinates example, since there are only 2 coordinates, there is no distinction between a
level surface and a coordinate line. In the spherical coordinates example, there is a distinction. If one fixes r and varies θ and φ over their horizontal rectangle in side the office building, the level
surface in x-space is a sphere.
If one fixes θ and varies r and φ over a left-right vertical strip inside the office building, the level
surface in x-space is a sphere is a polar cone
If one fixes φ and varies r and θ over a fore-aft vertical strip inside the office building, the level
surface in x-space is a half plane at azimuth φ.
(b) In N dimensions there will be N level surfac es in x-space, each formed by holding some x'
i fixed. The
intersection of N-1 level surfaces (omitting say the x 3' level surface) will have all of the x' i fixed except
x'3. But this describes the x' 3 coordinate line. Thus, each coordinate line can be considered as the
intersection of the N-1 level surfaces associated with the other coordinates. One can see this happening on
the spherical coordinates example: The green coordinate line is the intersection of two level surfaces: half-plane and sphere.
The red coordinate line is the intersection of two level surfaces: half-plane and cone.
The blue coordinate line is the intersecti on of two level surfaces: sphere and cone.
16 2. Linear Local Transformations associated with F : scalars and two kinds of vectors
We now shift to the Picture A context, where x-spac
e is not necessarily Cartesian.
Consider again the possibly non-linear transformation x' = F (x) mapping F: RN→ RN. Imagine a very
small neighborhood around the point x in x-space, a "ball" around x. Where the mapping is continuous in
both directions, one expects a tiny x-space ball around x to map into a tiny x'-space ball around x' and
vice versa. Here is a picture of this situation,
where everything in one picture is the mapping of the corresponding thing in the other picture. In particular, we show a small vector in x-space called d x which maps into a small vector in x'-space
called d x'. Since F was assumed invertible, it must be inve rtible locally in these two balls. That is, given a
dx above, one can determine d x', and vice versa. Anticipating a few lines below, this means that the
matrices S and R will be invertible so neither can have zero determinant.
How are these two differential vectors related? For a linear approximation,
x'
i + dx'i = Fi(x + dx ) ≈ Fi(x) + Σk( ∂Fi(x)/∂xk) dxk
=> dx'
i = Σk( ∂Fi(x)/∂xk) dxk
The last line shows an equals sign in the limit that dx
k is a vanishing differential. Since F i(x) = x'i ,
dx'
i = Σk(∂x'i/∂xk) dxk = Σk Rik dxk R ik ≡ (∂x'i/∂xk)
Doing the same operation in the other direction gives
dx
i = Σk( ∂xi/∂x'k) dx'k = Σk Sik dxk' S ik ≡ (∂xi/∂x'k)
One can regard R
ik and Sik as elements of NxN matrices R and S. In vector notation then,
17
d x' = R( x) dx R ik(x) ≡ (∂x'i/∂xk) R = S-1 // dx' i = Rij dxj
d x = S( x') dx' S ik(x') ≡ (∂xi/∂x'k) S = R-1 // dx i = Sij dx'j
It is obvious that matrices R and S are inverses of each other, just staring at the above two vector
equations. One can verify this fact from the definitions of R and S using the chain rule
(RS) ij = Σk RikSkj = Σk (∂x'i/∂xk) (∂xk/∂x'j) = Σk ∂x'i
∂xk ∂xk
∂x'j = ∂x'i
∂x'j = δi,j
We could get rid of one of these matrices right now, perhaps keeping R and replacing S = R-1, but
keeping both simplifies expressions encounter ed later, so for now both are kept.
The letter R does not imply that matrix R is a rotation matrix, although it could be. According to the
polar decomposition theorem (Lai p 110), any matrix R (detR ≠ 0) can be uniquely written in the form
R = R U = V R where R is a rotation matrix (the same one in RU and V R) and U and V are symmetric
positive definite matrices (called right and left stretch tensors) related by U = RTVR. Matrix S could of
course be written in a similar manner.
Matrices R( x) and S( x') are in general functions of a point in space x' = F(x). As one moves around in
space, all the elements of matrices R and S are likel y to change. So R and S represent point-dependent
linear transformations which are valid for the differentials shown.
One might wonder at this point how the vector d x is related to its components dx i and the same
question for d x'i and dx'i. As will be shown in Section 6 (f),
d x = Σndxn un where the un are x-space axis-aligned basis vectors of the form u 1 = (1,0,0,..0)
d x' = Σndx'n e'n where the e'n are x'-space axis-aligned basis vectors of the form e'n = (1,0,0,..0)
If x-space and x'-space were Cartesian, one could write u n = n^ and e'n = n^', but in general the un and e'n
vectors do not have (covariant) unit leng th, as will be demonstrated later.
The reader familiar with covariant "up and down" indices will notice that all indices are peacefully
sitting "down" in the presentation so far (subscripts , no superscripts). As we carry out our various
developmental tasks, that is where all indices sha ll remain until Section 7, whereupon they will start
frantically bobbing up and down, seem ingly at will. [ Since rules are made to be violated, we have
violated this one in some examples below where non- standard notation would be hard to swallow. ]
Are there any "useful objects" that can be constructed from differentials dx and which might then
transform according by R or S? The answer is yes, but first we discuss scalars.
(a) Scalars
A quantity is a scalar with respect to transformation F if it is the same in both spaces. Thus, any constant
like π would be a scalar under any transformation. The mass m of a potato would be a constant under
transformations that are rotations or translations. A function of space φ(x) is a "field" and it would be a
"scalar field" if φ'(x') = φ(x). For example, temperature would be a scalar field under rotations. Notice
that φ is evaluated at x, while φ' is evaluated at x' = F(x). As noted in section (k) below, one could be
more precise by referring to the objects described here as a "tensorial scalar" and a "tensorial scalar field".
18 (b) Contravariant vectors
If transformation F (possibly non-linear) transforms x-space to x'-space without affecting time, then
consider the familiar velocity vector, v
i = dxi/dt => v = dx/dt
Since dt transforms as a constant (scalar) under our selected transformation type, it seems pretty clear that velocity in x'-space can be related to velocity in x-space using the dx ' = R( x) dx rule above:
v' = R( x) v
Even though the matrix R(x) changes as we move around, this linear transformation R is valid at any
point x when applied to velocity. Momentum p = mv would work the same way, since mass m is a scalar
(Newtonian mechanics).
In contrast, unless R( x) is a constant in space (which would be the case only if F were a linear
transformation) x ' ≠ R(x) x, so in general x itself is not a contravariant vector although d x is.
Any vector that transforms according to V' = R( x)V with respect to a transformation F (such as
Newtonian velocity and momentum with respect to rotations) is called a contravariant vector .
(c) Covariant vectors
Much of physics is described by differential equations involving the gradient operator ( the reason for the overbar is given in the next section)
∇¯
i = ∂¯i = ∂/∂xi
which involves an "upside down" di fferential. Here is how this operator transforms going from x-space to
x'-space, again according to the chain rule (implied sum on k) ,
∇¯ 'i = ∂¯ 'i = ∂
∂x'i = ∂xk
∂x'i ∂
∂xk = Ski∂¯k = ST
ik ∂¯k = ST
ik ∇¯k
=> ∇¯' = ST ∇¯
One can think of ∇¯ as acting on a scalar field φ(x) = φ'(x'), and then the above becomes
∇¯ '
i φ'(x') = ∂
∂x'i φ'(x') = ∂xk
∂x'i ∂
∂xk φ(x) = ST
ik ∇¯k φ(x)
=> ∇¯'φ'(x') = ST ∇¯φ(x)
Since the differential is "upside down", one might expect ∇¯ to transform according to S = R
-1 instead of
R, but it is really ST that does the job. One could write ∇¯' = ∇¯ S in terms of row vectors.
19 Vectors that transform according to V' = ST(x) V such as the gradient operator ∇¯ are called covariant
vectors with respect to transformation F.
An example of a covariant vector is the elect rostatic electric field obtained from the potential Φ
E¯ = - ∇¯ Φ E¯i = - ∂¯iΦ = - ∂Φ/∂xi
(d) Bar notation
In order to distinguish a contravariant from a c ovariant vector, we shall (for a while) adopt this bar
convention : contravariant vectors shall be written V with components V i and covariant vectors shall be
written V¯ with components V ¯i. This is why overbars were placed on ∇ ¯ and ∂¯i and E¯ in the previous
section. We call this our "developmental notation", as distinct from the Standard Notation introduced in
Section 7. The transformation rules for the two vector types can now be written this way:
V' = R V contravariant R
ik(x) ≡ (∂x'i/∂xk) R = S-1
V¯' = ST V¯ covariant S ik(x') ≡ (∂xi/∂x'k) = ST
ki(x')
One could imagine replacing S with some Q
T to make the second equation more like the first, but of
course then RQT = 1 instead of RS = 1. In the Standard Notation, where there are four versions of the
matrix R, we shall see that R → Ri
j and S → Si
j = Rji and S can be removed from the picture (see
Section 7 (q) ) .
(e) Origin of the names contravariant and covariant
A justification of the terms covariant and contravariant is presented at the end of Section 7 (t), since the
idea is more easily presented there than here. It seems that these terms were first used in 1851 (a half century before special relativity) in a paper
(see Refs.) by J.J. Sylvester of Sylvester's Law of Inertia fame. Sylvester uses the words covariant and
contravariant to describe the relations between a pair of "transformations". In much simpler notation than
he uses, if those "transformations" (functions) are F( x) and G(x ) and if A is an 3x3 matrix, then
the pair F(A x) and G(A x) are said to be covariant (or concurrent)
the pair F(A x) and G(A
-1x) are said to be contravariant (or reciprocal)
The idea is that in comparing the way two things transf orm, if they both move the same way, then it is
covariant, and if they move in opposite directions it is contravariant. In Section 7 (t) this idea is applied to
the transformation of two "things", where one thing is the component of a vector like V
n and the other
thing is a basis vector onto which a vector is expande d. The connection is a bit distant, but the underlying
concept carries through.
Notations like y = F (Ax) would have mystified Sylvester in 185 1, although in this same paper he
introduced two-dimensional arrays of letters and referr ed to them as "matrices". According to a web piece
by John Aldrich of the University of Southampton, J.W. Gibbs in 1881 was the first person to use a single
letter to represent a vector (he used Greek letters). It was not until 1901 when his student E.B.Wilson
20 published Gibb's lectures in a Vector Analysis book that the idea was propagated to a wider circle. Wilson
converted those Greek letters to bolded ones,
The Wilson/Gibbs book was reprinted seven times, the last being 1943. In 1960 it continued as a Dover book and is now available online as a public domain document.
(f) Other vector types?
Are there any other kinds of vectors with respect to a transformation F? There might be, but only the two
types mentioned above are of interest to us in th is document. They are both called rank-1 tensors, and
there are no other rank-1 tensor types in "tensor anal ysis" (for rank-n tensors, see Section 7 (j)). Some
authors refer to the rank of a tensor as the order of a tensor.)
In the Standard Notation introduced later, wher e contravariant vector components are written with
indices up and covariant vectors with indices down, a nd where the notation is so slick and smooth and
automatic, one sometimes imagines there are two kinds of vectors because there are two places to put
indices, up and down. It is of course the other way around: the up/down notation was adopted because
there are two rank-1 tensor types.
Two particular (linear) transformation types of in terest are rotations and Lorentz transformations,
each of which has a certain number of continuous parameters (3 and 6). As the parameters are allowed to
vary over their ranges, the set of transformations can be viewed as elements of a continuous group
( SO(3) and SO(3,1) ). Each of these groups has exactly one "vector representation" ( "1" and
"(1/2)⊕(1/2)" ). One should not imagine that somehow the "two-ness" of vector types under general
transformations F is connected to there being two v ector representations of some particular group. It
happens that the Lorentz group does have two "spinor representations" (1/2) ⊕0 and 0⊕(1/2), but this has
nothing at all to do with our general notion of two ki nds of vectors. This subject is discussed in more
detail in Section 5 (m).
(g) Linear transformations
For a linear transformation F, the matrix elements of R and S are constants and don't depend on x or x '.
The reason is fairly obvious. For linear x' = F(x) (an added constant w ould make F non-linear )
F(αx' + βy') = α F(x') + β F(y') => x'
i = Fi1x1 + Fi2x2 + .... FiN xN // = F i(x)
where the F
ij are constants independent of the coordinates, in which case
21
dx' i = Fi1 dx1 + Fi2 dx2 + .... FiN dxN = Σk Fik dxk
so R = F and S = F
-1
This is the situation with rotations and Lorentz transformations.
(h) Vectors that are contravariant by definition
A contravariant vector has been defined above as an y N-tuple which transforms the same way that d x
transforms with respect to F, namely, d x' = R( x) dx. One might state this as
{ d x', dx } d x' = R( x) dx contravariant vector
Suppose we start with an arbitrary N-tuple V and simply define V' ≡ RV. One would have to conclude
that the pair { V', V } transforms as a contravariant vector.
{ V', V } V' ≡ R(x)V contravariant vector
Conversely, one could start with some given V' and define V ≡ S(x) V' (recall S = R
-1), and again one
would conclude that { V', V } represents a vector that transforms as a contravariant vector.
We refer to either process as producing a vector wh ich is "contravariant by definition". Creating a
contravariant vector in this fashion is a fine thing to do, as long as the defined vector does not conflict
with something that already exists.
Example 1: We know that if F is non-linear, the vector x does not transform as a contravariant vector,
because x' = R( x)x is not true, where x' = F (x). If we start with x and try to force { x', x} to be
"contravariant by definition" by defining x ' ≡ R(x) x , this x' conflicts with the existing x' = F (x), so the
method of contravariant by definition is unacceptable.
Example 2:
As another example, consider an N-tuple in x'-space of three masses V' = (m1,m2,m3). The
transformation is taken in this example to be regul ar rotations. Since masses are rotational scalars with
respect to such rotations, we know that in an x-space rotated frame of reference we would find V =
(m1,m2,m3). We could attempt to set up { V', V } as a vector that is "contravariant by definition" by
defining V ≡ SV', but this conflicts with the existing fact that V = (m1,m2,m3), so the method of
contravariant by definition is again unacceptable.
Example 3: This time F is a general transformation and we start with V' = e 'n which are a set of axis-
aligned basis vectors in x'-space. We define vectors V = en according to e n ≡ Se'n. Then { e 'n, en } form a
vector which is "contravariant by definition" and e'n = R en (R = S-1). Since the newly defined vector en
does not conflict with some already-existing vector in x-space, the method of contravariant by definition
in this example is acceptable. This is exactly what is done in the next section with the tangent base vectors e
n.
22 (i) Vector Fields
We considered above vectors like position x (and dx ) and velocity v and the vector operator ∇¯, and we
referred to a generic vector as V. Many vectors of interest (in fact, most) are functions of x, which is to
say, they are vector fields. Examples are the electric and magnetic fields E(x) and B(x), or the average
velocity of a small region of fluid V(x) or a current density J(x). Another example is the transformation
F(x).
We already mentioned scalar fields, such as temperature T( x) or electrostatic potential Φ(x). The way
a scalar temperature field transforms going from x-space to x'-space is this
T '(x') = T( x) where x' = F(x)
If the transformation is a 3D rotation from frame S to frame S', then T ' is the temperature measured in
frame S' at point x' and T is the temperature measured at the corresponding point x in frame S and of
course there is only one temperature at that point so the numbers are equal. In x'-space one needs the
prime on T ' because the functional form (how T ' depends on the x' i) is not the same as that of T (how T
depends on the x i). For example, if transformation F is from 2D Cartesian to polar coordinates, then
T
'(r,θ) = T(x,y) = T(rcos θ,rsinθ) ≠ T(r,θ )
Contravariant and covariant vector fields transform as described above, but now one must show the
argument for each field in its own space, and again x' = F(x) :
V'(x') = R V(x) contravariant R ik(x) ≡ (∂x'i/∂xk) R = S-1
V¯'(x') = ST V¯(x) covariant S ik(x') ≡ (∂xi/∂x'k) = ST
ki(x')
Similar transformation rules apply to tensors of any rank. For example, the metric tensor g
ab
(developmental notation) is a rank-2 contravariant te nsor field and the transformation rule is this
g'
ab(x') = Raa'Rbb'ga'b'(x) or g' ab = Raa'Rbb'ga'b'
Often the coordinate dependence of g is suppressed, just as it is for R and S, as shown on the right above. Jumping momentarily into Standard Notation, in special relativity one has x'
μ = Λμ
νxν where F = R = Λ is
a linear transformation, and one would then specify th e transformation of a contravariant vector field as
V'μ(x'α) = Λμ
ν Vν(xα) x 'μ = Λμ
νxν
(j) Names and symbols
The matrix R
ik(x) = (∂x'i/∂xk) is called the Jacobian matrix for the transformation x' = F (x) , while the
matrix S ik(x') = (∂xi/∂x'k) is then the Jacobian matrix of the inverse transformation x = F-1(x'). The
determinant of the Jacobian matrix S will be shown in Section 8 (e) to have a certain significance, and
that determinant is called " the Jacobian " = det(S( x')) ≡ J(x').
23 The author has anguished over what names to give the matrices R and S = R-1. One option was to use
R = L, where L stands for the fact that this matrix is describing a Local coordinate system at point x, or a
Linearized transformation. But L is always used for di fferential operators, so that got rejected. R is often
called Λ in special relativity, but why go Greek so early? Another option is to use R = J for Jacobian, but
J looks too much like "an integer" or angular mome ntum or "the Jacobian". T for Transformation might
have been confused with the transformation F. Ou r chosen notation R makes one think perhaps R is a
Rotation, but that won't in general be the case. For the moment we will continue to use R and S, where
recall RS = 1.
The fact that vectors are processed by NxN matrices R and S puts that part of the subject into the field
of linear algebra, and that may be the origin of the name tensor algebra as a generalization of this idea
(tensors as objects of direct product algebras). Of course the differential calculus aspect of the subject is
already highly visible, there are ∂ symbols everywhere (hence the name tensor calculus ).
(k) Definition of the words "scalar" and "vector".
These words
have multiple potential definitions. Alth ough we shall lapse very frequently, the following
set of definitions would allow for precision statements:
• A "scalar" is a single number (or expression), a 1-tuple.
• A "tensorial scalar" is a scalar that transforms unde r transformation F as a tensorial scalar, which is also
known as a rank-0 tensor. An example would be m' = m, mass with respect to 3D rotations.
• A "vector" is an N-tuple of numbers.
• A "tensorial vector" is a vector that transforms unde r transformation F as either a contravariant vector or
a covariant vector, so a tensorial vector is a rank-1 tensor.
• A "scalar field" is a single function of x ( the x-space coordinates).
• A "tensorial scalar field" is a scalar field that transforms under transformation F as a tensorial scalar
field, which is also known as a rank-0 tensor field. For example, f
'(x') = f( x) is a scalar field.
• A "vector field" is an N-tuple of functions of x -- an N-tuple of scalar fields.
• A "tensorial vector field" is a vector field that transforms under transformation F as either a
contravariant vector field or a covariant vector field, so a tensorial vector field is a rank-1 tensor field.
The notion of tensor densities described in Appendi x D further complicates the nomenclature. One can
have scalar densities and vector densities of various weights.
24 3. Tangent Base Vectors e n and Inverse Tangent Base Vectors u 'n
This entire section is in the context of Picture A ,
In the previous picture showing d x and dx ', one has much freedom to "try out" different differential
vectors. For any d x one picks at point x, one gets some dx ' according to d x' = R( x) dx. Consider this
slightly enhanced version of the previous drawing (red curves added)
The point x in x-space (right side) can be regarded as lyi ng on some arbitrary 1-dimensional curve in RN
shown on the right in red. Select d x to be the tangent to this curve at point x. That curve will then map
into some (probably very different) curve in x'-space which passes through the point x '. The tangent to
this curve at the point x' must be d x' = R( x) dx. A similar statement can be made starting instead with an
arbitrary curve in x'-space. The tangent d x' there then maps into d x = S( x') dx' in x-space.
The curves are in N-dimensional sp ace and are in general non-planar and the tangents are of course N
dimensional tangents, so this 2D picture is mildly misleading.
We now specialize such that the red curve on the left is a straight line parallel to an x'-space axis, which means the curve on the right is a coordinate line,
25
Admittedly the drawing does not strongly suggest that th e red line segment on the left is parallel to an
axis in x'-space, but since those axes are not drawn, one cannot complain too strenuously.
(a) Definition of the e n ; the en are the columns of S
First, define a set of N basis vectors in x'-space which point along the positive axes of x'-space,
e'n , n = 1,2...N // ( e'n)i = δn,i e '1 = (1,0,0...) etc
Assume that the d x' arrow above points in this e '
n direction so that
d x' = e'
n dx'n // no implied sum on n
where dx' n is a positive differential va riation of coordinate x' n along the e 'n axis in x'-space. The
corresponding d x in x-space will be,
d x = S d x' = S [ e'n dx'n] = [ S e'n] dx'n ≡ en dx'n
where this last equality serves as the definition of e
n ,
e
n ≡ Se'n
Vector en = en(x) points along d x in x-space and is tangent to the x' n- coordinate line there at point x.
This vector en is generally not a unit vector, hence no hat ^ . Writing the above in components,
d x = en dx'n
=> dxi = (en)i dx'n .
But of course dx
i = Sin dx'n , and therefore
( e
n)i = Sin = ∂xi/∂x'n or en = ∂x/∂x'n = ∂'nx
=> ( en)i = ∂xi/∂x'n = Sin
This says that the vectors en are the columns of the matrix S:
S = [ e
1, e2, e3 .... eN ] matrix = N columns
We shall call these e
n vectors the tangent base vectors. The vectors exist in x-space and point along the
various coordinate lines that pass through a point x .
If the points on the x' n-coordinate line were labeled with the values of x' n from which they came, one
would find that en points in the direction in which those labels increase.
26 As one moves from x to some nearby point, the tangent base vectors all change slightly because in
general S = S( x'(x)) and the e n = en(x) are the columns of S. Any set of basis vectors which depends on x
in this way is called a local basis. In contrast, the corresponding x'-basis e'n shown above with ( e'n)i =
δn,i is a global basis in x'-space since it is the same at any point x' in x'-space.
Since det(S) ≠ 0 due to our assumption that F was invertible, the tangent base vectors are linearly
independent and provide a basis for EN.
One can of course normalize each of the en to be a unit vector e^n according to e^n = en/ |en|.
Here is a traditional N=3 picture showing the tangent base vectors pointing along three generic
coordinate lines in x-space all of which pass through the point x:
Comment on notation. Some authors refer to our en as gn or Rn or other. Later it will be shown that
en•em = g¯'nm where g ¯'nm is the covariant metric tensor for x'-space, so admittedly this provides a
reasonable argument for using gn so that g n•gm = g¯'nm. But then the primes don't match which is
confusing: the gn are vectors in x-space, while g ¯' is a metric tensor in x'-space. We shall be using yet
another g in the form g = det(g ¯nm) and a corresponding g'. Due to this proliferation of g objects, we stick
with en, the notation used by Margenau and Murphy (p 193). A g-oriented reader can replace e → g as
needed anywhere in this document. As for unit vector versions of the en, we use the notation e^n ≡ en/|en|.
Morse and Feshbach use a n for this purpose (Vol I p 22). A g-person might use g^n .
A related issue is what symbols to use for the "u sual" basis vectors in Cartesian x-space. As noted
above, we are using u n with ( un)i = δn,i as "axis-aligned basis vectors" in x-space. If g ¯= 1 for x-space,
then these are the usual Cartesian unit vectors (see section (c) below). Many authors use the notation en
for these vectors which then conflicts with our use of en as the tangent base vectors. Morse and Feshbach
use the symbols i, j, k for our Cartesian u1, u2, u3. Other authors use 1^, 2^, 3^ so then un = n^ .
Often the notation en is used to represent some generic arbitrary set of basis vectors. For this purpose,
we use the notation bn.
(b) en as a contravariant vector
The situation described above was this,
27 d x' = e 'n dx'n x'-space // no implied sum on n
d x = en dx'n x-space // no implied sum on n
and the full transformation F maps d x into d x'. Since d x is a contravariant vector, the linear
transformation R also maps d x into dx '. Thus
d x' = R( x) dx
e'n dx'n = R(x ) en dx'n => e'n = R( x) en
We can regard the last line as a statement that the vector e
n transforms as a contravariant vector under F.
Written out in components one gets
( e'n)i = Rij (en)j => δn,i= RijSjn
recovering the fact that RS = 1. This is an exampl e of a vector being "contravariant by definition", as
discussed in Section 2 (h). These two expansions are easy to show just by verify ing that components of both sides are the same:
e
n ≡ Se'n = Σi Sin e'i since (e n)j = Σi Sin (e'i)j = Σi Sin δi,j = Sjn = (en)j
e'
n ≡ Ren = Σi Rin ei since (e' n)j = Σi Rin (ei)j = Σi Rin Sji = (SR)jn = δj,n = (e'n)j
(c) a semantic question: unit vectors
Above it was noted
that e'1 = (1,0,0....). Should this be called "a un it vector" ? It will be seen below that
in fact | e'1| = g¯'11 ≠ 1 where g ¯' is the covariant metric tensor in x' -space, and | e'1| is the covariant length
of e'1. So e 'n is a unit vector in the sense that it has a single 1 in its column vector definition, but it is not
a unit vector in the sense that it does not (in general) have unit magnitude (it would if x'-space were
Cartesian with g'=1).We take the magnitude = 1 requirement as the proper definition of a unit vector. For
this reason, we refer to the e'n in x'-space as just "axis-aligned basis vectors" and they have no "hats".
One wonders how such a vector should be depicted in a drawing, see Example 1 (b) below and also
Appendix C (e).
Example 1: Polar coordinates, tangent base vectors
(a) The first s
tep is to compute the matrix S ik(x') ≡ (∂xi/∂x'k) from the inverse equations:
x = (x
1, x2 ) = (x,y)
x' = (x1', x2') = (θ,r)
x = F
-1(x') ↔ x = rcos( θ) x 1 = x2' cos(x1')
y = r s i n ( θ) x 2 = x2' sin(x1')
28 So
S11 = (∂ x/∂θ) = -rsinθ
S12 = (∂ x/∂r) = cosθ S ik ≡ ( ∂xi/∂x'k)
S21 = (∂ y/∂θ) = rcosθ
S22 = (∂ y/∂r) = sinθ
S = ⎝⎛
⎠⎞-rsinθ cosθ
rcosθ sinθ // det(S) = -r R = S-1 = ⎝⎛
⎠⎞-sinθ/r cosθ/r
cos(θ) sinθ
The tangent base vectors en can be read off as the columns of S
e1 = r(-sinθ,cosθ) = eθ = r e^θ // = r θ^
e2 = (cosθ,sinθ) = er = e^r // = r^
Notice that e θ in this case is not a unit vector. Below is a properly scaled drawing showing the location of
the two x'-space basis vectors on the left, and the two tangent base vectors on the right. As just shown, the
length of er is 1, while the length of eθ is 2.
The tangent base vectors are fairly familiar animals, since er = r^ and e θ = r θ^ in usual parlance. If one
moves radially outward from point x, the er base vector stays the same, but eθ grows longer. If one moves
azimuthally from x to some larger angle θ +Δθ, both vectors stay the same length but they rotate together
staying perpendicular.
(b) This is a good place to point out that vectors drawn in a non-Cartesian space can have magnitudes
which do not equal the length of the drawn arrows. The "graphical arrow length" of a vector v is (v
x2 +
vy2)1/2, but that is not the right expression for | v| in a non-Cartesian space. For example, as will be shown
below, | eθ'| = |eθ| , so the magnitude of the vector e'θ shown on the left above is in fact | eθ'| = r = 2 and not
1, but the graphical length of the arrow is 1 since e'θ = (1,0). See Appendix C (e) for further discussion of
this topic with a specific 2D non-orthogonal coordinate system.
(c) In this example, two basis vectors e 'n in x'-space on the left map into the two e n vectors on the right
according to en ≡ Se'n. If one were to apply the full mapping x = F-1(x') to each point along the arrows
29 e'n, for some general non-linear F one would find that these arrows map into warped arrows on the right
whose bases are tangent to those of the en. Those warped arrows lie on the coordinate lines. For this
particular mapping, e'θ maps under F-1 into the warped gray arrow, while e'r maps into er.
Example 2: Spherical Coordinates, tangent base vectors
x = (x1, x2, x3 ) = (x,y,z)
x' = (x1', x2',x3') = (r,θ,φ)
x = F
-1(x') ↔ x = rsin θcosφ
y = r s i n θsinφ
z = r c o s θ
S
11= (∂ x/∂r) = sinθcosφ S ik ≡ (∂xi/∂x'k)
S12 = (∂ x/∂θ) = rcosθcosφ
S13 = (∂ x/∂φ) = -rsinθsinφ
S21= (∂ y/∂r) = sin θsinφ
S22 = (∂ y/∂θ) = rcosθsinφ
S23 = (∂ y/∂φ) = rsinθcosφ
S31= (∂ z/∂r) = cosθ
S32 = (∂ z/∂θ) = -rsinθ
S33 = (∂ z/∂φ) = 0
S =
⎝⎜⎛
⎠⎟⎞ sinθ cosφ rcosθcosφ -rsinθsinφ
sinθ sinφ rcosθsinφ rsinθ cosφ
cosθ -rsinθ 0 R =
⎝⎜⎛
⎠⎟⎞ sinθ cosφ sinθsinφ cosθ
cosθcosφ/r cosθsinφ/r -sinθ/r
-sinφ /(rsinθ) cosφ/(rsinθ) 0
where Maple computes R as S-1 and finds as well that
det(S) = r
2 sinθ
The tangent base vectors are the columns of S, so
e
r = (sinθ cosφ, sinθsinφ,cosθ) |e r| = 1 = h' r
eθ = r(cosθcosφ,cosθsinφ,-sinθ) |e θ| = r = h' θ
eφ = rsinθ(-sinφ,cosφ,0) |e φ| = rsinθ = h'φ
and unit vector versions are then
e^r = (sinθ cosφ, sinθsinφ,cosθ) = r^ er = r^
e^θ = (cosθcosφ,cosθsinφ,-sinθ) = θ^ e θ = r θ^
e^φ = (-sinφ,cosφ,0) = φ^ eφ = rsinθ φ^
The unit vectors can be displayed in this standard picture,
30
Notice that ( r^, θ^, φ^) = (e^1, e^2, e^3) form a right-handed coordinate system at the point x = r.
(d) The inverse tangent base vectors u 'n and inverse coordinate lines
A complete swap x' ↔ x for a mapping x' = F (x) of course produces the "inverse mapping". This has the
effect of causing R ↔ S in the above discussion. The tangent ba se vectors for the inverse mapping would
then be the columns of matrix R instead of S. We shall denote these inverse tangent base vectors which
exist in x'-space by the symbol u'n. Then:
( en)i = Sin = ∂xi/∂x'n // the tangent base vectors as above
S = [ e1, e2, e3 .... eN ] // are the columns of S
( u'
n)i = Rin = ∂x'i/∂xn // inverse tangent base vectors
R = [ u'1, u'2, u'3 .... u'N ] // are the columns of R
By varying only x
n in x-space holding all the other x i = constant, one generates the x n-coordinate lines in
x'-space, just the reverse of the earlier discussion of this subject. Then inverse tangent base vectors u'n
will then be tangent to these inverse coordinate lines. An example is given below and another in
Appendix C.
In section (b) above the vector en transformed as a contravariant vector into an axis-aligned basis vector
e'n in x'-space
e'
n = R en ( e'n)i = Rij (en )j (en)i = Sin (e'n)i = δn,i
The same thing happens here, only in reverse : u'
n = S un ( u'n)i = Sij (un)j (u'n)i = Rin (un)i = δn,i
where now the un are axis-aligned basis vectors in x-space. A prime on an object indicates which space it
inhabits.
31
The inverse tangent base vectors u'n are not the same as the reciprocal base vectors En introduced in
Section 6 below.
Example 1: Polar coordinates: inverse tangent base vectors a nd inverse coordinate lines
It was shown earlier for polar coordinates that,
R = S
-1 = ⎝⎛
⎠⎞-sinθ/r cosθ/r
cos(θ) sinθ
so the inverse tangent base vectors are given by the columns of R, u'
x = ( -sinθ/r,cosθ) // note near θ = 0 that u'x indicates a large negative slope
u'y = (cosθ/r,sinθ) // note near θ = 0 that u'y indicates a small positive slope
One expects u'x to be tangent to an inverse coordinate lin e in x'-space which maps to a line in x-space
along which only x is varying, which is a horizontal line at fixed y (red). Looking at the small θ region of
the plot on the left below, one sees slopes as just described above.
For the polar coordinates mapping discussed above, horizont al (red) and vertical (blue) lines in x'-space
mapped into circles (red) and rays (blue) in x-space, and the tangent base vectors in x-space were tangent
to the coordinate lines there. If one instead takes horizontal (red) and vertical (blue) lines in x-space and
maps them back into coordinate lines in x'-space, th e picture is a bit more complicated. Since y = rsin θ,
the plot of an x-coordinate line (x is varying, y fixed at y
i) in x'-space has the form r = y i/sinθ, where y i
denotes some selected y value (a red horizontal line), so plotting r = y i/sinθ in x'-space for various values
of yi displays a set of inverse x-coordinate lines (red). Similarly r = x i/cosθ gives some y-coordinate
lines (blue). Here is a Maple plot:
x'-space ( θ,r) x-space (x,y)
Another example is given in Appendix C.
32 4. Notions of length, distance and scalar product in Cartesian Space
This section can be interpreted in either Picture B or Picture D wh
ere the x-space is Cartesian, G=1.
Up to this point, we have dealt only with the vector space RN (a vector space is sometimes called a linear
space), and have not "endowed" it with a norm, metric or a scalar product. Quantities like d xi above were
just little vectors and x + dx was vector addition.
Now, for the first time (officially), we discuss leng th and distance, such as they are in a Cartesian
Space, as defined in Section 1.
For RN one first defines a norm which determines the "length" of a vector, the first notion of distance
in a limited sense. The "usual" norm is the L2 norm given by
norm of x = || x || ≡ ( x
12 + x22 + .... + x N2 )1/2 ≡ | x |
Now we have a normed linear space.
One next defines the notion of the distance between two vectors. Although this can be done in many
ways, just as there are many possible norms, for RN the "natural metric" is defined in terms of the above
L2 norm, so that
distance between x and y = metric = d( x,y) ≡ || x - y || = ( [x 1-y1]2 + [x2-y2]2 + .... + [x N-yN]2 )1/2 .
Now our space is both a normed linear space and a metric space, a combo known as a Banach Space. One finally adds the notion of a scalar product (inner product) in this way
(x,y) ≡ Σ
ixiyi ≡ x • y // = Σi,j δi,j xi yj
which of course implies this special case,
(x,x) = x • x = Σ
ixi2 = ||x||2 = | x |2
Our space has now ascended to the higher level of being a real Hilbert Space of N dimensions. All this
structure is implied by the notation RN, our "Cartesian Space".
The length of the vector dx in RN is given by
length of dx = distance between vectors x+dx and x ≡ ds ≡ || dx || = Σi(dxi)2
To avoid dealing with the square root, one usually writes (ds)
2 ≡ || dx ||2 = Σi(dxi)2 = (dx1)2 + (dx2)2 + ... + (dx N)2
= Σi dxi dxi = Σi,j δi,j dxi dxj
As shown in the next section, one can interpret δ
i,j as the metric tensor in Cartesian Space.
33 The cursory discussion of this section is fleshed out in Chapter 2 of Stakgold where the concepts of linear
spaces, norms, metrics and inner products are defined with precision. Stakgold compares our N
dimensional Cartesian Hilbert Space to the N=∞ dimensional Hilbert Spaces used in functional analysis,
where basis vectors might be Legendre polynomials P n(z) on (-1,1), n = 0,1,2... ∞. He has little to say,
however, about curvilinear coordinate spaces in this particular book.
34 5. The Metric Tensor
The
metric tensor is the heart of the machine of tensor analysis and we shall have a lot to say about it in
this section. Each subsection is best presented in the c ontext of one of our Pictures, and there will be some
jumping around between pictures. We apologize for th is inconvenience and ask forbearance. Hopefully
the subsections below will give the reader some e xperience with typical nitty-gritty manipulations. One
advantage of the developmental notation over the standard notation is that matrix methods are easy to use,
and they will be used below. We now go to the Picture D context. Comparison with Picture B shows that primes must be placed on
objects F, R and S related to the tran sformation from x-space to x'-space:
The various partial derivatives are de termined from their definitions,
R'ik ≡ (∂x'i/∂xk) R" ik ≡ (∂x"i/∂xk) R ik ≡ (∂x"i/∂x'k)
S'
ik ≡ (∂xi/∂x'k) S" ik ≡ (∂xi/∂x"k) S ik ≡ (∂x'i/∂x"k)
The unprimed S,R can be expressed in terms of the primed objects this way (chain rule)
R
ik ≡ (∂x"i/∂x'k) = (∂x"i/∂xa) (∂xa/∂x'k) = R"ia S'ak => R = R" S'
S
ik ≡ (∂x'i/∂x"k) = (∂x'i/∂xa) (∂xa/∂x"k) = R'ia S"ak => S = R' S"
(a) Definition of the metric tensor
The metric or distance between vectors x and x+dx can be specified as done in Section 4 in terms of the
norm of differential vector d x,
metric(x +dx, x) = norm( [x +dx] - x) = norm(d x) ≡ ds
with the caveat that this is not an official nor m, see section (i) below. The squared distance (ds)
2 must be
a linear combination of products dx idxj just on dimensional grounds. The coefficients in this linear
combination form a matrix called the metric tensor (later we show this matrix really is a tensor)
35 (ds)2 = Σi=1N Σj=1N [ metric tensor ] ij dxi dxj
This is a bit of chicken and egg because one is really defining "distance" and "m etric tensor" at the same
time. Each selection of a metric tensor defines th e meaning of distance ds in the space of interest.
Suppose the length of a small vector d x in a Quasi-Cartesian x-space is known to be ds. Recall from
Section 1 that such a space has a diagonal metric tensor G whose diagonal elements are independently
either +1 or -1. How might one express this same ds in terms of the other spaces' coordinates x' and x" ?
(see Picture D) Going to x'-space one finds, since d x = S'( x') dx',
(ds)2 = ΣiGiidxidxi = Σi Gii (ΣkS'ik dx'k) (ΣmS'im dx'm)
= Σ
kΣm { Σi Gii S'ikS'im } dx'k dx'm
Defining the metric tensor in x'-sp ace to be (comment on the bar below)
g¯'km ≡ ΣiGiiS'ikS'im = Σij S'T
kiGijS'jm => g ¯' = S'TG S'
one then has, with implied summation on the right,
(ds)
2 = ΣkΣm g¯'km dx'k dx'm = g¯'km dx'k dx'm
For the transformation from x-space to x"-space in Picture D, a similar result is obtained,
g¯"km ≡ Σi GiiS"ikS"im = > g ¯" = S"TG S"
(ds)
2 = g¯"km dx"k dx"m
Since (ds)
2 is a number which is the same in all three systems (that number is the distance between two
points in x-space), the quantity g ¯'km dxk' dxm' is a tensorial scalar.
The metric tensor is specific to a space; it is a propert y of the space; it is part of the space's definition.
We have placed bars over the g's anticipating what wi ll soon be shown, that these matrices are "covariant"
matrices. Then we won't have to go back and fix things up.
To summarize, there are three metric tensors for the three spaces in Picture D :
g¯ = G g ¯' = S'
T G S' g ¯" = S"T G S"
Concerning the invariance of (ds).
In the above discussion, it was assumed that distance (ds)2 is the same
in x'-space as it is in x-space. As will be seen soon, this is equivalent to saying that the covariant dot
product of any two vectors gives the same number re gardless of which space is used to compute the dot
product: A • B = A ' • B'. This in turn implies that | A| = |A'| . In other words, it was assumed above that
the dot product of two tensorial vectors is a scalar with respect to the underlying transformation F.
36 In our major application, where x-space is Cart esian and x'-space is that of some curvilinear
coordinates, it is a requirement that | A | = | A'| . The length of a physical vector is the same no matter how
one chooses to describe that vector. Imagine that A is a velocity vector v. The speed | v| of an object is the
same number whether one represents v in Cartesian or spherical coordinates.
In special relativity one again wants dot pr oducts to be scalars and the notion that (ds)2 is a scalar
under Lorentz transformations (that is, d x•dx = dx'•dx') is a key assumption/requirement of the theory.
When it is required that (ds)2 ( or A • B or | A|) be a tensorial scalar under transformation F from x-
space to x'-space, then the metric tensors of the two spaces must be related by g ¯' = S'TG S'. More
generally as shown below, if (ds)2 is required the be a tensorial scalar, then one must have g ¯' = ST
g¯ S
where x'-space and x-space are arbitrary spaces with metric tensors g ¯' and g¯. This is the statement that the
object g ¯ transforms as a rank-2 tensor, as shown below.
There are, however, applications of transformations where the scalarity of (ds)2 is not required and in
fact it is crucial that (ds)2 can change under a transformation. For example, in continuum mechanics one
can consider x-space to be a space describing a fl ow of continuous matter at some initial time t 0 and x'-
space to be the same flow at a later time t. A general flow has x' = F( x) where x is the position of a
continuum "particle" at time t 0 and x' is the position of that same partic le at time t. In general F is non-
linear. The distance between two differentially spaced particles at the two times is d x and d x', and one has
dx' = R d x. The whole point here is that during the flow, the distance vector between two close particles
rotates and stretches in some manner, and in general (due to this stretch), |d x| ≠ |dx'| , so (ds)2 is
definitely not invariant under the flow (ie, unde r the transformation F). In this case, the rule g ¯' = ST
g¯ S
does not apply, and one is free to select a metric te nsor in each space independently. Since material flows
usually occur in Cartesian space, one usually takes g = 1 and g' = 1. In Lai (p 105), the idea is that d x' =
Rdx translates to d x = Fd X, and F is called the deformati on gradient and is written F = ( ∇x) which is a
dyadic like notation discussed in Appendix E and G. The continuum mechanics application is discussed
further in Section (o) below.
In general, we shall be assuming that in fact (ds)2 is a scalar in almost everything that follows.
(b) Inverse of the metric tensor
The inverses of the three metric tensors shall be indicates without an overbar, and we shall eventually
show these matrices to be "contravariant" matrices and thus deserve no overbar. We thus now define three
new g matrices as these inverses, and compute the inverses:
g ≡ g¯
-1 = G-1 = G // remember G just has +1 and -1 diagonal elements
g' ≡ g¯'-1 = (S'T G S')-1 = S'-1 G (S'T)-1 = R' G R'T
g" ≡ g¯"-1 = (S"T G S")-1 = S"-1 G (S"T)-1 = R" G R"T
Here are the collected facts from above:
g = G g' = R'G R'
T g" = R" G R"T S = R' S"
g¯ = G g ¯' = S'TG S' g ¯" = S"T G S" R = R" S'
g¯g = 1 g ¯'g' = 1 g ¯"g = 1
37
Comment: In the Picture C context but with a Quasi-Cartesian x(0)-space, one could take the second
column above and write it this way,
g = RGRT
g¯ = STGS
g¯g = 1 (ds)2 = g¯km dxk dxm
where now the clutter of primes is gone. If x-space is Cartesian so G = 1, then g = RRT and g ¯ = STS.
But we continue with Picture D.
(c) A metric tensor is symmetric
Any matrix of the form M = A
TDA where D is a diagonal matrix (so D=DT) is symmetric:
M
T = (ATDA)T = ATDA = M // and similarly with A → AT
Since all metric tensors shown above match this form, they are all symmetric: g ab = gba for any g (with
or without an overbar).
(d) det(g) and g nn of a Cartesian-generated metric tensor are non-negative
If we arrive at x'-space by a transformation F from a Cartesian x-space (as opposed to a Quasi-Cartesian
one), we refer to the metric tensor g' in this x'-spa ce as being "Cartesian generated". In this case G = 1 and
the metric tensors above are g = RRT and g ¯ = STS . Any matrix of either of these forms has positive
diagonal elements and positive determinant:
(A
TA)aa = Σb (AT)abAba = Σb (A)baAba = Σb (Aba)2 ≥ 0 // diagonal elements ≥ 0
det(A
TA) = det(AT) det(A) = det(A) det(A) = [ det(A) ]2 ≥ 0 // det ≥ 0
To show these results for the AA
T form, just replace A →AT everywhere. Recall that transformation F
maps RN → RN so the coefficients of the linearized matrices R and S are real, and elements of the metric
tensor must therefore also be real. For a Quasi-Carte sian-generated metric tensor, these proofs are invalid
since then g = RGRT and g¯ = STGS and G ≠1.
(e) Definition of two kinds of rank-2 tensors
We now switch to Picture A,
38
Recall the vector transformation rules from Section 2 (d),
V' = R V contravariant R ik(x) ≡ (∂x'i/∂xk) R = S-1
V¯' = ST V¯ covariant S ik(x') ≡ (∂xi/∂x'k) = ST
ki(x')
which can be written out in components
V'
a = Raa' Va' contravariant R ik(x) ≡ (∂x'i/∂xk) R = S-1
V¯'a = ST
aa'V¯a' covariant S ik(x') ≡ (∂xi/∂x'k) = ST
ki(x')
A rank-1 tensor is defined to be a vector which transforms in one of the two ways shown above.
Similarly, a (non-mixed) rank-2 tensor is defined as a matrix which transforms in one of these two ways:
M'ab = Raa' Rbb' Ma'b' // contravariant rank-2 tensor
M¯'ab = ST
aa' ST
bb' M¯a'b' // covariant rank-2 tensor
and again we put a bar over the covariant objects.
Digression : Proof that (A-1)T = (AT)-1 for any invertible matrix A:
• det(A) = det(AT)
• cof(AT) = [ cof(A)]T since [cof(AT)]ab = cof ( AT
ab) = cof(A ba) = [cof(A)] ba = [cof(A)]T
ab
• (A-1)T = { [cof(A)]T / det(A) }T = [cof(AT)]T /det(AT) = (AT)-1
This fact is used many times in the manipulations below.
(f) Proof that the metric tensor and its inverse are both rank-2 tensors
The above rank-2 tensor transformation rules can be written in the following matrix form (something not
possible with higher-rank tensors),
M' = R M R
T
// contravariant rank-2 tensor
M¯' = ST M¯ S // covariant rank-2 tensor
where recall
39
But we now switch these rules to the Picture D context where F maps x'-space to x"-space,
M" = R M' RT
// contravariant rank-2 tensor
M¯" = ST M¯' S // covariant rank-2 tensor
Consider then this sequence of steps:
1 *G * 1 = 1 * G * 1
(S"R") G (S"R")
T = (S'R') G (S'R')T // S"R" = 1
S" (R"G R"T) S"T = S'(R'G R'T) S'T // regroup
S" g" S"T = S' g' S'T // since g" = R"G R"T and g' = R'G R'T
g" S"T = R" S' g' S'T // left multiply by S"-1 = R"
g" = R" S' g' S'T R"T // right multiply by S"T,-1 = R"T
g" = (R" S') g' (S'T R"T) // regroup
g" = (R" S') g' (R" S')T // (AB)T = BTAT
g" = R g' RT // expressions in section (b) above for R and S
This last result then shows that g' is a contravariant rank-2 tensor with respect to the transformation F
taking x'-space to x"-space. Continuing on,
g" = R g' R
T
g"-1 = (R g' RT)-1
g"-1 = ST g'-1 S // RT,-1= ST etc
g¯" = ST g¯' S // g ¯' = g'-1
and this last result shows that g ¯' is a covariant rank-2 tensor with respect to the transformation F taking
x'-space to x"-space. This is why we put a bar over this g from the start.
40 These two metric tensor transformation statements can be converted to the Picture A context,
g' = R g RT g' ab = Raa'Rbb'ga'b' // g is a contravariant rank-2 tensor
g¯' = ST g¯ S g ¯'ab = ST
aa'ST
bb'g¯a'b' // g¯ is a covariant rank-2 tensor
Since RS = 1, the equations can be inverted to get
g = S g' S
T g ab = Saa'Sbb'g'a'b'
g¯ = RT g¯' R g ¯ab = RT
aa'RT
bb'g¯'a'b' = Ra'aRb'bg¯'a'b'
Further variations of the above are obtained using RS = 1, gg ¯ = g'g¯' = 1 and g = g
T (etc.) :
Rg = g' S
T g ¯' R g = ST g' ST g¯ = R
g¯ S = RT g¯' g RT g¯' = S g ¯ S g' = RT
(g) Metric tensor converts vector types
We continue in Picture A . Suppose V is a contravariant vector so V' = R V. Construct a new vector W
with the following properties ( see Section 7 (u) concerning "covariant equations") W = g ¯ V x-space
W' = g ¯' V' x'-space
Is vector W one of our two vector types, or is it neither? One must examine how it transforms under F:
W' = g¯' V' = (S
T g¯ S) (R V) = ST g¯ (SR)V = ST g¯ V = ST W
Therefore this new vector W is a covariant vector under F, so it should have an overbar,
W¯ ≡ g¯ V
This covariant vector W¯ can be regarded as the covariant partner of contravariant vector V.
This shows the general idea that applying g ¯ to any contravariant vector produces a covariant vector! So
this is one way to construct covariant vectors if we have a supply of contravariant ones. Conversely,
starting with a known covariant vector W¯ , one can construct a contravariant vector V ≡ g W¯ . Thus,
every vector of either type can be thought of as having a partner vector of the other type.
An obvious notation is to write W¯ as V¯ so no extra letter is needed. Then one has
41
V¯ = g¯ V V = g V¯
V¯i = g¯ij Vj Vi= gijV¯j
(h) Vectors in Cartesian space
Theore
m: There is no distinction between a contravariant and a covariant vector in Cartesian space.
Proof : Pick a contravariant vector V. Since g ¯ = 1, V¯ ≡ g¯ V = V . But V ¯ is a covariant vector. Since V¯ =
V , every contravariant vector is also covariant and vice versa. In other words, if g = 1, every vector is
the same as its covariant partner vector. The transformation rules in this case are
V' = R V
V¯' = S
T V¯ = ST V
Although the vectors V and V¯ are the same, eliminating V shows that V¯' and V ' are not the same. One
finds that V¯' = (STS) V' = g¯' V', so V¯' = g¯' V' ≠ V'.
(i) Metric tensor: covariant scalar product and norm
For a Cartesian space, Section 4 defined the norm as the length of a vector, the metric as the distance
between two vectors, and the scalar product (inner pr oduct) as the projection of one vector on another.
The official definitions of norm, metric and scalar product require non-negativity: | x | ≥ 0, d( x,y) ≥ 0,
and x • x ≥ 0. For non-Cartesian spaces, the logical exte nsions of these three concepts can result in all
three quantities being negative. Nevertheless, we sh all use the term "covariant scalar product" with
notation A • B as defined below, as well as the notation | A|2 ≡ A • A where | A| will be called the length,
magnitude or norm of A, even though these objects are not true scalar products or norms. In the
curvilinear application of tensor analysis, where x- space is Cartesian, since the norm and scalar product
are tensorial scalars, and since they are non-negative in Cartesian x-space, the problem of negative norms
does not arise in either space.
How do authors handle this problem? Some authors refer to A • A as "the norm" of A (e.g., Messiah
bottom p 878 discussing special relativity) , which is our | A|2. For a general 4-vector A in special or
general relativity, most authors just write A • A (AμAμ in standard notation), note that the quantity is
invariant under transformations, but don't give it a name.
Whereas we use the bold • for this covariant dot product, most special relativity authors prefer to
reserve this bold dot for a 3D spatial dot product, an d then the 4D dot product is written with some "less
bold dot" such as A .B or A•B. Typical usage then in standard notation would be p•p = pμpμ = p02 - p•p
(see for example Bjorken and Drell p 281).
Without further ado, we define the "covariant scal ar product" of two contravariant vectors (a new and
different use of the word "covariant", but th e same as appears in Section 7 (u) ) as:
A • B ≡ g¯abAaBb = g¯abBbAa = g¯baBaAb = g¯abBaAb = B • A
42 This covariant scalar (or dot) product is more interesting and useful than the object A aBa because the
covariant scalar product of two contravariant vectors is a tensorial scalar, as we now show (Picture A)
A' • B' = g¯'abA'aB'b = g¯'ab(Raa'Aa') (Rbb'Bb') = g¯'ab Raa' Rbb' Aa' Bb'
= [ ( RT)a'a g¯'ab Rbb' ] Aa' Bb' = [RT g¯' R]a'b' Aa' Bb' = g¯a'b' Aa' Bb'
= g ¯ab Aa Bb = A • B
Recall that for any contravariant vector B, there is a partner covariant vector B¯a = g¯abBb. Using this
partner B¯ one can restate the above covariant scalar product as
A • B = g¯
abAaBb = Aa B¯a
or, taking instead A¯
b = g¯baAa ,
A • B = A¯
b Bb = A¯a Ba
And finally, if in A • B = Aa B¯a we write A a = gabA¯b , we get
A • B = Aa B¯a = gabA¯bB¯a = gabA¯aB¯b
where the scalar product is now expressed in terms of the covariant partner vectors A¯ and B¯. To
summarize, there are four different ways to write this covariant scalar product :
A • B = g¯abAaBb = Aa B¯a = A¯a Ba = gabA¯aB¯b = B • A
Using the appropriate expressions on the above line, one may conclude that the covariant dot product of
any two tensorial vectors is a tensorial scalar. In the special case that A = B, we use the shorthand notation (with caveat as noted above)
|A|
2 ≡ A • A
Going back to the a result of section (a), one sees the (ds)2 distance squared in a new light,
(ds)2 = g¯'km dx'k dx'm = dx ' • dx' = dx • dx = a scalar with respect to F
so ds is sometimes called "the invariant distance" . In special relativity, using the Bjorken and Drell
notation noted above where g' μν = diag(1,-1,-,1,-1) and c=1, one writes ( standard notation)
(dτ)2 = g'μν dx'μdx'ν = dxμdxμ = dx'• dx' = dx • dx = a Lorentz scalar = (dt)2 - dx • dx , xμ = (t, x)
43 and dτ is called "the proper time", a particular case of the invariant distance ds. Notice that (d τ)2 < 0 for a
spacelike 4-vector dxμ, meaning one that lies outside the future and past lightcones (|d x| > |dt| ). We now
restore • to our covariant definition.
Going back to Section 3 and the vectors e'n and en, a claim made there can now be verified:
|e'n|2 = e'n• e'n = en• en = |en|2 => | e'n| = |en|
(j) Metric tensor and tangent base vectors
The context of Picture A continues,
Recall this fact from Section 3,
S = [ e
1, e2, e3 .... eN ]
where the columns of S are the tangent base vectors. It follows that (see end of section (f))
g¯' = S
T g¯ S = [ e1, e2, e3 .... eN ]T g¯ [e1, e2, e3 .... eN ]
so
e 1•e1 e1• e2 e1 • e3 ...... e 1• eN
e 2•e1 e2• e2 e2 • e3 ...... e 2• eN
g ¯' = e3•e1 e3• e2 e3 • e3 ...... e 3• eN
........
e N•e1 eN• e2 eN • e3 ...... e N• eN
since,
e
nT g¯ em = ( en)i g¯ij (em)j = g¯ij(en)i(em)j = en • em
using the covariant scalar product defined in the prev ious section. Taking the n,m component of the above
matrix equation, one gets
g¯'
mn = em • en or g ¯'mn = ∂'mx • ∂'nx
which makes a direct connection between the covarian t metric tensor in x'-space and the tangent base
vectors en in x-space. A less graphical derivation of this fact is
44 g¯'nm = (STg¯S)nm = ST
na g¯ab Sbm = g¯ab San Sbm = g¯ab (en)a(eb)n ≡ en • em .
Therefore, the tangent base vectors will only be mutually orthogonal when the metric tensor g ¯' of x'-space
is a diagonal matrix . We refer to the coordinates of an x' -space having a diagona l metric tensor as
comprising an orthogonal coordinate system . At any point x in x-space, the tangents en to the N
coordinate lines passing through that point are or thogonal. Most examples below will involve such
systems, with Appendix C providing a non-orthogonal example.
In particular, g ¯'
mn = em • en lets us write the length of a tangent base vector in terms of the corresponding
diagonal element of g ¯',
|en|2 = en • en = g¯'nn => | en| = g¯'nn => e^n = en / g¯'nn
The quantities | e
n| = g¯'nn are called scale factors and are sometimes written h' n or Q'n or H'n.
h'n ≡ Q'n ≡ |en| = g¯'nn
As a reminder, had we called x'-space something like ξ-space, there would be no primes on these
symbols, but then if g ¯ ≠1 there would be confusion as to which space the symbols applied.
Section (d) above showed that g ¯'nn ≥ 0 when x-space is Cartesian. This is the usual case for the
curvilinear coordinates application, and so in this case the scale factors h' n are always real and positive.
Note : Some authors refer to the scale factors h' n as the Lamé coefficients , while other authors refer to
Rij as the Lamé coefficients which they call h ji. (Lame)
(k) The Jacobian J
The context of Picture A continues,
First of all, note that since RS = 1, det(S) = 1/det(R) The Jacobian J( x') is defined as follows,
J( x') ≡ det(S( x')) = det( ∂x
i/∂x'k) = 1/det(R( x(x')) = 1/ det( ∂x'i/∂xk)
45 Note 1: Objects which relate to the transformation between x-space and x'-space cannot themselves be
tensors because tensor objects must be asso ciated with a specific space, the way V(x) is a vector in x-
space and V'(x') is a vector in x'-space. Thus S ij(x') = ∂ xi/∂x'k , although a matrix, is not a rank-2 tensor.
Similarly, J(x '), while a "scalar" function, is not a rank-0 tensorial scalar. One does not ask how S and J
themselves "transform" in going from x-space to x'-space.
Note 2: An alternative notation used by some authors is this
J(x,x') ≡ det(S( x,x')) = det( ∂xi/∂x'k)
as if x and x' were independent variables. In our presentation, x' = F(x) is not an independent variable but
is determined by F(x). Just as one might write f '(x') = ∂f/∂x', we write J( x') = det(∂xi/∂x'k). The
connection would be J( x') = J(x=F-1(x'),x' )) = J(x(x') ,x').
Note 3:
Other sources often use the notation | M | to indicat e the determinant of a matrix. We shall use the
notation det(M), and reserve | | to indicate the magnitude of some quantity, such as |J| below.
The determinant of any NxN matrix S may be written ( εabc.. is the permutation tensor, Section 7 (h)),
det(S) = ε
abc...x Sa1 Sb2 ... SxN
For our particular S with S
in = (en)i this becomes
det(S) = ε
abc...x (e1)a(e2)b....... ( eN)x
so J is related to the tangent base vectors by
J = ε
abc...x (e1)a(e2)b....... ( eN)x .
It was shown in section (f) that g ¯' = S
T g¯ S and g' = R g RT , these being the transformation rules for
covariant and contravariant rank-2-tensors. Therefore
det(g ¯') = det(S
Tg¯S) = det(ST)det(g¯)det(S) = det(S)det(S)det(g ¯) = J2 det(g¯)
det(g') = det(RgRT) = det(R)det(g)det(RT) = det(R)det(R)det(g) = J-2 det(g)
or det(g ¯') = J
2 det(g¯) => J2 = det(g ¯') / det(g ¯) = [det(S)]2
det(g') = J-2det(g)
It is a tradition to define certain scalar (but not tensorial scalar) objects with the same name g and g',
g( x) ≡ det(g¯(x)) = 1/det(g( x)) // in x-space
g'( x') ≡ det(g¯'(x')) = 1/det(g'( x')) // in x'-space
So that
46 J2(x') = det(g ¯'(x')) / det(g ¯(x)) = g'( x') / g( x)
Normally the argument dependence is suppressed and one then writes
J
2 = det(g ¯')/ det(g ¯) = g'/g
As explained in Appendix D (a), the equation g' = J
2 g says that g, instead of being a tensorial scalar, is a
scalar density of weight -2. One must be a little careful to distinguish the scalars g and g' from the tensors
gij and g'ij expressed in matrix notation as g and g'.
It is convenient to make the following definition, called the signature of the metric tensor,
s = sign[det(g ¯)]
Since g g ¯ = 1, one has det(g)det(g ¯) = 1 so that sign[det(g ¯)] = sign[det(g)] .
Since det(g ¯') / det(g ¯) = [det(S)]
2, one has sign[det(g ¯')] = [det(g ¯)]. Therefore:
s = sign[det(g ¯)] = sign[det(g)] = sign[det(g ¯')] = sign[det(g')] = sign(g) = sign(g')
Since transformation F is assumed invertible in its domain and range, one cannot have det(S) = 0
anywhere except perhaps on a boundary. Since det(g ¯') = [det(S)]
2det(g¯), if we assume det(g ¯) vanishes
nowhere in the x-space domain of F, then det(g ¯') ≠0 everywhere in the range of F. The conclusion with
this assumption is that the signature s is always well-defined.
Obviously, the quantities sg and sg' are both positive, and since J2 = g'/g one can write
|J| = sg' / sg = | det(S) | = g'/g
For the curvilinear coordinates app lication, x-space is Cartesian, det(g ¯) = 1, and thus s = 1 and then
|J| = g' = | det(S) | // curvilinear
For the relativity application, x-space is Minkowski space with det(g ¯) = -1 so s = -1 and
|J| = -g' = | det(S) | // relativity
47 Here then is a summary of the results of this section:
J( x') ≡ det(S( x')) = det( ∂xi/∂x'k) = 1/det(R( x(x')) = 1/ det( ∂x'i/∂xk)
g ≡ det(g¯) g' ≡ det(g¯')
g' = J2g => g is a scalar density of weight -2
s ≡ sign[det(g ¯)] = sign[det(g)] = sign[det(g ¯')] = sign[det(g')] = sign(g) = sign(g')
|J| = sg' / sg = | det(S) | = g'/g
Note : Weinberg p 98 (4.4.1) defines g = -det(g ij). This is the only one of Weinberg's conventions that we
have not adopted, so in this paper it is always true that g ≡ + det(g ij) even though this is -1 in the
application to special relativity.
Carl Gustav Jacob Jacobi (1804 –1851)
. German, Berlin PhD 1825 then went to Konigsberg, did much in
a short life. Elucidated the whole world of elliptic integrals and functions, such as F(x,k) and sn(x;k), which occur even in simple problems like the 2D pendulum. Wiki claims he promoted Legendre's ∂
symbol for partial derivatives (used throughout this document) and made it a standard. Among many
other contributions, he saw the significance of the obj ect J which now bears his name: "the Jacobian". The
Jacobi Identity is another familiar item, a rule for non-commuting operators [ x,[y,z]] + [ z,[x,y]] + [ y,[z,x]]
= 0 which finds use with quantum me chanical operators and matrices, and more generally with Lie group
generators.
(l) Some relations between g, R and S
in Picture C
In Picture C,
the statement of the rank-2 tensor transformation of g and g ¯ becomes
g = RRT
g¯ = STS
which can be written in a variety of ways,
RT = (SR)RT = S(RRT) = S g => R = g ST => 1 = S g ST
ST = ST(RTST) = (STS)R = g ¯ R => S = RT g¯ => 1 = RT g¯ R
48 In summary:
g = RRT RT = S g R = g ST 1 = S g ST
g¯ = STS ST = g¯ R S = RT g¯ 1 = RT g¯ R
The diagonal elements of g ¯ and g are given by
g¯nn = Σn ST
niSin = Σn (Sin2) = Σi (∂xi/∂x'n)2
gnn = Σn RniRT
in = Σn (Rni2) = Σi (∂x'n/∂xi)2
If the x'
i are orthogonal coordinates, then g ¯nm = h'n2δnm and gnm = h'n-2δnm where the h' n are the scale
factors mentioned above in section (j). These scale f actors may then be expressed as ( M&F p 23 1.3.4)
h'
n2 = g¯nn = Σi (∂xi/∂x'n)2 h ' n-2 = gnn = Σi (∂x'n/∂xi)2
Example 1: Polar coordinates: metric tensor and Jacobian
Picture C continues (so now θ = x1 and r = x 2) and the metric tensor for polar coordinates will be
computed in two ways. On the last visit to this example ( end of Section 3), it was shown that
S =
⎝⎛
⎠⎞-rsinθ cosθ
rcosθ sinθ = [ e1, e2 ] e1 = r(-sinθ, cosθ) e2 = (cosθ, sinθ)
One way to compute g ¯ is this: ( 1= θ, 2=r)
g¯ = STS = ⎝⎛
⎠⎞-rsinθ rcosθ
cosθ sinθ ⎝⎛
⎠⎞-rsinθ cosθ
rcosθ sinθ = ⎝⎛
⎠⎞ r2 0
0 1 => g ¯θθ = r2 g ¯rr = 1
Another way is this:
g¯ = ⎝⎜⎛
⎠⎟⎞e1•e1 e1•e2
e2•e1 e2•e2 = ⎝⎛
⎠⎞ r2 0
0 1 // det(g ¯) = r2
Notice that this metric tensor is in fact symmetric , and that one of its elements is a function of the
coordinates. The length2 of a small vector d x can be written
(ds)2 = g¯km dxk dxm = g¯θθ dθ dθ + g¯rr dr dr = r2 (dθ)2 + (dr)2
The Jacobian is given by
J(r,θ) = det(S(r, θ)) = det
⎝⎛
⎠⎞-rsinθ rcosθ
cosθ sinθ = -r so |J| = r and g = J2 = r2, g = r
49
Example 2: Spherical coordinates: metric tensor and Jacobian
As with Exam
ple 1, Picture C is used, wherein (x 1, x2, x3) = (r,θ,φ) .
In our last visit to this example (end of Section 3) it was found that
S =
⎝⎜⎛
⎠⎟⎞ sinθ cosφ rcosθcosφ -rsinθsinφ
sinθ sinφ rcosθsinφ rsinθ cosφ
cosθ -rsinθ 0
The metric tensor is then given by Maple as
g¯ = STS =
⎝⎜⎜⎛
⎠⎟⎟⎞ 1 0 0
0 r2 0
0 0 r2sin2θ det(g ¯) = r4sin2θ
so that
g¯
11= g¯rr = 1 h 1 = hr = g¯rr = 1
g¯22= g¯θθ = r2 h 2 = hθ = g¯θθ = r
g¯33= g¯φφ = r2sin2θ h 3 = hφ = g¯φφ = rsinθ
The Jacobian is found by Maple to be,
J(r,θ,φ) = det(S) = r2sinθ
Differential distance is then
(ds)
2 = g¯km dxk dxm = (dr)2 + r2(dθ)2 + r2sin2(dφ)2
and if dφ = 0, this agrees with the polar coordinates result.
(m) Special Relativity and its Metric Tensor: vectors and spinors
In this section the Standard Notation introduced be low in Section 7 is used. In that notation R ij is written
Ri
j , contravariant vectors V i are written Vi, and covariant vectors V ¯j are written V j. It is a tradition in
special and general relativity to use Greek letters for 4-vector indices and Latin le tters for spatial 3-vector
indices.
The (Quasi-Cartesian) metric tensor of special re lativity is frequently taken as G = diag(1,-1,-1,-1)
and the ordering of 4-vectors as xμ = (t,x,y,z) where c=1 (speed of light) and μ= 0,1,2,3 ( Bjorken and
Drell p 281). General relativity people often use G = diag(-1,1,1,1) ≡ η instead (Weinberg p 26). Still
other authors use G = 1 and xμ = (it,x,y,z) where i is the imaginary i, but this approach does not easily fit
into our tensor framework which is based on real numbers.
A Lorentz transformation is a linear transformation Fμ
ν
50
x'μ = Fμ
ν xν = Rμ
ν xν = > xν is a contravariant vector
and a theory requirement is that invariant length be preserved x' .x' = x .x = scalar. Special relativity also
requires that the metric tensor G be the same in all frames, since no frame is special, so G' = G. But this
says, in our old notation, that R G RT = G. This condition restricts the (proper) Lorentz transformations to
be rotations, boosts (velocity transformations), or any combination of the two. In particular,
R G RT = G => det(R G RT) = det(G)
=> det(R) det(G) det(RT) = det(G) => [det(R)]2 (-1) = (-1)
=> det(R) = ±1
Proper Lorentz transformations have det(R) = det(F) = +1, and here are two examples. First, a boost
transformation in the x direction,
F
μ
v =
⎟⎟⎟⎟⎟
⎠⎞
⎜⎜⎜⎜⎜
⎝⎛
1 0 0 00 1 0 00 0 cosh(b) sinh(b)0 0 sinh(b) cosh(b)
= exp(-ibK 1) where (K 1)μ
ν =
⎟⎟⎟⎟⎟
⎠⎞
⎜⎜⎜⎜⎜
⎝⎛
0 0 0 00 0 0 00 0 00 0 0
ii
and second, a rotation transformation about the x axis,
Fμ
v =
⎟⎟⎟⎟⎟
⎠⎞
⎜⎜⎜⎜⎜
⎝⎛
−
) cos( ) sin( 0 0) sin( ) cos( 0 00 0 1 00 0 0 1
r rr r = exp(-irJ 1) where (J 1)μ
ν =
⎟⎟⎟⎟⎟
⎠⎞
⎜⎜⎜⎜⎜
⎝⎛
−
0 0 00 0 00 0 0 00 0 0 0
ii
The matrices K 1 and J1 are called generators and are a part of a set of six 4x4 matrices J i and Ki for i =
1,2,3. These 6 generator matrices satisfy a set of commutation relations known as a Lie Algebra,
[ J
i, Jj] = +i εijkJk // [ A,B ] ≡ AB - BA
[ Ji, Kj] = +i ε ijk Kk
[ Ki, Kj] = -i εijkJk
In these commutators, the generators J
i and Ki can be regarded as abstract non-commuting operators,
while the specific 4x4 matrices shown above for J 1 and K1 are just a "representation" of these abstract
operators as 4x4 matrices. The six 4x4 generator matrices J i and Ki are (g = G = diag(1,-1,-1,-1) )
(J
μν)α
β = i ( gμαδν
β – gναδμ
β) (J 1)α
β ≡ (J23)α
β = i ( g2αδ3
β – g3αδ2
β) and cyclic 123
( K 1)α
β ≡ (J01)α
β = i ( g0αδ1
β – g1αδ0
β) and cyclic 123
where (-i)(J
μν)αβ = ( gμαgνβ – gναgμβ) is a rank-4 tensor, antisymmetric under μ↔ν and α ↔ β.
51 An arbitrary Lorentz transformation can be represented as Fμ
v(r,b) = [ exp {– i ( r•J + b•K)} ]μ
ν where
the 6 numbers r and b are called parameters (rotation and boost) and this F is a combined boost/rotation
transformation (note that eA+B ≠ eAeB for non-commuting matrices A,B). The product of two such Lorentz
transformations is also a Lorentz transformation, and in fact the transformations form a continuous group
known as the Lorentz Group, which then has 6 parameters.
The first two commutators shown above ( all J an d all K) are each associated with a 3 parameter
continuous group called the rotation group. The abstract generators of this group can be "represented" as
matrices of any dimension, and are labeled by a numb er j such that 2j+1 is the matrix dimension. For
example, the 2x2 matrix representation of the rotation group is labeled by j = 1/2, and is called the spinor representation and is associated in physics with the "intrinsic spin" of particles of spin 1/2 such as
electrons. The vectors (spinors) in this case have tw o elements, and (1,0) and (0,1) are "up" and "down".
Representations of the Lorentz group have labels {j
1, j2}, where j 1 is for the J-generated rotation
subgroup, and j 2 for the K-generated rotation subgroup, and are usually denoted j 1⊗j2. Such a
representation then has vectors containing (2j 1+1)(2j2+1) elements. In the case 1/2 ⊗1/2 there are 2*2=4
elements in a vector, and when these elements are linearly combined in a certain manner, they form the 4-
vector object which one writes as Aμ such as xμ. This is the "vector representation" of the Lorentz group
upon which is built the entire edifice of special relativity tensor algebra.
One can also consider two other representations of the Lorentz group which are pretty obvious: 1/2 ⊗
0 and 1/2 ⊗ 0. These are 2x2 matrix representations and they are different 2x2 representations. For each
representation one can construct a whole tensor analys is edifice based on 2-vectors. Just as with the 4-
vectors, one has contravariant and covarian t 2-vectors. The two representations 1/2 ⊗ 0 and 1/2 ⊗ 0 are
called spinor representations since they are each 2- dimensional. Since there are two distinct spinor
representations, one needs some way of distinguishing them from each other. One representation might be
called "undotted" and the other "dotted" and then there are four 2-vector types to worry about, which
transform this way
V'
a = Ra
bVb V'a• = Ra•
b•Vb• contravariant 2-vectors
V'a = RabVb V' a• = Ra•b•Vb• covariant 2-vectors
where now dots on the indices indicate which Lorentz group representation that index belongs to. The 2x2
matrices Ra
b and Ra•
b• are not the same. A typical rank-2 tensor would transform this way,
X' ab•
= Ra
a'Rb•
b•' Xa'b•'
This then is the subject of what is sometimes called Spinor Algebra as opposed to Tensor Algebra, but it
is really just regular tensor algebra with respect to the two spinor representations of the Lorentz group.
We have inserted this blatant digression just to show that the general subject of tensor analysis
includes all this spinor stu ff under its general umbrella.
In closing, Maple shows that the metric tensor G is indeed preserved unde r boosts and rotations. In
Maple
evalm(Bx &* G &* transpose(Bx)) means B
x G BxT
and Maple is just verifying that B x G BxT = G and similarly R x G RxT = G :
52
53 (n) General Relativity and its Metric Tensor
In general relativity a Picture of interest is Picture C
but the x(0) space is replaced by a Quasi-Cartesian space with coordinates ξi with the metric tensor of
special relativity.
This ξ-space represents a "freely-falling" coordinate sy stem in which the laws of special relativity
apply and the metric tensor is taken to be G = diag(-1,1,1,1) ≡ η.
The xi are the coordinates of some other coordinate system. There is some transformation x = F(ξ)
which defines the relationship between these two systems. The covariant metric tensor in x-space is
written g ¯ = STGS = STηS. Using the Standard Notation introduced in Section 7 below, this is usually
written as
g¯ = STηS // result from Section 5 (b)
g
dn = ST ηdnS // where (η dn)ab = ηab
gμν = (ST)μ
α ηαβ Sβ
ν = Sα
μ ηαβ Sβ
ν // Standard Notation as in Section 7
gμν = (∂ξα/∂xμ) ηαβ (∂ξβ/∂xν)
g
μν = (∂ξα/∂xμ) (∂ξβ/∂xν) ηαβ // p 71 (3.2.7)
The last line then defines the gravitational metric tensor in x-space based on the transformation
ξ = F-1(x) = ξ(x). ( This and the following references are from the book of Weinberg, see References.)
Newton's Second Law m a = F appears this way in general relativity
m (∂2xμ/∂τ2) = Fμ - m Γμ
νλ (∂xν/∂τ) (∂xλ/∂τ) // p 123 (5.1.11 following)
where F
μ is an externally applied force, but there is th en an extra bilinear velocity-dependent term which
represents an effective gravitational force (it acts on mass m) arising from spacetime itself. The object Γ
μ
νλ is called the affine connection and is rela ted to the metric tensor in this way.
Γ
μ
νλ = (1/2) gμσ( ∂νgλσ + ∂λgνσ – ∂σgνλ ) // p 75 (3.3.7)
These brief comments are only meant to convince the read er that the equations of general relativity also
have their place under the general umbre lla of tensor analysis as discusse d in this document. The fact that
Γμ
νλ is not a mixed rank-3 tensor is discussed in Appendix F (f).
54
(o) Continuum Mechanics and its Metric Tensors
One can describe (Lai) the forward "flow" of a continuous blob of matter by x = x(X,t) where X =
x(X,t0). A "particle" of matter (imagine a tiny cube) that starts at location X at time t 0 ends up at x at time
t. Two points in the flow separated by d X at t0 end up separated by some d x at t. The relation between
them is given by d x = F d X where F is called the deformation gradient (a rank-2 tensor). F describes how
a particle starting say with a cubic shape at t 0 gets deformed into some parallelepiped (3-piped) shape at t.
The finite-time flow x = x(X,t) from time t 0 to time t can be thought of as a generic (generally non-
linear) transformation of the form x = F(X) as in Section 1 above (but we replace our usual F by F to
avoid confusion between two F symbols: F is now the linearization of transformation F at a point x). The
two times are regarded as fixed parameters. Both the starting X-space and the ending x-space are
Cartesian spaces, since this flow occurs in the physic al world! Thus, the metric tensors for x-space and
X-space are both 1 for Cartesian coordinates in each of these spaces. This in turn means that the covariant
tensor analysis concepts such as the preservation of the length of a vector under the transformation go out
the window, and in fact the vector d X typically gets stretched as d X → dx so that | d X | ≠ | dx |. This was
discussed briefly at the end of Section 5 (a). In order to put this flow into the notation of this document, let
X → x and x → x' so that
continuum mechanics
this document (Forward Flow)
x, X ↔ x', x
x = x(X,t) ↔ x' = F(x) // Lai p70 (3.1.4)
d x = F d X ↔ d x' = R d x // as in Section 2 // Lai p86 (3.7.6), p105 (3.18.3)
F ↔ R
X = Cartesian ↔ g ¯ = 1
x = Cartesian ↔ g ¯' = 1
B = FFT ↔ g¯' = RRT // as in Section 5 ( l) // Lai p121 (3.25.2)
Thus, the deformation gradient F is just the R matrix of the forward transformation x = x(X,t) = F(X).
What we might call the "would-be" metric tensor, g¯' = RRT = STS ( that is, the g ¯' metric tensor that
would have resulted in scalars being true scal ars under the transformation), appears as B = FFT and this is
known as the left Cauchy-Green deforma tion tensor (manifestly symmetric).
Regarding the above as a description of forward flow, one could consider instead the inverse flow
process, but with F having the same meaning as in the forward flow, d x = F d X. Then the inverse flow
translation table would be this :
continuum mechanics
this document (Inverse Flow)
X, x ↔ x', x
X = X(x,t) ↔ x' = F(x)
d X = F-1 dx ↔ d x' = R d x // as in Section 2 x = F(X)
F-1 ↔ R
F ↔ S // S = R-1 and Sik = (∂xi/∂x'k) ↔ Fik = (∂ xi/∂Xk)
X = Cartesian ↔ g ¯ = 1
x = Cartesian ↔ g ¯' = 1
C = FTF ↔ g¯' = STS // as in Section 5 ( l) // Lai p114 (3.23.2)
55
In this direction the would-be g¯' tensor corresponds to C = FTF which is the right Cauchy-Green
deformation tensor.
Given the above flow situation, it is then possible to add two more transformations F 1 and F2 which
take X-space and x-space to independent se ts of curvilinear coordinates X' and x' :
and we then have an interesting trip le application of the notions of Section 1 to a real-world problem. This
drawing is the implicit subject of Section 3.29 (p131) of Lai.
In (reverse) dyadic notation the de formation gradient is written F = ( ∇x) where ∇ means ∇(X)so that
dx = F d X = (∇x) dX F ij = (∇x)ij = ∂j(X)xi = ∂xi/∂Xj
The (∇x) notation is explained in Appendix E, and in Appendix G the object ( ∇v) for an arbitrary vector
field v(x) is expressed in general curvilinear coordinates.
Section 8 discusses how length, area and volume transform under a transformation like F. In that
discussion we can regard the Section 8 picture with its "Cartesian-View" x'-space and the skewed N-piped
to its right as describing the (inverse) fluid flow situation for a tiny fluid particle. It is shown there that the
length, area and volume magnitude ratios are gi ven by (converted to de velopmental notation),
| d x(n)|/ dL'n = h'n = [ g¯'nn]1/2 = the scale factor for edge d x(n)
| d A¯(n)|/ dA'n = (1/h'n) |J| = (1/h' n) g'1/2 = [g¯'nn g']1/2 = [cof( g¯'nn)]1/2
|dV| / d V' = |J| = g'1/2 / / g' ≡ det(g¯'ij) = J2 , g¯' = STS
which can be translated into our inverse flow context as follows :
| d x(n)| / | d X(n)| = [ g¯'nn]1/2 = [(FTF)nn]1/2 = [Cnn]1/2 // Lai p114 (3.23.6)
| d An| / | d A0n| = [cof( g¯'nn)]1/2 = [cof((FTF)nn)]1/2 = [g¯'nn g']1/2 // Lai p129 (3.27.11) *
|dV| / |dV
0| = |J| = [det( g¯'ij)]1/2 = [det(FTF)]1/2 = |det(F)| // Lai p 130 (3.28.3)
where
56 edge area volume
X-space : d X(n) dA0n dV0 time t 0
x-space : d x(n) dAn dV time t
Thus, for example, the volume change of a "flowing" particle of continuous matter is given by the Jacobian |J| = |detF| associated with the deformation gradient tensor F. We put quotes on "flowing" only because this might be a particle of solid steel th at is momentarily moving and deforming a very small
amount during an oscillation or in re sponse to an applied stress.
* Details of the area ratio in developmental notation
. The end of Section 8 (c) item 9 gives the
transformation of covariant differential ar ea expressed in developmental notation,
d A¯' = J ST dA¯ J = det(S) = g'1/2 g' ≡ det( g¯'ij) = det(STS) = det(RRT) .
Here d A¯' is the covariant differential ar ea in Curvilinear-View x'-space,
d A¯' = g' (dx'[1]) x (d x'[2]) ... x (d x'[N-1])
(d
A¯')i = ε¯'iabc..x (dx'[1])a(dx'[2])b.... (d x'[N-1])x
= g' ε¯iabc..x (dx'[1])a(dx'[2])b.... (d x'[N-1])x ε¯ = permutation tensor
Defining d A¯' as the corresponding differential area in Cartesian-View x'-space, then
d
A¯' ≡ (dx'[1]) x (d x'[2]) ... x (d x'[N-1])
d
A¯' = g' dA¯' = J2dA¯'
and the above transformation rule becomes d A¯' = J ST dA¯ = J2dA¯' or
d
A¯' = J-1 ST dA¯
which can be inverted to give,
d
A¯ = J (ST)-1dA¯' .
Now write d
A¯ = (dA) n and d A¯' = (d A')n' where n and n' are unit vectors to get
(dA) n = (dA') J (ST)-1 n'
In the inverse flow scenario shown above, x'-s pace = X-space = the flow status at time t 0 so one can
replace primes with 0 subscripts and replace S by F to get
dA n = dA0 J (FT)-1 n0 J = det(F) = g'1/2 // Lai p 129 (3.27.12)
57
In the special case that n0 points along the k-axis in X-space, the above becomes ( uk is a unit vector)
dA(k) n = dA(k)
0 det(F) (FT)-1 uk // Lai p 129 (3.27.10) with k=3
dA(k) = dA(k)
0 det(F) | (FT)-1 uk | // Lai p 129 (3.27.11) with k=3
where the second line shows the Cartesian magnitude of both sides. But
| (F
T)-1 uk |2 = | RT uk |2 = [RTuk]i[RTuk]i = Rki Rki = (RRT)kk = g¯'kk
so dA
(k) = dA(k)
0 det(F) [ g¯'kk]1/2 = d A(k)
0 g'1/2 [g¯'kk]1/2 = d A(k)
0 [cof( g¯'kk)]1/2
where the theorem of Section 8 (c) item 6 has been used. Thus the claim of the above table is verified,
dA
(k)/ dA(k)
0 = [cof( g¯'kk)]1/2.
We have shown all this for ge neral dimension N, but of course the Lai book uses N = 3.
It might be noted that the Lai book does in fact use our "developmental notation" in that all indices are written "down" (when indices are shown), but no ove rbars mark covariant objects. Here are a few
examples:
Lai notation
Developmental notation Standard Notation
d A0 = dX(1)x dX(2) (3.27.1) d A¯0 = dX(1)x dX(2) (dA0)i= εijk [dX(1)]j [dX(1)]k
[divT] i = ∂jTij (4.7.3) [divT] i = ∂¯jTij [divT]i = ∂jTij
Lai writes tensors in bold face such as F for the deformation gradient noted above, or T for the stress
tensor. Perhaps this is done to emphasize the notion of a tensor as an operator as in our Appendix E (g).
Lai writes a specific matrix as [ T], but a matrix element is T ij. Notation is an ongoing difficulty.
Comment:
An interesting semantic issue aris es concerning the differential area d A. As shown above, one
regards this as a covariant vector in the sense of Section 8 (c) item 9 since, in standard notation,
dAi = εijk dx[1]j dx[2]k // standard notation
In developmental notation, one puts a bar over covariant objects and lowers indices on the d x vectors, to
get
d A¯i = ε¯ijk dx[1]
j dx[2]
k // developmental notation
d A¯' = J ST dA¯ // transformation rule to Curvilinear-View d A¯' (from above)
dA¯' = J-1 ST dA¯ // transformation rule to Cartesian-View d A¯' (from above)
so one might say that d
A¯i and d A¯' are covariant with respect to the way they transform.
58 On the other hand, in Cartesian x'-s pace the metric "tensor" is set to g ¯'ab = δa,b = g¯'ab so, as
discussed in Section 5 (h), for any vector one has V¯ = V and vectors are both covariant and contravariant.
This would seem to imply that d A¯' = dA'. So we end up with a subtle di stinction between covariant in the
sense of how something transforms, and covariant in the sense of the action of the metric "tensor" g ¯'ab in
this situation where g and g' are not related in the usual rank-2 tensor way (whereas g and g' are).
59 6. Reciprocal Base Vectors E n and Inverse Reciprocal Base Vectors U' n
This entire Section uses the Picture A context,
(a) Definition of the E n
Although various definitions are possible, we shall define the reciprocal tangent vectors En in the
following manner (implied sum on i)
En ≡ g'ni ei = g'ni∂'ix => en = g¯'niEi // since g ¯' = g'-1
Comment : Notice how this differs in structure from th e rule for forming a covariant vector from a
contravariant one,
V
¯n = g¯'niVi
In the last equation, the right side is a linear combination of vector components Vi, while in the previous
equation the right side is a linear combination of vectors ei. In this case, i is a label on ei , whereas in the
other case i is an index on V i. Labels and indices are different.
Since the tangent base vectors
ei are contravariant vectors in x-space (Section 3 (b)), and since En is a
linear combination of the ei, the En are also contravariant vectors in x-space. Notice that in the definition
En ≡ g'ni ei, these two x-space vectors are related by the metric tensor of the other space.
One can express the components of
En in two ways,
(
En)k ≡ g'ni (ei)k = Skig'ni // since ( ei)k ≡ Ski, Section 3
= g' niSki = Rnigik // since R abgbc = g'abScb, end of Section 5 (f)
so that
(
En)i = g'naSia = giaRna // sum on second indices
Applying R to both sides of
En ≡ g'ni ei gives En transformed into x'-space,
E'n = g'nk e'k
so (
E'n)i = g'nk (e'k)i = g'nkδk,i = g'ni
60
(b) The Dot Products and Reciprocity (Duality)
Three covariant dot products are of great interest. The first is this (Section 5 (f) for last step)
en • em = g¯ij (en)i (em)j = g¯ij Sin Sjn = ST
ni g¯ij Sjm = ( ST g¯ S)nm = g¯'nm
The second is
En • em = g¯ij (En)i (em)j = g¯ij gia Rna Sjm = δj,a Rna Sjm = Rnj Sjm = (RS)nm = δn,m
and the third is
En • Em = g¯ij (En)i (Em)j = g¯ij gia Rna gjb Rmb = δj,a Rna gjb Rmb = Rnj gjb Rmb
= R nj gjb RT
bm = (R g RT)nm = g'nm
To summarize,
en • em = g¯'nm => | en| = g¯'nn = h'n (scale factor)
En • em = δn,m
En • Em = g'nm => | En| = g'nn
Using the transformed E'n defined above, one finds that
E'n • e'm = g¯'ij (E'n)i(e'm)j = g¯'ij g'ni δm,j = g¯'im g'ni = δn,m
which is consistent with the fact that this is a covariant dot product of tensorial vectors:
E'n • e'm = En • em = δn,m
The other two dot products above work this same way, so
e'n • e'm = g¯'nm
E'n • e'm = δn,m
E'n • E'm = g'nm
Notes on Reciprocity (Duality)
1. The reciprocal base vectors En are more usually defined as bei ng those vectors which satisfy the
equations En • em = δn,m where the em are known. Each En vector has N components so the full set of E n
vectors has N2 components. As n and m take all values, En • em = δn,m represents N2 linear equations. A
solution exists since S is invertible (the em form a complete set). The solution is unique and in fact gives
61 our assumed definition above En ≡ g'ni ei . Here is a fast solution of this Cramer's Rule problem using
matrix notation:
En • em = δn,m => g ¯ij(En)i(em)j = δn,m => (E n)i g¯ij Sjm = δn,m Let A ni ≡ (En)i .
Then have A g ¯ S = 1, => A = (g ¯ S)-1 = S-1 g¯-1 = R g = g' ST (end Sec 5f). Therefore
A = g' ST => (En)i = Ani = g'nj (ST)ji = g'nj (ej)i => En = g'nj ej . QED
2. In general, if one has
An • am = δn,m, the vectors Am are said to be "reciprocal" to the am and vice versa,
so the vectors En are reciprocal to the tangent base vectors en.
3. Some authors refer to
An • am = δn,m as a "duality relation" and either set of vectors is "dual to" the
other set. The En are referred to as the dual vectors to en.
4. If the
am are contravariant vectors, then An will also be contravariant and then An • am is a tensorial
scalar. Therefore if An • am = δn,m, then so also A'n • a'm = δn,m in x'-space, where am' = R am and A'n =
RAn. For example, E'n • e'm = δn,m in x'-space where em' = R em and E'n = REn .
5. In section (e) we shall encounter another dual pair
Un • um = U'n • u'm = δn,m which is associated with
the inverse transformation x = F-1(x').
6. One major significance of the equation
An • am = δn,m is that it allows the following expansions:
V = Σn kn An where k m = V • am
V = Σn cn an where c m = V • Am
so that for example
am • V = am • [Σn kn An] = Σn kn am • An = Σn kn δm,n = km. These expansions are
explored in section (f) below for the two dual sets En, en and Un, un.
(c) Covariant partner for E n
The covariant partner for En is given by
( E¯n)i = g¯ij (En)j
so that
( E¯n)i = g¯ij (En)j = g¯ij gja Rna = δi,a Rna = Rni
Thus, one can regard the covariant vectors E¯n as being the rows of matrix R
62 R =
⎣⎢⎡
⎦⎥⎤ E¯1
E¯2
E¯3
...
E¯N = [ E¯1, E¯2, E¯3 .... E¯N ]T
which compare to S = [ e1, e2, e3 .... eN ]
(d) Summary of the basic facts:
(en)k = Skn en • em = g¯'nm | en| = g¯'nn = h'n S = [ e1, e2, e3 .... eN ]
( En)i = gia Rna En • Em = g'nm |En| = g'nn R = [ E¯1, E¯2, E¯3 .... E¯N ]T
= g' na Sia en • Em = δn,m En ≡ g'ni ei en = g¯'ni Ei ( E¯n)i = Rni
e'n = R en where ( e'n)i = δn,i // from Section 3 (b)
In general, neither set of base vectors -- the tangent {.. en .. } or the reciprocal {.. En .. } -- is orthogonal,
since the metric tensor g' in general is not diagonal . And in general none of these vectors is a unit vector.
(e) Repeat the above for the inverse transformation: definition of the U 'n
Section 3 (d) introduced the inverse tangent base vectors called
u'n. The prime indicates that these vectors
exist in x'-space. In analogy with what was done above , one can define the inverse reciprocal base vectors
U'n according to
U'n ≡ gni u'i => u'n = g¯ni U'i // since g ¯ = g-1
Everything goes along as in the previous sections, but with these changes:
g'↔ g R ↔ S
e n → u'n e'n → un En → U'n E'n → Un
Here are the key results, translated from above,
U'n ≡ gni u'i
(S
U'n) ≡ gni (Su'i) => Un = gni ui S = R-1
(
U'n)i = gnaRia = g'iaSna // sum on second indices
( un)k = Ski(u'n)i = δn,k
(
Un)k = Ski(U'n)i = Ski gnaRia = SkiRiagna = δk,agna = gnk
( U'¯n)i = g¯'ij (U'n)j
63
(u'n)k = Rkn u'n • u'm = g¯nm |u'n| = g¯nn = hn R = [ u'1, u'2, u'3 .... u'N ]
( U'n)i = g'ia Sna U'n • U'm = gnm | U'n| = gnn S = [ U'¯1, U'¯2, U'¯3 .... U'¯N ]T
= g na Ria u'n • U'm = δn,m U'n ≡ gni u'i u'n = g¯ni U'n (U¯'n)i = Sni
un • um = g¯nm
Un • um = δn,m
Un • Um = gnm
un = S u'n where ( un)i = δn,i // from Section 3 (translated)
It is helpful to keep all these eight vector sym bol names in mind (and each has a covariant partner)
x'-space
x-space
axis-aligned basis vectors e'n un ( e'n)i = δn,i ( un)i = δn,i
dual partners to the above E'n Un (E'n)i = g'ni ( Un)i = gni
tangent base vectors u'n en ( u'n)i = Rin ( en)i = Sin
reciprocal base vectors U'n En ( U'n)i = g'ia Sna ( En)i = gia Rna
= g naRia = g' naSia
and recall that An • am = δn,m for each of the four dual pairs (two primed, two unprimed).
(f) Expanding vectors on diff erent sets of basis vectors
x-space expansions on un and Un
Assume that V is some generic N-tuple V = (V1,V2....VN). There are various ways to expand V onto basis
vectors. One way is to expand on the axis-aligned basis vectors un, which recall live in x-space,
V = V1 u1 + V2 u2 +... = ΣnVnun where Un • V = Vn Un = gni ui
The components V n are Un • V because Un • um = δn,m. From Section 5 (g), one can write V n = gnmV¯m
( regarded here as a definition of the V ¯m) so one finds that
V = ΣnVn un = Σn gnm V¯m un = ΣnV¯m gmn un = ΣnV¯m Um
and thus another expansion for V is this
V = V¯1 U1 + V¯2 U2 +... = ΣnV¯nUn where un • V = V¯n
64 Comments:
1. If V is not a contravariant vector, one can still define V ¯n = g¯nmVm, but V¯n won't be a covariant vector.
A familiar example is that x n is never a contravariant vector if F is non-linear, but we can still talk about
the components x ¯n ≡ g¯nmxm . In Standard Notation, x n → xn and x¯n → xn and we do not hesitate to use
these two objects even though they are not tensorial vectors.
2. If V is a contravariant vector, the expansion above V = ΣnVnun displays the contravariant components
of V. The second expansion V = ΣnV¯m Um is still an expansion for contravariant vector V, but it displays
the components of the covariant vector V¯ which is the "partner" to V by V¯n = g¯nmVm. It would be
incorrect to write this second expansion as V¯ = ΣnV¯m Um since that would say g ¯V = ΣnV¯m Um which is
just not true. We comment later on how this situ ation changes a bit in the Standard Notation.
x-space expansions on
en and En
Another possibility is to expand
V on the tangent basis vectors en, and we denote the components just
momentarily as αn,
V = α1 e1 + α21 e2 +... = Σn αn en
Using en • Em = δn,m one finds that
α
n = En • V = ( En)k Vk = Rnk Vk = V'n // g ¯ = 1 so A•B = g¯abAaBb = AkBk
Therefore, the expansion is
V = V'1e1 + V'2e2 +... = Σn V'n en where En • V = V'n
If it happens that the N-tuple V = (V1,V2....VN) transforms as a contravariant vector, then V n are the
contravariant components of that vector, and V' n are the contravariant components of V' in x'-space. On
the other hand, if V is not a tensorial vector, so V n are not components of a contravariant vector, we can
still define V' n ≡ Rnk Vk, but then the V' n are not the contravariant components of V'.
Writing V' n = g'nmV¯'m the above expansion can be expressed as
V = Σn V'n en = Σn,m g'nmV¯'m en = Σm V¯'m Σng'mn en = Σm V¯'m Em
so that
V = V¯'1E1 + V¯'2E2 +... = Σ n V¯'n En where en • V = V¯'n
65 Summary of x-space expansions:
V = V1 u1 + V2 u2 +... = ΣnVn un where Un • V = Vn Un = gni ui
V = V¯1 U1 + V¯2 U2 +... = ΣnV¯n Un where un • V = V¯n
V = V'1 e1 + V'2 e2 +... = Σn V'n en where En • V = V'n En = g'ni ei
V = V¯'1 E1 + V¯'2 E2 +... = Σn V¯'n En where en • V = V¯'n
Expanding on unit vectors. The covariant lengths of the different basis vectors are given by
|en| = |e'n| = g'¯nn | un| =|u'n| = g¯nn
|En| = |E'n| = g'nn | Un| =|U'n| = gnn
Using these lengths, one can define uni t vector versions of all the basis vectors and then rewrite the above
expansions as expansions on the unit vectors w ith lower case coefficients. For example, using
e^n ≡ en/g'¯nn
the third expansion above becomes (script font for unit-vector components)
V = V'1e^1 + V'2e^2 +... = Σn V'n e^n where g'¯nn En • V = V'n = g '¯nn V'n
An example of a case where this last expansion would be useful is in the use of spherical curvilinear
coordinates, where for example e^1 = r^.
The N-tuple ( V'1, V'2 ... V'N), although related to contravariant vector V (V'n = Rnk Vk) , is not itself a
contravariant vector since it does not obey the rule V'n = Rnk Vk . In fact
V'n = Rnk Vk => (1/ g'¯nn ) V'n = Rnk (1/ g¯kk ) Vk => V'n = Rnk (g'¯nn /g¯kk )Vk
x'-space expansions
Having done x-space expansions, we turn now to x'-s pace expansions. These can be obtained from the x-
space expansions by this set of rules,
g'↔ g R ↔ S
u'n → en un → e'n U'n → En Un → E 'n V'n ↔ Vn V¯'n ↔ V¯n
and here then are the x'-space expansions:
V' = V'1 e'1 + V'2 e'2 +... = ΣnV'n e'n where E'n • V' = V'n E'n = g'ni e'i
V ' = V¯'1 E'1 + V¯'2 E'2 +... = ΣnV¯'n E'n where e'n • V' = V¯'m
V' = V1 u'1 + V2 u'2 +... = Σn Vn u'n where U'n • V' = Vn U'n = gni u'i
V' = V¯1 U'1 + V¯2 U'2 +... = Σn V¯n U'n where u'n • V' = V¯n
66 (g) Another way to write the E n
The reciprocal base vectors were defined above as linear combinations of the tangent base vectors, all in
the general Picture A context,
Ek ≡ g'ki ei
It is rather remarkable that there is another way to write Ek in terms of the ei that looks completely
different. In this other way, it turns out that Ek is expressed in terms of all the ei except ek and is given
by (only valid in Picture B where g=1)
Ek = det(R) (-1)k-1 e1 x e2 x ......x eN // ek missing k = 1,2,3...N
This is a generalized cross product (Appendix A) of N-1 vectors, since
ek is missing, so there are N-2
"crosses". The above multi-cross-pr oduct equation is a shorthand for
(
Ek)α ≡ det(R) (-1)k-1εαabc...x (e1)a(e2)b ...... ( eN)x // κ and ( eκ)K are missing
Here ε is the totally antisymmetric tensor with N indices. If κ is the k
th letter of the alphabet (k = 2 => κ
= b ), then κ is missing from the list of summation indices of ε, and the factor ( ek)κ is missing from the
product of factors, so there are then N-1 factors. This cross product expression for
En is derived in Appendix A .
This is all fairly obscure sounding, but can be br ought down to earth by writing things out for N = 3,
where the formula reduces to this cyclic set of equations,
E1 = det(R) e2 x e3
E2 = det(R) e3 x e1
E3 = det(R) e1 x e2
These equations can be verified in a simple manner. To show an equation is true, if suffices to show that
the projections of both sides on the three en are the same, since the en form a complete basis as noted
earlier. For the first equation one needs then to show that
E1 • en = det(R) e2 x e3 • en for n = 1,2,3
If n=2 or n=3, both sides vanish, according to
en • Em = δn,m on the left, and according to geometry on
the right, which leaves just the case n = 1. In this case the LHS = 1, so one has to show that e2 x e3 • e1
= 1/det(R) = det(S) . But
e1 • e2 x e3 = (e1)i (e2 x e3)i = (e1)i εijk (e2)j(e3)k = εijk (e1)i(e2)j(e3)k
= εijk Si1Sj2Sk3 = det(S) QED.
The other two equations of the set can be verified in the same manner.
67 Here is a picture (N=3) drawn in x-space for a no n-orthogonal coordinate sy stem. The vectors shown
here form a distorted right handed coordi nate system which has det(R) > 0.
The reader is invited to exercise his or her right hand to confirm the directions of the arrows,
E1 = det(R) e2 x e3 E2 = det(R) e3 x e1 E3 = det(R) e1 x e2
(h) Comparison of e ¯n and En
One could create a covariant partner to
en which would be e¯n = g¯ en as described in Section 5 (g). This
e¯n is not the same as the reciprocal base vector En ≡ g'nk ek. The comparison is interesting:
( e¯n)i ≡ g¯ik(en)k // matrix acts on vector index
( En)i ≡ g'nk (ek)i // matrix acts on ek label
If x-space is Cartesian, then
e¯n = en as usual, but of course En ≠ en in this case since g' ≠1. We mention
this to head off a possible confusion when the Standa rd Notation is introduced in the next Section and the
above two equations become
( en)i ≡ gik(en)k // Standard Notation, g lowers an index
(
en)i ≡ g'nk (ek)i // Standard Notation, k is a label on ek, not an index
The mapping to standard notation does not include
e¯n → en, for example. One fact about the standard
notation is that, unlike the developmental notation, one cannot look at a vector in bold like en and
determine whether it is contravariant or covariant. On ly when the index is disp layed can one tell. One can
think of en as representing both its contravarian t self and its covariant partner ( en is a tensorial vector).
68
(i) Handedness of coordinate systems: the e n , the sign of det(S), and Parity
1. Handedness of a Coordinate System. Let bn be a complete set of basis vectors in an N dimensional
vector space, where the bn are not necessarily of unit length, and are not necessarily orthogonal. Consider
this quantity
B ≡ det ( b1, b2.....bn ) = εabc..x (b1)a (b2)b.... (bN)x = b1• [b2 x b3......x bN]
where the generalized cross product is discussed in Appendix A. This basis bn defines a "coordinate
system" in that we can expand a position vector as follows
x = Σn x(b)
n bn
where the x(b)
n are the "coordinates" of point x in this coordinate system. We make the following
definition:
system
bn is a "right handed coordinate system" iff B > 0
system bn is a "left handed coordinate system" iff B < 0
One of course wants to show that for N = 3 this definition corresponds to one's intuition about right and
left handed systems. For N= 3 ,
B
≡ det ( b1, b2, b3 ) = εabc (b1)a (b2)b(b3)c = b1• [b2 x b3]
Suppose the bn are arranged as shown in this picture, where the visual intention is that the corner nearest
the label b1 is closest to the viewer.
With one's high-school-trained right hand, one can see that b2 x b3 points in the general direction of b1
(certainly b2 x b3 lies somewhere in the half space of the b2, b3 face plane which contains b1), and so the
quantity B = b1• [b2 x b3] > 0. So this is an example of a right-handed coordinate system. The figure
shown is a skewed 3-piped which can be regarded as a distortion of an orthogonal 3-piped for which the
bn would span an orthogonal coordinate system in which one would have b^1 = b^2 x b^3.
69 2. The x'-space e'n coordinate system is always right handed. In our standard picture of x-space and x'-
space, the coordinate system in x'-space is spanned by a set of basis vectors e'n where ( e'n)i = δn,i , as
discussed in Section 3 (a). This system is "right handed" because
B = εabc..x (e'1)a (e'2)b.... (e'N) = εabc..x δ1aδ2b....δxN = ε123...N = +1 > 0
where we use the standard normalization of the ε tensor as shown. Notice that this conclusion is
independent of the metric tensor g' in x-space.
3. The x-space
un coordinate system is always right handed. The basis un where ( un)i = δn,i in x-space is
right handed for the same reason as shown in the abov e paragraph, and for any g. When g=1 in x-space,
the un form the usual Cartesian right-handed orthonorma l basis in x-space. See Section 3 (c) concerning
the meaning of "unit vector".
4. The x-space
en coordinate system handedness is determined by the sign of det(S). Our x-space
coordinate system of great interest is that spanned by the en basis vectors, where ( en)i = Sin as discussed
in Section 3 (a). One has
B = ε
abc..x (e1)a (e2)b.... (eN) = εabc..x Sa1 Sb2.... SxN = det(S)
Therefore, using σ ≡ sign ( detS ) and J being the Jacobian as in Section 5 (k),
system en is a "right handed coordinate system" iff det(S) = J > 0 or σ = +1
system en is a "left handed coordinate sy stem" iff det(S) = J < 0 or σ = -1
5. The Parity Transformation.
The identity transformation F = 1 results in matrix S I = I with detS I = +1.
In this case the en form a right-handed coordi nate system, and in fact en = un. The parity transformation
F = -1, on the other hand, results in S P = -I with det(S P) = (-1)N and en = -un. When N is odd, the parity
transformation converts the right-handed un system to a left-handed en system. If S is some matrix which
does not change handedness, meaning detS > 0, then S' = SS P does change handedness for odd N, since in
this case detS' = detS det S P = (-1)N detS. So given some S' that changes handedness for N=odd, one can
regard it as "containing the parity transformation" which, if removed, would result in no handedness
change. When N is even, handedness stays the same under F = -1.
6. N=3 Parity Inversion Example.
Since x' = -x under the parity transform F = -1, parity is a reflection of
all position vectors through the origin. Objects sitting in x-space, such as N-pipeds, whether or not the
origin lies inside the object, are "turned inside out" by the parity transformation, but the inside of the object still maps to the inside of the parity transformed object under this transformation.
Consider this crude picture which shows on th e left a right-handed 3-piped in x-space where
e1 and e2
happen to be perpendicular, and the ba ck part of the 3-piped is not drawn. This 3-piped is associated with
some transformation S [ ( en)i = Sin ] with detS > 0.
70
Now consider S' = SS P = SPS = -S. For this S', the 3-piped appear s as shown on the right. The two pipeds
here are related by a parity transformation, all po ints inverting through the origin. On the right, the
volume of the 3-piped lies toward the viewer from the plane shown. The circled dot on the left represents
the out-facing normal vector of the 3-piped face area wh ich is facing the viewer, and this normal is in the
direction – e1xe2. This is called a "near face" in Appe ndix B since it touches the tails of the en. After the
parity transformation, this same face has become the back face on the inverted 3-piped shown on the
right, with out-facing normal indicated by the X. The direction of this normal is + e1xe2 . In general, an
out-facing "near face" area points in the - En direction, and Appendix A shows that E3 = e1 x e2 / det(S).
On the left we have E3 = e1 x e2 / |det(S)| so the face there just mentioned points in the - E3 = – e1xe2
direction. On the right we have E3 = e1 x e2 / det(S') = - e1 x e2 /|det(S)|, so the face there points in the
-E3 = +e1xe2 direction.
7. The sign of det(S) in the curvilinear coordinates application. For a given ordering of the x' coordinates,
det(S) will have a certain sign. By changing the x' i ordering to any odd permutation of the original
ordering (for example, swap two coordinates), de t(S) will negate because two columns of S ik(x') ≡
(∂xi/∂x'k) will be swapped. In the curvilinear coordinates application it is therefore always possible to
select the ordering of the x' i coordinates to cause det(S) to be positive. One always starts with a right-
handed Cartesian system n^ for x-space, and det(S)>0 then guarantees that the en will form a right-handed
system there as well. Since the underlying transf ormation F is assumed invertible, one cannot have
det(S)=0 anywhere in the domain x (or range x') of x' = F( x), and therefore det(S) cannot change sign
anywhere in the space of interest.
For graphical reasons, we have selected coor dinates in the "wrong order" in both the polar
coordinates examples (called Example 1) and in the e lliptic polar system studied in Appendix C, which is
why detS < 0 for both these systems.
71 7. Translation to the Standard Notation
In this Section we discuss the "translation" from our developmental notation (all lower indices; overbars
for covariant objects) to the Standard Notation used in tensor analysis. The developmental notation has served well in the di scussion of scalars and vectors, tensors of rank-0
and rank-1. For pure (unmixed) tensors of rank-2 it does especially well, allowing the use of matrix
algebra to leverage the use of familiar matrix theo rems such as det(ABC) = det(A)det(B)det(C) and A
-1 =
cof(AT)/det(A). The transformation of the contravariant me tric tensor is cleanly expressed as g' = R g RT,
and so on. The notation in fact works fine for unmixe d tensors of any rank, but runs into big trouble with
"mixed" tensors as shown in the next sections.
(a) Outer Products
It is possible to form larger tensors from smaller ones using the "outer product" method. For example,
consider,
T
ab ≡ UaVb
where U and V are assumed to be contravariant vectors. One then has
T 'ab = U'aV'b = (Raa'Ua') (Rbb'Vb') = Raa' Rbb' Ua'Vb' = Raa' Rbb' Ta'b'
so in this way a contravariant rank-2 tensor (Section 5 (e)) has been successfully constructed from two
contravariant vectors. Similarly,
T
¯ab ≡ U¯aV¯b => T ¯'ab = ST
aa' ST
bb' T¯a'b'
so the outer product of two covariant vectors transforms as a covariant rank-2 tensor.
(b) Mixed Tensors and Notation Issues
Suppose we take the "outer product" of a contravariant vector with a covariant vector,
[ ... ] ab ≡ UaV¯b
where we are not sure what to call this thing, so we ju st call it [...]. Here is how this new object transforms
(always: with respect to the underlying transformation x' = F(x) )
[ ... ]' ab = U'aV¯'b = (Raa'Ua') (ST
bb'V¯b') = Raa' ST
bb' Ua'V¯b' = Raa' ST
bb' [...]ab
This object transforms as a contravariant vector on the first index (ignoring the second), and as a
covariant vector on the second index (ignoring the first). This is an example of a "mixed" rank-2 tensor. Extending this outer product idea, one can make ela borate tensor objects with an arbitrary mixture of
"contravariant indices" and "covariant indices". For example
72 [.....] abcd = UaV¯b XcY¯d
To write down the transformation rule for such an object, one must know which indices are contravariant
and which are covariant. It is totally clear how the ob ject transforms, looking at the right hand side of the
equation, but somehow this information has to be embedded in the notation [.....] abcd because once this
object is defined, the right hand side might not be i mmediately available for inspection. Worse, there may
be no right hand side for a mixed tensor, because not a ll mixed tensors are outer products of vectors (they
just transform as if they were).
Just as we can use the idea V¯ ≡ g¯ V to convert a contravariant vector to its covariant partner, we can
similarly use g ¯ to convert the 1st or 3rd index on [.....] abcd from contravariant to covariant. We could
apply two g¯'s with the proper linkage of indices to convert them both at once.
So given the ability of g ¯ to change any index one way, and g to change it the other way, one can think
of the 4-index object [.....] abcd as a family of 16 different 4-index objects, each corresponding to a certain
choice for the indices being one type or the other. We know how to interconvert between these 16 objects
just applying g or g ¯ factors.
So how does one annotate which of the 16 objects [.....] one is staring at for some choice of index
types? Here is a somewhat faceti ous possibility, the Morse Code method
W –
ab ≡ UaV¯b
W - -
abcd = UaV¯b XcY¯d
Instead of having a bar over the entire object, in the first case the bar it is placed just over the right side of the W to indicate that b is a covariant index, while no bar means the first index is contravariant. The
second example shows how horrible such a notation would be. We really want to put some kind of notation on the individual indices , not on the object! Here is a
notation that is slightly better than the Morse code option, though similar to it,
W
ab-cd- = UaVb- XcYd-
Here overbars on covariant indices distinguish them . Now one can dispense with the overbars on
covariant vectors as well, putting the overbar on the index, for example V ¯a = g¯abVb → Va- = g a-b-Vb .
There are several problems with this scheme. One is that in the spinor application of tensor analysis
used in special relativity ( see Section 5 (m) ), dots are placed on certain indices and these would conflict
with the proposed overbars. A more subs tantial reason is that this last not ation is hard to type (or typeset,
as one used to say), it looks cluttered with all the overbars, and the subscripts are already hard to read
without extra decorations since they are in a smaller font than the main text.
(c) The up/down bell goes off
This is where a bell went off somewhere, perhaps in the mind of Gregorio Ricci in the 1880-1900 time
frame (1900 snippet quoted in section (j) below). Someone might have said: suppose, instead of using
overbars on indices or some other decoration, we distinguish covariant indices by making them be
superscripts instead of subscripts. Superscripts are as easy to type as subscripts, and the result is fairly
easy to read and totally unambiguous. We w ould then have for our ongoing example,
73
Wab
cd = UaVbXcYd // a path not taken
This is almost what happened, but the up/down decision went the other way and we now have:
superscripts = contravariant = up
subscript = covariant = down and then we get this translation
W
ab-cd- = UaVb- XcYd- → Wa
bc
d = UaVbXcYd // the path taken
and this has become The Standard Notation . Perhaps the reason for this choice was that the covariant
gradient ∂n object appeared more commonly in equations than idealized objects such as d x, and ∂n
already used a lower index. A downside of this particular up/down decision is th at every student has be be confused by the fact
that his or her familiar position, velocity and momentum vectors that always had subscripts suddenly have
superscripts in the Standard Notation. The silver lini ng is that this shocking change alerts the student to
the fact that whatever subject is being studied is going to have two kinds of vectors. Despite appearances, it is not completely obvious how one should translate the whole world as
presented in the previous six Sections into this new notation. There are some subtle details that will be
discussed in the following sections.
(d) Some Preliminary Translations: raising and lowering indices on a vector with g
In the entire rest of this entire Section, anything to the left of a → arrow is in "developmental notation",
while anything to the right of → is in "Standard Notation".
So we start translating some of the results above:
s → s // a scalar
V
a → Va // a contravariant rank-1 tensor (vector)
V¯a → Va // a covariant rank-1 tensor (vector)
M
ab → Mab // a contravariant rank-2 tensor
M¯ab → Mab // a covariant rank-2 tensor
g
ab → gab // the contravariant rank-2 metric tensor
g¯ab → gab // the covariant rank-2 metric tensor
g is inverse of g
¯ → gab is inverse of g ab
As noted earlier, one "feature" of the Standard Notation is that it is no longer sufficient to specify an
object by a single letter. One has to somehow indicat e the index nature by showing index positions. Thus,
74 "g" stands for all four metric tensors g ab , gab, ga
b and gab. The pure covariant metric tensor is g ab or
perhaps g ** . At first this seems a disadvantage of the nota tion, but one then realizes that the true object
really is "g", and it has four different "representa tions" and the notation makes this very clear. Still, one
cannot just write det(g) because det(g) is repres entation dependent, so one must say something like
det(gab) or det(g **) to denote a particular determinant.
As for converting a vector from one type to the other,
V
¯a = g¯abVb → Va = gabVb // g ab "lowers" a contravariant index
Va = gab V¯b → Va = gab Vb // gab "raises" a covariant index ,
and so in this new notation, the covariant metric tensor g ab becomes an "index lowering operator" and the
contravariant metric tensor gab becomes an "index raising operator ". This is a huge advantage of the
Standard Notation. It pretty much eliminates the need to think, something universally appreciated. In a
certain obscure sense, it is like double entry accounting (credits and debits), where the notation itself serves as a check on the accuracy of bookk eeping entries, as will be seen below.
As for bolded vectors, the translation rule is,
V → V
V¯ → V
The reason is that the overbar is no longer used to denote covariancy. The above lines show a subtle change in the interpretation of the bolded symbol
V in the standard notation: the single symbol V stands
for both the developmental vector V and for its developmental covariant partner vector V¯. The new
symbol V is both contravariant with components Vn and it is covariant with components V n.
The invariant distance and covariant dot products:
dx
i → dxi
(ds)2 = g¯ab dxa dxb → gabdxadxb
A•B = g¯ab Aa Bb → A•B = gab Aa Bb = AbBb = AaBa = gabAaBb
The general idea is this: any tensor index on any tensor object can be raised by gab and can be lowered
by gab. Remember that a tensor object lives in some sp ace like x-space, so we shall have to ponder what
to do for our matrices S ab and Rab which live half in x-space and half in x'-space, a subject we defer for a
short while.
(e) Contraction of a Pair of Indices
When two indices are summed together in a tensor e xpression and one is up and the other down, one says
that the two indices are contracted . Here is an example, where the index b is contracted,
75 Va = gabVb
It is shown below that contracted indices neutraliz e each other in terms of how an object transforms.
Thus, for example, the RHS above g abVb transforms as a covariant vector, which conveniently matches
the LHS. Similarly, AaBa transforms as a scalar.
(f) Dealing with the matrix R
Consider the translation of this partial derivative in to the new up/down notation. Since the differential d
x
element is contravariant and is now written dxi ,
(∂x'i/∂xk) → (∂x'i/∂xk)
In terms of "existence", this object has one leg in each space of Picture A. The gradient operator ∂/∂x
k is
an x-space thing, while x'i is an x'-space thing. Since this object does not live in x-space or in x'-space
exclusively, but straddles the two spaces, it cannot possibly be a tensor of any kind. Recall that a tensor
object must be entirely within a space, it cannot have body parts hanging out into other spaces. Nevertheless , it seems clear that each of the two indices has a well-defined nature . We showed that the
gradient is a covariant vector, so we regard k as a covariant index. And of course dx'
i is a contravariant
vector, so i is a contravariant index. Here then is the proper translation:
Rik ≡ (∂x'i/∂xk) → Ri
k ≡ (∂x'i/∂xk)
To summarize, Ri
k is not a mixed rank-2 tensor, though it looks just like one. Therefore , Ri
k can never
appear in a tensor equation -- it just appears in the equations that show how tensors transform. However,
each of the two indices of R has a well-defined tr ansformational nature, and we place them up and down
in the proper manner. It is very typical for an object to have up and down indices but the object is not a tensor. The
canonical example is that for a non-linear transformation
x' = F(x), xi has a contravariant index but is not
a contravariant vector.
Consider now the translation of the tran sformation rule for a contravariant vector
V'
a = RabVb → V'a = Ra
bVb // contravariant
Even though R is not a tensor, we see that index b is contracted and is thus neutralized from the
evaluation of the tensor nature of the RHS. This leaves upper index a as the only free index, indicating
that the RHS is a contravariant vector, and this of co urse then matches the LHS. So we can deal with the
indices on R just as we deal with indices on true tensors.
Notice that, even though both sides of V'
a = Ra
bVb have the same "tensor nature" (both sides are a
contravariant vector) one cannot ask how the equation V'a = Ra
bVb "transforms" under a transformation.
That question can only be asked about equations constructed of objects all of which are tensors in the
same space. Here V and half of R are in one space, and V' and the other half of R are in a different space. There is no object called R', as if R were in x-space and R' were in x'-space.
76 (g) Repeat the above section for S
We omit the words and just show the translations
( ∂xi/∂x'k) → ( ∂xi/∂x'k)
S
ik ≡ (∂xi/∂x'k) → Si
k ≡ (∂xi/∂x'k)
V¯'a = ST
abV¯b = Sba V¯b → V' a = Sb
aVb // covariant
(h) About ε and δ
The Kronecker δ is sometimes written in different wa ys to make things "look nice",
δab = δa
b = δba = δb
a = δa,b
Section (m) will show that one can regard the above sequence of equalities as saying
g
ab = ga
b = gba = gb
a = δa,b
where these g objects are mixed versions of the symmetric rank-2 metric tensor g
ab. There is no "δ
tensor", it is the g tensor, but tradition is to write the diagonal objects using the δ symbol.
The object ε
abc... is a bit more complicated. It can at first be regarded as a mere bookkeeping device, in
which context it is usually called "t he permutation tensor". It appears for example in the expansion of a
determinant
det(M) = εabc...x M1aM2b.....MNx = εabc...x Ma1Mb2.....MxN
or in an ordinary cross product
A
a = εabcBbCc .
This permutation tensor has the usual properties that ε
123...N = +1 , that ε changes sign when any two
indices are swapped, and that ε vanishes if two or more indices are the same. This permutation "tensor" is
not really a tensor since one would regard it as being the same in x-space or x'-space. Whether indices are
written up or down on this ε is immaterial.
At another level, however, εabc...x with N indices (the same ε symbol is used) is a covariant rank-N
tensor density of weight -1 known as the Levi-Civita tensor. This subj ect is addressed in Appendix D in
much detail. In what we call the Weinberg convention, individual indices of ε can be raised and lowered
by g as discussed in section (d) just as with any te nsor. Therefore, in Cartesian space with g = 1, indices
on ε are raised and lowered with no consequence, and then one can identify any form of ε as being the
permutation tensor. For example, εabc= εabc = εab
c and so on. In a non-Cartesian x-space, however, one
would say that εab
c = gbb'εab'c ≠ εabc. In the Weinberg convention, one sets ε123..N = ε'123..N = 1
and εabc..x = ε'abc..x has the properties of the permutation te nsor described above and these properties
77 are the same in x-space as in x'-space. Then for general g ≠1, εabc..x is NOT the permutation tensor. The
bottom line is that one must be aware of the sp ace in which one is working (the Picture). The ε appearing
above in the determinant expansion is always just th e permutation tensor, but in the cross product that is
not the case, and one would properly write
A
a = εabcBbCc
and conclude that the cross product of two ordinary contravariant vectors is a covariant vector density
(Appendix D (g)). Again, in Cartesian space where one often works, this would be the same as A
a =
εabcBbCc = εab
cBbCc , but the "properly tilted form" A a = εabcBbCc reveals the tensor nature of the
object A a. As mentioned below in section (u), this "covariant" equation would appear as A' a = ε'abcB'bC'c
in x'-space, but since A' a is a covariant vector density, A' a ≠ RabAb, and in fact A' a = J RabAb.
The permutation tensor εabc... and the contravariant Levi-Civita tensor εabc...x are both "totally
antisymmetric" which just means ε changes sign if any pair of indices is swapped. In fact, as discussed in
Appendix D (c), there IS only one antisymmetric te nsor of rank N apart from a multiplicative scalar
factor, and εabc...x is it. This fact simplifies various calculations. Technically, εabc...x is a totally
antisymmetric tensor density , but normally it is just called "the to tally antisymmetric tensor". As shown
in Appendix D, the covari ant Levi-Civita tensor εabc...x is also totally antisymmetric and is therefore a
multiple of εabc...x.
The reader is invited to peruse Appendix D at so me appropriate time for mo re about tensor densities
and the ε tensor.
(i) Further translations, the meaning of RT, and Tilted Matrix Multiplication
This long section contains a veritable grab-bag of im portant Standard Notation facts. Each such fact is
proven and not just quoted. Many of the results presente d here anticipate more fo rmal presentations of the
same results in later sections.
1. Translation of determinants
. Section (f) showed that R ab → Ra
b, so one translates from old to new
notation,
det(R) = εabc... R1aR2b....RNx → det(Ri
j) = εabc... R1
aR2
b....RN
x
det(S) = εabc... S1aS2b.....SNx → det(Si
j) = εabc... S1
aS2
b....SN
x
det(R) = ε
abc... Ra1Rb2....RxN → det(Ri
j) = εabc... Ra
1Rb
2....Rx
N
det(S) = εabc... Sa1Sb2.....SxN → det(Si
j) = εabc... Sa
1Sb
2....Sx
N
where ε is the bookkeeping permutation tens or discussed in section (h).
2. Inverse of R and S . Again, section (f) showed that R ab → Ra
b. In the standard notation, imagine that
there is some inverse R-1 defined by (R-1)c
aRa
b = δc
b. The chain rule says that
(∂xc/∂x'a) (∂x'a/∂xb) = δc
b or Sc
a Ra
b = δc
b
78 and therefore it must be that (R-1)c
a = Sc
a. A similar argument shows that (S-1)c
a = Rc
a. Using the
results of the next section which allow us to raise and lower indices on both sides of an equation, this
relationships R-1 = S is valid for all four matrix position possibilities,
(R
-1)ik = Sik
(R-1)i
k = Si
k
(R-1)ik = Sik
(R-1)ik = Sik
and of course the same is true for S
-1 = R. Thus arise these translations from old to new notation:
R
-1 = S → (R-1)i
k = Si
k and all other index combinations
S-1 = R → (S-1)i
k = Ri
k and all other index combinations
RR-1 = RS = 1 etc → Ri
k(R-1)k
a = Ri
kSk
a = δi
a etc (1)
3. Tensor g raises and lowers any index. So far the following translation rules have been established:
g
ab → gab g ¯ab → gab Rik → Ri
k Sik → Si
k
It was shown in developmental notation Section 5 (e) how a rank-2 contravariant tensor transforms. Here
then is how that statement translates to the new notation M'
ab = Raa'Rbb'Ma'b' → M'ab = Ra
a'Rb
b'Ma'b' contravariant rank-2 tensor
( 2 )
M¯'ab = Sa'aSb'bM¯a'b' → M' ab = Sa'
aSb'
bMa'b' covariant rank-2 tensor
Since g itself is such a rank-2 tensor, replace M by g to get
g'ab = Raa'Rbb'ga'b' → g'ab = Ra
a'Rb
b'ga'b'
( 3 ) g
¯'ab = Raa'Rbb'g¯a'b' → g'ab = Sa'
aSb'
b ga'b'
It was shown in section (d) that V
a = gaa'Va' and Va = gaa' Va' so that g aa' lowers a vector index and
gaa' raises a vector index. That is to say, g aa' converts a contravariant vector index into a covariant one,
and gaa' does the reverse.
What does g
aa' do to the index of a rank-2 tensor? Consider the following definition:
Ma
b ≡ gaa'Ma'b ( 4 )
Since gab and gab are inverses, it follows that
M
ab = gaa' Ma'
b ( 5 )
79 How does this new object Ma
b transform? The claim is that it transforms as a mixed rank-2 tensor, which
would mean that
M'a
b = Ra
a' Sb'
b Ma'
b'
The upper index gets a factor Ra
a' and the lower index gets a factor Sb'
b , consistent with (*) above. It is
not hard to prove this claim: (4) (3) (2) (5)
M'
a
b = g'aa'M'a'b = ( Ra
cRa'
d gcd ) ( Se
a'Sf
bMef) = ( Ra
cRa'
d gcd ) ( Se
a'Sf
b gei Mi
f )
= [ R
a
cRa'
d gcd Se
a'Sf
b gei] Mi
f
= [ R
a
c (Se
a'Ra'
d) gcd Sf
b gei] Mi
f = [Ra
c (SR)e
d gcd Sf
b gei] Mi
f
= [ Ra
c δe
d gcd Sf
b gei] Mi
f = [Ra
c gcd Sf
b gdi] Mi
f (1)
= [ Ra
c (gcd gdi) Sf
b] Mi
f = [Ra
c δc
i Sf
b] Mi
f = [Ra
i Sf
b] Mi
f inverses
= R
a
a' Sb'
b Ma'
b' QED
Similarly one could define M
ab ≡ gaa'Ma'b and one would find that
M'
ab = Sa'
a Rb
b' Ma'b'
so M
ab is then another member of the family of rank-2 tensors. Finally were one to define M ab ≡
gbb'Mab' one would find that M ab transforms as in (2). To summa rize the four transformation results
M'
ab = Ra
a' Rb
b' Ma'b'
M'a
b = Ra
a' Sb'
b Ma'
b'
M'ab = Sa'
a Rb
b' Ma'b'
M'ab = Sa'
a Sb'
b Ma'b'
One sees then a family of four tensors associated with M. One is contravariant, one is covariant, and the
other two are mixed.
Let [----
i---] represent a tensor with a certain contrava riant index i and dashes indicate other indices
which could be up or down. Similarly define [---- i---] as another tensor in the same family where the
index i that was up is now down.
4. Raising Lowering Rule: g aa' [----a'---] = [---- a---]
a n d gaa' [----a'---] = [----a---]
80 The notion of higher rank tensors is coming soon, but we just want to establish the general idea that ANY
index on ANY tensor can be raised or lowered by an appropriate g tensor. For the rank-2 tensors this was
demonstrated explicitly above, and section (d) sh owed it was valid for rank-1 tensors (vectors),
g aa'Va' = Va
gaa' Va' = Va
Comment : Notice that in every equation shown above, the summed indices always occur in the contracted
form discussed in section (e) above, which is to say, one index is up and the other is down.
5. Contraction Tilt Reversal Rule:
[-----a---------a----] = [----- a---------a----]
This is proved in section (k) below, but since we are going to need it right now, here is a preview of that
proof: ( note that gab gac = gba gac = δb
c )
[-----a---------a----] = gab gac [-----b---------c----] = δb
c [-----b---------c----] = [----- b---------b----]
The upshot is that one can "reverse the tilt" on any pair of contracted indices.
6. The Diagonal g Rule:
ga
b = δa
b and g ab = δab // and same for g'
This is proved in section (m) below, but since we are going to need it right now, here is a preview of that
proof: g
a
b = gaa' ga'b // gaa'raises the first index of tensor g a'b
= δa
b // because g ij and gij are inverses of each other
7. Matrix Multiplication in the Standard Notation.
Although there are various forms of matrix
multiplication, the most standard form is that obt ained when all matrices have a "down-tilt" form.
Consider this example,
C
a
b = Aa
cBc
b
where it is assumed that all three objects are down-tilt rank-2 tensors (or objects like Ra
c and Sa
c whose
indices behave as if they rank-2 tensors). Although thes e are "split level" matri ces, one can see that the
index c has the correct "adjacency" property to justify matrix multiplication. A second requirement is that
any matrix summed index must be a genuine contr action with one index up and the other down. The
above tensor transformation rule can then be wr itten in this more compact matrix notation,
C = AB // all down-tilt An example appears in (1) above: δ
i
a = Ri
kSk
a = ↔ 1 = RS S-1 = R
81 By application of suitable g tensors to the first equation above (or by lowering index a and raising index
b), one gets C ab = AacBcb . Application of the Tilt Reversal Rule on index c then gives
Cab = AacBcb
Again the adjacency and contraction rules are met, so this equation can also be represented by
C = AB // all up-tilt and so
δ
ia = RikSka = ↔ 1 = RS S-1 = R
Comment : Notice that the equation 1 = RS is valid both in the standard notation (providing R,S and 1 all
have the same tilt) and in the de velopmental notation. Momentarily we shall see equations involving R
and S which are not valid in both notations.
The upshot is that in Standard Notation, matrix notati on can be used if all matrices in the equation being
represented are either all down-tilt or all up-tilt. As w ill be shown later, such matrix equations are all
"covariant" in that both sides of the equation have the same tensor transformation property, and this is due to the fact that the matrix summation index is a contraction. One could talk about matrix multiplication in
other cases, such as
C
ab = AacBcb
but since index c is not a contraction, if A and B are tensors, then C cannot be a tensor and we don't even
want to think about such equations. 8. Transpose of a rank-2 tensor.
If A is a rank-2 tensor, the translation mapping
(AT)ab = Aba → (AT)ab = Aba
seems obvious, and the object A
T therefore also transforms as a rank-2 tensor. Once (AT)ab = Aba is
established in standard notation, one can apply the metric tensor g to lower either or both of the indices of
this equation, to get (AT)a
b = Aba , (AT)ab = Ab
a, and (AT)ab = Aba. Notice in all four equations that the
indices on the two sides of the equation are reflected in a vertical axis passing between the indices. This
causes a left index to become a right index and vice ve rsa, as one would expect for transposing a matrix.
Moreover, on each side of all four equations, each index has the same contravariant/covariant sense.
This same argument also applies to R and S even though they are not tensors. The only difference is
that the first index of Rba is lowered by g' while the second by g. For example, (RT)a
b = Rba where b is a
g' type index and a is a g type index, as will be elaborated in section (o) below. Similarly (ST)a
b = Sba .
To summarize the situation with transposes in Standard Notation:
(AT)ab = Aba (RT)ab = Rba (ST)ab = Sba
(AT)a
b = Aba (RT)a
b = Rba (ST)a
b = Sba
(AT)ab = Ab
a (RT)ab = Rb
a (ST)ab = Sb
a
(AT)ab = Aba (RT)ab = Rba (ST)ab = Sba
82
Notice that the rule is not (AT)a
b = Ab
a which would be a straight swap of indices (and would result in AT
not being a tensor). The straight swap idea works fo r the pure contravariant and pure covariant forms of
A, but not for the tilted forms! As shown in Theo rem 4 below, this tilted transpose form has some
interesting implications.
Theorem 1: For either the down-tilt or up-tilt version of S, S is a real-orthogonal matrix.
This means all of the following: S-1 = ST SST = 1 STS= 1
This theorem does not apply to the matrix S in the developmental notation!
Proof of theorem : start with (3) above which says g ij is a covariant rank-2 tensor,
g'ab = Sa'
aSb'
b ga'b' // next, apply gb'b to both sides (or just raise index b on both sides)
g'ab = Sa'
aSb'b
ga'b' // next, reverse the tilt of the b' index
g'ab = Sa'
aSb'b
ga'b' // next, use the Diagona l g rule in two places
δab = Sa'
aSb'b
δa'b' = Sa'
aSa'b // next, use (ST)aa' = Sa'
a
δab = (ST)aa'Sa'b // next use matrix notation as per above
1 = STS => ST = S-1 => 1 = SST
Theorem 2: For either the down-tilt or up-tilt version of R, R is a real-orthogonal matrix.
This means all of the following: R
-1 = RT RRT = 1 RTR= 1
In other words, the previous theorem also applies to R. Again, this fact is not true of the developmental
notation matrix R
ab. The proof is very similar but just different enough to warrant showing it :
Proof of theorem : start with (3) above which says gij is a covariant rank-2 tensor,
g'
ab = Ra
a'Rb
b'ga'b' // next, apply g b'b to both sides (or just lower index b on both sides)
g'a
b = Ra
a'Rbb'ga'b' // next, reverse the tilt of the b' index
g'a
b = Ra
a'Rbb'ga'
b' // next, use the Diagona l g rule in two places
δa
b = Ra
a'Rbb'δa'
b' = Ra
a'Rba' // next, use (RT)a'
b = Rba'
δa
b = Ra
a'(RT)a'
b // next use matrix notation as per above
1 = RRT => RT = R-1 => 1 = RTR
Comment: In the developmental notation, neither R nor S is a real-orthogonal matrix, unless by accident,
but in the tilted standard notation R and S are always real-orthogonal.
Theorem 3: For either the down-tilt or up-tilt version of S,
(a) S = RT and R = ST
(b) Sa
b = Rba and Sab = Rb
a ( reflect indices in vertical line between them)
83
Proof of theorem: From the inverse discussion at the start of this section, S = R-1 for any index positions
in the standard notation, including the up- tilt and down-tilt positions. From Theorem 2, RT = R-1 in either
up-tilt or down-tilt forms. Therefore S = RT (hence ST = RTT= R) in either up-tilt or down-tilt form. Thus
S = RT => S ab = (RT)ab = Rb
a
S = RT => Sa
b = (RT)a
b = Rba QED
An implication of this theorem is that one can complete ly eliminate references matrix S in tensor analysis
and that is what is usually done . This is like replacing S with R
-1 in the developmental notation.
Theorem 4: For a standard notation tilted matrix, det(A) ≠ det(AT).
This surprising result points out a potential hazard of us ing matrices in the standard notation, and perhaps
is an indication of why people avoid matrix con cepts and just write out all the components.
For a traditional matrix A ab the determinant is given by either of these forms (figure on rows or
columns)
det(A) = εab..A1aA2b.... = ε ab..Aa1Ab2 ...
det(A
T) = εab..AT
1aAT
2b.... = ε ab..Aa1Ab2...... = det(A)
In the tilted standard notation, however, one has
det[Ai
j] = εab..A1
aA1
b.... = ε ab..Aa
1Ab
2 ...
det[(A
T)i
j] = εab.. (AT)1
a(AT)1
b.... = εab... Aa1Ab2
but this is not the same as either of the det[A
i
j] forms! Here is a simple example:
det(A) = εab..A1
aA1
b... = ⎪⎪
⎪⎪ A1
1 A1
2
A2
1 A2
2 = A1
1 A2
2 – A2
1 A2
2
det(AT) = εab... Aa1Ab2 = ⎪⎪
⎪⎪ A11 A21
A12 A22 = A11 A22 – A21 A12 ≠ det(A)
The point is that the standard notation transpose rule (AT)i
j = Aij doesn't just swap the indices, it also
changes the tilt. That means that the columns of one de terminant matrix are not the same as the rows of
the other and that is why det(A) ≠ det(AT).
Corollary : RTR = 1 does not imply that det(R) = ± 1.
The usual proof goes that det(R
TR) = det(RT)det(R) = det(R)det(R) = [ det(R) ]2 = 1, but of course the
part saying det(RT) = det(R) is no longer valid. Therefore, the fact that RTR = 1 does not lead us to the
84 false conclusion that the Jacobian of Section 5 (k) is somehow forced to be ± 1 ! So although R and S are
real orthogonal matrices, they are not "rotation matrices".
9. Orthogonality rules.
The first two rules are easy to show,
R
TR = 1 => (RT)a
bRb
c = δa
c => R baRb
c = δa
c
RRT = 1 => Ra
b(RT)b
c = δa
c => Ra
bRcb = δa
c
Lowering a and raising c on both sides and revers ing the b tilt then gives the other two rules
R
b
aRbc = δac
R abRc
b = δac
These orthogonality rules are derived in a slightly different manner and order in section (r) below.
10. Variations on the relation between g and g'
. The third subsection above gave the basic statement of the
transformation properties of tensor g. These can be inverted as follows,
g'ab = Ra
a'Rb
b'ga'b' => gab = (R-1)a
a'(R-1)b
b'g' a'b' = Sa
a' Sb
b' g' a'b'
g'ab = Sa'
a Sb'
b ga'b' => g ab = (S-1)a'
a (S-1)b'
b g'a'b' = Ra'
a Rb'
b g'a'b'
and here then is a summary, g'
ab = Ra
a'Rb
b' ga'b' gab = Sa
a'Sb
b' g'a'b'
g'ab = Sa'
a Sb'
b ga'b' g ab = Ra'
a Rb'
b g'a'b'
If x-space is Cartesian with g = 1, the first column above simplifies to
g'
ab = Ra
cRb
c // g = 1
g'ab = Sc
a Sc
b = Rac Rbc // g = 1
Notice that the summation index c is not a contraction here. Also, although R and S are not tensors, the sums shown produce the true tensors g'
ab and g'ab.
(j) Tensors of Rank n, direct products, Lie groups, symmetry and Ricci-Levi-Civita
The most general tensor of rank n (aka order n ) will have some number s of contravariant indices and
then some number n-s of covariant indices. If s = n, the tensor is pure contravariant, and if s = 0, it is pure
covariant, otherwise it is "mixed" (as opposed to " pure"). The transformation of the tensor under F will
show a factor Ra
a' for each contravariant index, and a factor Sa'
a ( = Raa' as shown below in section
(q)) for each covariant index, as illustrated by this example :
T
'abc
de = Ra
a' Rb
b' Rc
c' Sd'
d Se'
e Ta'b'c'
d'e'
T 'abc
de = Ra
a' Rb
b' Rc
c' Rdd' Ree' Ta'b'c'
d'e'
85
Note that for Ra
a' and Raa' the second index is the summation index, but for Sa'
a it is the first index.
A rank-n tensor always transforms the way an outer product of n vectors transforms if those vectors have indices which type-match those of the tensor. In the above case, an object that would transform the same
as T
abc
de would be
AaBbCcDdEe
A tensor of rank-n has 2
n tensor objects in its family since each index can be up or down. For example,
the tensor T above is one of 25 = 32 tensors one can form. Of these, one is pure covariant and one is pure
contravariant and 30 are mixed. If any of these tensors is a tensor field, such as T
abc
de(x), then of course all family members are
tensor fields.
Direct Products . Consider again the outer product of vectors AaBbCcDdEe. The transformation A'a =
Ra
a'Aa' occurs in an N-dimensional contravariant vector space we shall call R . In this space one could
establish a set of basis vectors, and of course ther e are rules for adding vectors and so on. Transformation
B'a = Ra
cBc occurs in an identi cal copy of the space R, but transformation D' d = Sd'
dDd' = Rdd'Dd'
occurs in a covariant version of R we call R¯ . Since dot products (inner products) have been established
for vectors in these spaces, they can be regarded as full blown Hilber t Spaces with the caveats of Section
5 (i).
The transformation of the outer product object, as already noted, is given by
A'
aB'bC'cD'dE'e = Ra
a' Rb
b' Rc
c' Rdd' Ree' Aa'Bb'Cc'Dd'Ee'
and one can consider the operator R
a
a' Rb
b' Rc
c' Rdd' Ree' as a transformation element in a so-called
direct product space which in this case would be written
Rdp = R ⊗ R ⊗ R ⊗ R¯ ⊗ R¯
One could then define
(
Rdp)abc
de ; a'b'c'd'e' ≡ Ra
a' Rb
b' Rc
c' Rdd' Ree'
so that
A'
aB'bC'cD'dE'e = ( Rdp)abc
de ; a'b'c'd'e' Aa'Bb'Cc'Dd'Ee'
and of course this would apply to any tensor of the same index configuration, such as
T 'abc
de = Rdpabc
de ; a'b'c'd'e' Ta'b'c'
d'e'
86 This suggests a definition of "tensor" as follows" : tensors are those objects that are transformed by all
possible direct product representations formable from the two fundamental vector representations R and
R¯. To this set of spaces one would add the identity space 1 to handle tensorial scalars.
Appendix E continues this direct product discussion in terms of the basis vectors that form a complete
set for a direct product space such as Rdp and shows how to expand tensors on such bases.
Lie Groups. The direct product notion is just a formalism, but the formalism has some implications when
the space R is associated with a "representation" of a Lie group. In this case, a direct product Rdp = R ⊗
R can be written as a sum of "irreducible" representati ons of that group. What this means is that the
transformation elements of Rdp and the objects Tab
can be shuffled around with linear combinations so
that ( Rdp)ab
a'b', when thought of as a matrix with columns labeled by N2 ab possibilities and rows
labeled by the N2 a'b' possibilities, appears in "block diagonal form" with all zeros outside the blocks. In
this case, the shuffled components of tensor Tab can be regarded as a non-interacting assembly of pieces
each of which transforms according to one of those blocks of the shuffled ( Rdp)ab
a'b'.
The most famous example occurs with N= 3 and the rotation group SU(2) in which case R(1) ≡ R can
be decomposed according to R(1) ⊗ R(1) = R(2) ⊕ R(1) ⊕ R(0) where the ⊕ symbols indicate this
block diagonal form. In this case the blocks are 5x5, 3x3 and 1x1, fitting onto the diagonal of the 9x9
matrix area. The numbers L = 0,1,2 here label th e rotation group representations and that label is
associated with angular momentum. The elements of the 5x5 block are called D(2)
M,M'(φ,θ,ψ) where
M,M' = 2,1,0,-1.-2, and where φ,θ,ψ are the "Euler angles" which serve to label a particular rotation. This
D(2)object is the L=2 matrix representation of the rotation group. Taking two vectors A and B, one can
identify A•B as the combination transforming according to R(0) ("scalar") and AxB ( linearly combined)
as that transforming as R(1) ("vector"). The traceless matrix A iBj - δi,jA•B has 5 independent elements
associated with R(2) ( "quadrupole").
This whole reduction idea can be applie d to larger direct products such as R(1) ⊗ R(1) ⊗ R(1) and
tensor components Tabc.
The Standard Model of elementary particle physics is chock full of direct products of this nature,
where the idea of rotational symmetry is extended to ot her kinds of "internal" symmetry, spin and isospin
being two examples. Representations of the Lie symm etry group SU(3) are associated with quarks which
are among of the fundamental building blocks of the Standard Model. The group discussion above can be applied generally to quantum physics. The basic idea is that if "the
physics" (the Hamiltonian or Lagrangian) describi ng some quantum object is invariant under a certain
symmetry group (such as rotational symmetry or perhaps some discrete crystal symmetry), then the quantum states of that object can be classified accord ing to the representations of that group. The Bohr
hydrogen atom "physics" H ~ ∇
2-1/|r| has perfect rotation group symmetry and is also symmetric about
the axis (angle ψ) from center to electron (no spin). The repres entation functions then must have M' = 0,
and then D(L)
M,0(φ,θ,ψ) ~ YLM (θ,φ), the famous spherical harmonics th at describe the "orbitals" which
have mystified first-year chemistry students for the last 100 years.
Historical Note: Ricci and Levi-Civita (see Refs) referred to ra nk-n tensors as "systems of order n" and
did not include mixed tensors in their 1900 paper. Nor did they use the Einstein summation convention,
since Einstein thought of that later on. They did use the up and down index notation pretty much as it is
used today, though the up indices are enclosed in parenthesis. Here is a direct quote from the paper where the nature of the contravariant a nd covariant tensors is described (with crude translation below for non-
87 French readers). Equation (6) had typos which some thoughtful reader corrected: the y subscripts should
be r's and the x subscripts should be s's. In our notation ∂xs/∂yr → ∂xs/∂x'r = Ss
r = Rrs.
We will say that a system of order m is covariant (a nd in this case we will desi gnate its elements by the
symbol X r1,r2.... ) (r1,r2.... can each take all the values 1...n), if the elements Y r1,r2.... of the
transformed system are given by the formulas (6) .
We will designate on the contrary by the symbols X(r1,r2....) the elements of a contravariant system,
which is to say of a system where the transformation is represented by the formulas (7) ,
the elements X and Y being related re spectively to (presumably "are functions of") the variables x and y.
Their y is our x', and their n is our N. Notice that the i ndices on the coordinates themselves are taken
down, contrary to current usage. They do not explain why the words contravariant and covariant are used.
(k) The Contraction Tilt-Reversal Rule
In some complicated combination of multiple tensor s, imagine there is somewhere a pair of summed
indices where one is up and the other is dow n. As noted above, such a sum is called a contraction . The
contracted indices could be on the same object or th ey could be on different objects. We depict this
situation with the following symbolic notation,
[-----a---------a----]
where the dashes indicate indices that we don't care about and which won't ch ange -- each one could be
up or down. We know we can reverse the tilt this way,
[-----
a---------a----] = gab gac [-----b---------c----]
88
where the first g raises the index b to a, and the se cond g lowers the index c to a. But the two g's are
inverses, gab gac = gba gac = δa,c, which at once gives the desired result
[-----a---------a----] = [----- a---------a----] // the Contraction Tilt-Reversal Rule
A notable example of course is this:
A
aYa = AaYa = " A • Y " // or perhaps " A .Y " as noted in Section 5 (i)
When is index tilt-reversal allowe d and when is it not allowed? It is always allowed when both indices of
the tilted contraction are valid tensor indices. Consider these four exam ples to be discussed below:
RabAb = RabAb Proof: R abAb = Racgcb gbdAd = gcbgbdRacAd = δc
dRacAd = RacAc
AaRab ≠ AaRab Proof: AaRab = gacAc Rdb g'da = gac g'ad Ac Rdb ≠ AaRab
Aa∂a = Aa∂a Proof: Aa∂af = gacAc gad∂df = gacgadAc∂df = δc
dAc∂df = Ac∂cf
∂
aAa ≠ ∂aAa Proof: ∂aAa = (gac∂c)(gadAd) = gacgad(∂cAd) + gac(∂cgad)Ad
= δ
cd(∂cAd) + gac(∂cgad)Ad = ∂cAc + (∂agad)Ad ≠ ∂cAc
In the first example, since R ab is not a tensor, one is on dangerous ground doing the tilt reversal, but it
happens to work because the second index is associated with metric tensor g ij which is the same metric
tensor that raises and lowers indices of A b. In the second example, the tilt-reversal fails because the first
index of R ab is associated with the x'-space metric tensor g' ij. In the third example, both indices are valid
tensor indices (with the same metric tensor).
The fourth example shows a failure of the tilt-reversal rule and this example is very important. The inequality becomes an equality only if the underlying tr ansformation F is linear so that R and S and g are
then constants independent of positi on. For general F, such as the F involved in curvilinear coordinate
transformations, the object ∂
aAb is not a rank-2 tensor and so the object ∂aAa does not represent
contraction of two true tensor indices and therefore the "contraction tilt-reversal rule" does not apply. The
rule of the next section also does not apply for this same reason, so ∂aAa does not transform as a scalar
under general F. Section (v) below continues this topic.
Here is one more example along th e lines of the fourth example above that shows the potential danger
of reversing a tilt when it is not ju stified. Consider the equation,
Va = εabcBb;c (1) // valid
where B
b = a tensorial vector
B b;c = ∂cBb – Γn
bcBn = the covariant derivative of vector B b = a rank-2 tensor
εabc = a rank-3 tensor density (weight -1) (the permutation tensor)
Va = a vector density (weight -1)
89
With regard to B b;c : (a) in comma notation one writes ∂cBb = Bb,c ; (b) Γn
bc = Γn
cb .
Since all indices on equation (1) are tensor indices, on e can lower index a and reverse the b and c tilts to
get V
a = εabcBb;c (2) // valid
Now go back to equation (1). Because εabc is antisymmetric on b and c, whereas Γn
bc is symmetric on b
and c, one can write εabcBb;c = εabcBb,c since the Γ term vanishes by symmetry. Thus one gets
V
a = εabcBb,c (3) // valid
Were one to blindly lower a and reve rse the b and c tilts, one would get
V
a = εabcBb,c (4) // NOT valid
The reason for "not valid" is that the reversal of the b tilt is not justified. That is,
V
a = εabcBb,c = εabc∂cBb = gbb' εa
b'c ∂c(gbb"Bb")
=> V
a = gbb' εab'c ∂c(gbb"Bb") = gbb' εab'c ∂c(gbb"Bb") // c tilt reversal is OK
= g
bb'gbb" εab'c(∂c Bb") + gbb' εab'c (∂c gbb") Bb"
= δ
b'
b" εab'c(∂c Bb") + gbb' εab'c (∂c gbb") Bb"
= ε
abc(∂cBb) + gbb' εab'c (∂c gbb") Bb"
= ε
abcBb,c + gbb' εab'c (∂c gbb") Bb" = εabcBb,c + extra term!
It is due to this extra term that (4) is not valid. Basi cally this is the same as the fourth example above, but
the situation is embedded in a more complicated e nvironment (extra tensors, tensor densities, comma
notation, covariant derivatives, other tilted indices, et c). One way to summarize the example is this:
(Va = εabcBb,c) ⇔ (Va = εabcBb;c) ⇔ (Va = εabcBb;c) ⇔ / (Va = εabcBb,c)
(l) The Contraction Neutralization Rule
A contracted index pair plays no role in how an ob ject transforms, the two indices neutralize each other,
as we now show. First, recall that the indices on a general rank- n tensor (perhaps formed from several tensors)
transform the same way an outer product of n vect ors transforms, where the vector index types match
those of the tensor. The vectors transform this way:
V'
a = Ra
bVb V ' a = Sb
aVb
90
So, we take our same "big object" a bove and now ask how it transforms.
In the following, the X's represent either R or S factor s for the dash indices (each of which might be up or
down):
[-----
a---------a----]' = XXXXX Ra
b XXXXXXXXX Sc
a XXXX [-----b---------c----]
= S
c
a Ra
b XXXXX XXXXXXXXX XXXX [-----b---------c----]
= δ
c
b XXXXX XXXXXXXXX XXXX [-----b---------c----]
= XXXXX XXXXXXXXX XXXX [-----
a---------a----]
where now the only X's left are for the other indices. Again we look at our canonical example,
AaYa = AaYa = A.Y
The contracted vector indices cancel each other ou t and the resulting object transforms as a scalar.
Here are some examples of tensor transforma tions with 0,1 and 2 index pairs contracted:
T
'abc
de = Ra
a' Rb
b' Rc
c' Sd'
d Se'
e Ta'b'c'
d'e' // no pairs contracted
T 'abc
ae = Rb
b' Rc
c' Se'
e Ta'b'c'
a'e' // index a contracted
T 'abc
ab = Rc
c' Ta'b'c'
a'e' // index a and index b contracted
Q' = Q where Q = AaYa and Q' = A'aY'a // index a contracted
This shows the idea that one can take a larger tensor like T
abc
de and form from it smaller (lower rank)
tensors by contracting tilted pairs of indices. In the above example list we really have
D
bc
e ≡ Tabc
ae = a mixed rank-3 tensor
Ec = Tabc
ab = a contravariant vector (rank-1 tensor)
Q = AaYa = a scalar (rank-0 tensor)
It is similarly possible to build larger tensors from smaller ones, for example
Z
abc
de = Va We gab Lc
which goes under the same rubric "outer product" mentioned earlier.
(m) Raising and lowering indices on g
On the one hand, since g ab and gab are inverses of each other (formerly g ¯ and g) , one has
91
gabgbc = δa,c = δac
where the above-mentioned "look-nice" form of δ
a,c makes indices match. On the other hand,
gabgbc = gbc // left g lowers the left index of the right g, or the converse
Comparison shows that
g
bc = δbc
As a sanity check, consider
V
a = gabVb
Applying our Contraction Tilt-reve rsal Rule, this can be written
Va = gabVb but this is = δabVb = Va
There are many ways to write things, here is a collection (g
ab = gba !)
g
abgbc = δac = gac // start out
gabgbc = δac = gac // tilt reversal of the line above; just says δabδbc = δac
g
abgbc = δa
c = ga
c
ga
bgb
c = δa
c = ga
c
(n) Other forms of R
Object R
a
b = (∂x'a/∂xb) was considered above. One could lower the a index using g' ** since x'a is in x'-
space and is an up index. The index in ∂/∂xb = ∂b is really a lower index (gradient), so one could in effect
raise it using g** (no prime) because ∂/∂xb is in x-space. So when raising and lowering indices on Ra
b
one has the unusual situation that one must use g' when acting on the first index, and g when acting on the
second. With this in mind, we can now wr ite three other index configurations of Ra
b
R
a
b = ( ∂x'a/∂xb) // original object (formerly R ab)
Rab = Ra
b' gb'b = ( ∂x'a/∂xb) // g pulls up the second index of Ra
b
Rab = g'aa'Ra'
b = ( ∂x'a/∂xb) // g' pulls down the first index of Ra
b
Rab = g'aa'Ra'
b' gb'b = (∂x'a/∂xb) // both actions at once
Although the g and g' factors can be placed anywhere, we have put g' factors on the left of R, and g
factors on the right, each next to its appropriate leg of R.
92 In each case, examination of the corresponding partial derivative shows that that the index sense matches
on both sides. For example, in Rab = (∂x'a/∂xb) = ∂bx'a, both indices are contravariant on both sides.
Remember that Rab is not a contravariant rank-2 tens or due to its dual-space nature.
(o) Summary of facts about R
Rik ≡ (∂x'i/∂xk) → Ri
k ≡ (∂x'i/∂xk)
V'a = RabVb → V'a = Ra
bVb Va = Sa
bV'b [= RbaV'b]
R
a
b(x) = ( ∂x'a/∂xb) // original object (formerly R ab)
Rab = Ra
b' gb'b = ( ∂x'a/∂xb) // g pulls up the second index
Rab = g'aa'Ra'
b = ( ∂x'a/∂xb) // g' pulls down the first index
Rab = g'aa'Ra'
b' gb'b = (∂x'a/∂xb) // both actions at once
R
a
b = g'aa'Ra'b' gb'b // the inverse of the previous line (using gabgbc = δa
c twice)
(p) Repeat all the above for S
S
ik ≡ (∂xi/∂x'k) → Si
k ≡ (∂xi/∂x'k)
V¯'a = ST
ab V¯b = Sba V¯b → V'a = Sb
aVb V a = Rb
aV'b [= SabV'b]
S
a
b(x) = ( ∂xa/∂x'b) // original object (formerly S ab)
Sab ≡ Sa
b' g'b'b = ( ∂xa/∂x'b) // g' pulls the second index up
Sab ≡ gaa'Sa'
b = ( ∂xa/∂x'b) // g pulls the first index down
Sab ≡ gaa'Sa'
b' g' b'b = (∂xa/∂x'b) // both actions at once
Sa
b ≡ gaa'Sa'b' g' b'b // the inverse of the previous line (using gabgbc = δa
c twice)
(q) Theorem: Sa
b = Rba and S ab = Rb
a ( reflect indices in vertical line between them)
This theorem has already been proven in section (i) Th eorem 3 as part of the di scussion there of the fact
that, when tilted matrix forms are consider for R and S, one has all of the following matrix results:
S
-1 = ST SST = 1 STS= 1 S = RT S = R-1
R-1 = RT RRT = 1 RTR= 1 R = ST R = S-1
Here two slightly different lower-level proofs of this theorem that S
a
b = Rba . Once this is established,
one ran raise and lower indices on either side to get all of the following
Sa
b = Rba S ab = Rb
a Sab = Rba Sab = Rba
As noted earlier, an implication is that one can comp letely eliminate references to matrix S in tensor
analysis and that is what is usually done!
93 Proof of Theorem: This proof is a bit long-winded, but brings in many earlier results:
δba" Sa
a" = Sa
b // introduce a δ . Remember all g's are symmetric.
(g' bb' g' a"b') Sa
a" = Sa
b // since g' ab and g'ab are inverses of each other.
g' bb' δb'
b" Sa
a" g' a"b"= Sa
b // reorder and introduce another δ
g' bb' (Rb'
a' Sa'
b") Sa
a" g'a"b"= Sa
b // 1 = RS so δb'
b" = (Rb'
a' Sa'
b")
g' bb' Rb'
a' (Sa
a"Sa'
b" g'a"b") = Sa
b // regroup
g' bb' Rb'
a' (gaa') = Sa
b // use gaa' = Sa
a"Sa'
b" g'a"b", see end of (i) above
(g'
bb' Rb'
a' gaa') = Sa
b // regroup
Rba = Sa
b // g and g' raise and lower R's indices, see (n) above
Notice that the above theorem says
S
a
b = (∂ xa/∂x'b) = (∂x'b/∂xa) = Rba
A faster way to derive this result is to differentiate dx
cdxc = dx'cdx'c and use the chain rule:
dx'
b = ( ∂( dx'cdx'c)/∂x'b ) = (∂(dxcdxc)/∂xa) (∂xa/∂x'b) = dxa (∂xa/∂x'b)
=> (∂x'
b/∂xa) = (∂ xa/∂x'b) => R ba = Sa
b
Similar results can be derived for other index positions (or we can just raise and lower indices!) to get
Sa
b = Rba = ( ∂xa/∂x'b) = (∂x'b/∂xa)
Sab = Rba = ( ∂xa/∂x'b) = (∂x'b/∂xa)
Sab = Rba = ( ∂xa/∂x'b) = (∂x'b/∂xa)
Sab = Rb
a = ( ∂xa/∂x'b) = (∂x'b/∂xa)
Here index a is always in x-space, while index b is in x'-space.
The two vector transformation rules
V'
a = Ra
bVb V' a = Sb
aVb
can now be written V'
a = Ra
bVb V' a = RabVb
94
which has the advantage that the indices are prope rly arranged for matrix multiplication in both cases.
Here then is a restatement of the transf ormation of the example given in section ( l) ,
T 'abc
de = Ra
a' Rb
b' Rc
c' Sd'
d Se'
e Ta'b'c'
d'e' // no pairs contracted
becomes
T
'abc
de = Ra
a' Rb
b' Rc
c' Rdd' Ree' Ta'b'c'
d'e' // no pairs contracted
It is easy to remember since th e second index is always the summed index and the other index has to
match (up or down) the left side of the equation.
(r) Orthogonality Rules, the Inversion Rule, and the Cancellation Rule
The above theorem Sa
b = Rba can be used to eliminate S in various forms of RS = 1:
SR = 1 S
a
b Rb
c = δa
c R ba Rb
c = δa
c R ba Rb
c = δa
c Σ 1st
RTST = 1 Rb
a Sc
b = δac Rb
aRbc = δac Rb
a Rbc = δac Σ 1st
RS = 1 R
a
b Sb
c = δa
c Ra
b Rcb = δa
c R cb Ra
b = δca Σ 2nd
STRT = 1 Sb
a Rc
b = δac Rab Rc
b = δac Rc
b Rab = δc
a Σ 2nd
The four results in the right column are called orthogonality rules for R. The first pair is summed on the
first index, the second on the second. In section (i) it wa s shown that these rules are just statements of the
fact that in up or down tilted standard notation R is a real-orthogonal matrix so RRT = RTR= 1.
Inversion Rule.
Consider now an equation which one wants to invert for the object on the right,
[----a-----] = Ra
b [--------b------] (*) // before
The inversion rule for moving R to the other side of the equation is to reflect R's two indices in the
horizontal index plane, so the result will be
Rab [----a-----] = [--------b------] // after
Proof
: Rename b →b' in (*), apply R ab to both sides and sum on a, then use an orthogonality rule:
R
ab [----a-----] = R ab Ra
b' [--------b'------] = δb
b' [--------b'------] = [--------b------] QED
Recall from the last section that reflection in the vertical index plane has a different implication,
Sa
b = Rba or (R-1)a
b = Rba or (RT)a
b = Rba
95 Cancellation Rule. Next, consider a different generic equation,
Ra
b [----b-----] = Ra
b [--------b------] (**) // before
The cancellation rule says the equation is still valid if identical contracted R factors are canceled on both
sides such that the contraction index becomes a free index,
[----
b-----] = [--------b------] // after
Proof:
Rename b →b' in (**), apply R ab to both sides and sum on a, then use an orthogonality rule,
R
abRa
b' [----b'-----] = R abRa
b' [--------b'------]
δ
b
b' [----b'-----] = δb
b' [--------b'------]
[----
b-----] = [--------b------] QED
(s) The tangent and reciprocal base vectors and expansions on same
Tangent and reciprocal base vectors
Here are some basic translations: (
en)i → ( en)i // contravariant index i
( e¯n)i → ( en)i // covariant index i
(En)i → ( en)i // contravariant index i
(E¯n)i → ( en)i // covariant index i
( en)i = Sin → ( en)i = Si
n = Rni // contravariant index i
( E¯n)i = Rni → ( en)i = Rn
i // covariant index i
( En)i = Rnkgki → ( en)i = Rn
kgki = Rni // contravariant index i
As noted earlier, writing a vector in bold such as
en is not enough to say whether the vector is
contravariant or covariant. If one form or the other is intended, one must show an index up or down, even
if it is just a dummy placeholder index. As examples,
S = [ e1, e2, e3 .... eN ] → Si
j = [(e1)k, (e2)k, (e3)k
.... (eN)k]
R = [ E¯1, E¯2, E¯3 .... E¯N ]T → Ri
j = [( e1)k, (e2)k, (e3)k .... (eN)k]T
The relationship between en and en is very simple,
96
En ≡ g'ni ei → en = g'ni ei and en = g'ni ei
For either contravariant or covarian t indices (indices are not shown), g'ni raises the label on ei , and
inverting one finds that g' ni lowers the label on ei. This fact makes things easy to remember. Using the
fact that ei = ∂'ix , one has g'ni ei = g'ni ∂'ix = ∂'nx so the above line can be expressed as
En ≡ g'ni ei → en = ∂'nx and en = ∂'nx
The dot products are
en • em = g¯'nm → en • em = g'nm = ∂'nx • ∂'mx | en| = g'nn = h'n
En • em = δn,m → en • em = δn
m = ∂'nx • ∂'mx
En • Em = g'nm → en • em = g'nm = ∂'nx • ∂'mx |en| = g'nn
The "labels" on the base vectors behave in this dot product structure the same way that up and down
"indices" behave. This is the motivation for En → en . Thus, the three final equations can be regarded as
the same equation en • em = g 'nm where we can raise either or bot h indices/labels to get the other
equations. For example, en
• em = g'n
m = δn
m .
Inverse tangent and reciprocal base vectors
Using the rules given above,
g'↔ g R ↔ S
e n → u'n e'n → un En → U'n E'n → Un
we can obtain the corresponding results for the i nverse tangent and reciprocal base vectors:
( u'n)i → ( un)i // contravariant index i
( u¯'n)i → ( un)i // covariant index i
(U'n)i → ( un)i // contravariant index i
(U¯'n)i → ( un)i // covariant index i
(
u'n)i = Rin → ( u'n)i = Ri
n = Sni // contravariant index i
( U¯')i = Sni → ( un)i = Sn
i // covariant index i
( U'n)i = Snkg'ki → ( un)i = Sn
kg'ki = Sni // contravariant index i
R = [
u'1, u'2, u'3 .... u'N ] → Ri
j = [(u'1)k, (u'2)k, (u'3)k
.... (u'N)k]
97 S = [ U¯'1, U¯'2, U¯'3 .... U¯'N ]T → Si
j = [( U¯'1)k, (U¯'2)k, (U¯'3)k .... (U¯'N)k]T
U'n ≡ gni u'n → u'n = gni u'i and u'n = gni u'i
u'n • u'm = g¯nm → u'n • u'm = gnm
U'n • u'm = δn,m → u'n • u'm = δn
m
U'n • U'm = gnm → u'n • u'm = gnm
Summary table.
The summary table given at the end of Section 6 (e) was this x'-space
x-space
axis-aligned basis vectors e'n un ( e'n)i= δn,i ( un)i= δn,i
dual partners to the above E'n Un (E'n)i = g'ni ( Un)i = gni
tangent base vectors u'n en ( u'n)i= Rin ( en)i = Sin
reciprocal base vectors U'n En ( U'n)i = g'ia Sna ( En)i = gia Rna
= g naRia = g' naSia
which translates into this → :
x'-space
x-space
axis-aligned basis vectors e'n un ( e'n)i= δni ( un)i= δni
dual partners to the above e'n un
(e'n)i = g'ni ( un)i = gni
tangent base vectors u'n en ( u'n)i = Ri
n ( en)i=Si
n= Rni
reciprocal base vectors u'n en ( u'n)i = g'ia Sn
a ( en)i = gia Rn
a
( u'n)i = Sn
i ( en)i = Rn
i
x-space expansions
The x-space expansions of Section 6 (f) were
V = V1 u1 + V2 u2 +... = ΣnVn un where Un • V = Vn Un = gni ui
V = V¯1 U1 + V¯2 U2 +... = ΣnV¯n Un where un • V = V¯n
V = V'1 e1 + V'2 e2 +... = Σn V'n en where En • V = V'n En = g'ni ei
V = V¯'1 E1 + V¯'2 E2 +... = Σn V¯'n En where en • V = V¯'n
and they now become → :
V = V1 u1 + V2 u2 +... = ΣnVn
un where un • V = Vn un = gni ui
V = V1 u1 + V2 u2 +... = ΣnVn un where un • V = Vn
V = V'1e1 + V'2e2 +... = Σn V'n en where en • V = V'n en = g'ni ei
V = V'1e1 + V'2 e2 +... = Σn V'n en where en • V = V'n
98
x'-space expansions
Similarly, the x'-space expa nsions of Section 6 (f) were
V' = V'1 e'1 + V'2 e'2 +... = ΣnV'n e'n where E'n • V' = V'n E'n = g'ni e'i
V ' = V¯'1 E'1 + V¯'2 E'2 +... = ΣnV¯'n E'n where e'n • V' = V¯'m
V' = V1u'1 + V2u'2 +... = Σn Vn u'n where U'n • V' = Vn U'n = gni u'i
V' = V¯1U'1 + V¯2U'2 +... = Σn V¯n U'n where u'n • V' = V¯n
and they now become → :
V' = V'1 e'1 + V'2 e'2 +... = ΣnV'n
e'n where e'n • V' = V'n e'n = g'ni e'i
V ' = V'1 e'1 + V'2 e'2 +... = ΣnV'n e'n where e'n • V' = V'm
V' = V1u'1 + V2u'2 +... = Σn Vn u'n where u'n • V' = Vn u'n = gni u'i
V' = V1u'1 + V2u'2 +... = Σn Vn u'n where u'n • V' = Vn
Summary of all expansions:
Using implied sum notation, we can now summarize the eight expansions above, plus the unit vector
expansion onto e^n, on just two lines :
V = Vn
un = Vn un = V'n en = V'n en = V'n e^n // x-space expansions, V'n = hnV'n
V' = V'n
e'n = V'n e'n = Vn u'n = Vn u'n // x'-space expansions
In all cases one sees a tilted index summation where one index is a vector index and the other is a basis
vector label. Half the forms shown above can be obtained from the others by just "reversing the tilt". The power of the Standard Notation makes it self felt in relations like these.
Due to this tilt situation, sometimes a basis like
en appearing in V = V'n en is called a "covariant
basis" while the basis en appearing in V = V'n en is called a "contravariant basis".
Corresponding expansions of higher rank tens ors are presented in section (w) below.
If V is a tensor density of weight W (see Appendix D and E) the rule for adjusting the above
expansions is to make the replacement V'n → JW V'n and V'n → JW V'n where J is the Jacobian of Section
5 (k).
(t) Comment on Covariant versus Contravariant
Consider this expansion for a vector V in x-space,
V = Vnbn Vn = V • bn
99 where bn is some basis having dual basis bn where as usual bn • bm = δnm. Imagine taking Vn → V'n =
Rn
m Vm and bi → bi' = Qij bj. What Q would cause the following to be true?
V = Vnbn = V'nb'n
In other words, how does one transform that basis
bn such that the vector V remains unchanged if Vn is
transformed contravariantly? The answer to this question is that Q ij = Rij since then (using R
orthogonality as in section (r))
V'nb'n = [Rn
m Vm][ Rnj bj] = (Rn
m Rnj) Vm bj = δmj Vm bj = Vj bj = Vnbn
Compare then the transformation of V
n with that of the basis bn:
V
'n = Rn
m Vm
bn' = Rnm bm
The V
m vector components transform with Rn
m but the basis vectors have to transform with R nm to
maintain the invariance of the vector V. One varies with the down-tilt R, while the other varies with the
up-tilt R, so the two objects are varying against each other in this tilt sense. They are "contra-varying", so one refers to the components V
m as contravariant components with respect to the basis bm .
If one starts over with V
n components and the bn "dual" (reciprocal) expansion vectors and asks for a
solution to this corresponding problem,
V = Vnbn = V'nb'n
one finds not surprisingly that the dual basis must vary as
bn' = Rn
m bm and then one has
V
'
n = Rnm Vm
bn' = Rn
m bm
which is the previous result with all indices up ↔down. Comparing the tilts, one would say that the V
m
again "contra vary" with the way the bm vary to maintain invariance of V. But one does not care about the
dual basis, one cares about the basis , so relative to the basis bn one has
V'
n = Rnm Vm
bn' = Rnm bm
If the basis
bm is varied as shown here, then the dual basis bm varies as shown above and V remains
invariant. Comparing now the way the V n transform with the way the basis vectors bm transform, one sees
that both equations have the same tilted R nm. They are "co-varying", so one refers to the components V m
as covariant components with respect to the basis bm .
100 (u) The Significance of Tensor Analysis
"Why is tensor analysis important?", the reader might ask in the midst of this storm of index shuffling.
Now is a good time to answer the question. Consider the following sample equation in x-space, where the
fields Q, H, T and B may or may not be tensor fields:
Qad
c(x) = Hab(x)Tb
c(x) Bd(x)
Notice that when contracted indices are ignored, the re maining indices have the same type on both sides.
If the various objects really were tensors, one would say this was a "valid tensor equation" based on the
index structure just described. One says that an equation is "covariant with respect to transformation
x' = F(x)" if the equation has
exactly the same form in x'-space that it has in x-space , which for our example would be
Q'
ad
c(x') = H'ab(x')T 'b
c(x') B'd(x')
Here the word "covariant" has a new meaning, differ ent from its being a type of vector or index. The
meaning is related in the sense that, comparing th e above two equations, everything has "moved" in the
same manner ("co-varied") under the transformation. (S ome authors think the word "invariant" is more
appropriate; Ricci and Levi-Civita used the term "absolute".) If the objects Q, H, T and B are tensors under F, then covariance of any valid tensor equation like the
one shown above is guaranteed !!
The reason is that, once the contracted indices on the two sides are ignored according to the
"contraction neutralization rule", the objects on the two sides of the equation have the same indices which are of the same type, so both sides are tensors of the same type, and therefore both sides transform from x-space to x'-space in the same way. If one starts, for example, with the primed equation and installs the
known transformations for all the pieces, one ends up with the unprimed equation.
If this explanation is not convincing, a brute fo rce demonstration can perhaps help out. The following
is also a good exercise is using the two tilt form s of the R matrix. Recall from section (q) that S
b
a = Rab
and that SR = 1 is replaced by the vari ous orthogonality rules of section (r).
We shall process the primed equation into the unprimed one : Q'
ad
c(x') = H'ab(x')T 'b
c(x') B'd(x') (*) // x'-space equation
[Raa'Rd
d'Rcc'Qa'd'
c'(x)] = [Raa'Rbb' Ha'b'(x)] [Rb
b"Rcc' Tb"
c'(x) ] [Rd
d'Bd'(x)]
= R
aa' Rd
d' Rcc'(Rbb' Rb
b") Ha'b'(x) Tb"
c'(x)Bd'(x)
Using one of the orthogonality rules of section (r),
= R
aa' Rd
d' Rcc'(δb'
b") Ha'b'(x) Tb"
c'(x) Bd'(x)
= R aa' Rd
d' Rcc' Ha'b'(x) Tb'
c'(x) Bd'(x)
101 so that, using the fact that Q is a tensor to replace Q' on the left side of (*),
(Raa'Rd
d'Rcc') Qa'd'
c'(x) = (Raa' Rd
d' Rcc') Ha'b'(x) Tb'
c'(x) Bd'(x)
Now apply the Cancellation Rule of sec tion (r) three times to conclude that
Qa'd'
c'(x) = Ha'b'(x) Tb'
c'(x) Bd'(x)
and then remove all primes to get
Q
ad
c(x) = Hab(x)Tb
c(x) Bd(x) // x-space equation
Thus it has been shown that, if all the objects tran sform as tensors, the equation is covariant.
Tensor density equations are also covariant. As discussed in Appendix D, a tensor density of weight W is
a generalization of a tensor which has the same transf ormation rule as a regular tensor, but there is an
extra factor of J-W on the right hand side of the rule, where J is the Jacobian J = detS. For example,
Q'ad
c(x') = J-WQ Raa'Rd
d'Rcc'Qa'd'
c'(x)
would indicate that Q was a tensor density of weight W
Q. If WQ = 0, then Q is a regular tensor. With this
definition in mind, it is easy to generalize the notion of a "covariant equation" to include tensor densities.
Consider some arbitrary tensor equation which we represent by our example above,
Q
ad
c(x) = Hab(x)Tb
c(x) Bd(x)
Suppose all four objects Q, H, T, B are tensor densities with weights W
Q, WH, WT, WB. If the four objects
Q, H, T, B are tensor densities, and if the up/down free indices match on both sides (the non-contracted
indices), and if WQ = WH + WT + WB, then this is a "valid tensor density equation" and covariance is
guaranteed, so it follows that
Q'ad
c(x') = H'ab(x')T 'b
c(x') B'd(x') .
It is trivial to edit the above proof by just adding weig ht factors in the right places and then of course they
cancel out on the two sides. Examples of covariant tensor equations:
In special relativity, which happens to involve linear Lorentz
transformations, a fundamental principle is that any "equation of motion" describing anything at all
(particles, EM fields, etc) must be covariant with respect to Lorentz transformations, or it cannot be a
valid equation of motion (ignoring general relativity). An equation of motion must look the same in a
reference frame which is rotated, boosted, or related by any combination of boosts and rotations to some
original frame of reference (see Section 5 (m)).
As was noted earlier, the tradition is to write 4-v ector indices as Greek letters and 3-vector spatial
indices as Latin letters. For example, we can define the "electromagnetic field-strength tensor" (rank-2)
this way in terms of the 4-vector "vector potential" Aμ:
102
Fμν ≡ ∂μAν - ∂νAμ
where ∂
μ means gμα∂α, the contravariant form of the gradie nt operator. The components are then
where c is the speed of light and of course E and B are the electric and magnetic fields. Maxwell's two
inhomogeneous equations (that is, the two with sources) are, in SI units where ε0μ0= 1/c2,
∂νFμν = μ0 Jμ with Jμ = (cρ,J)
while the two homogeneous equations become
∂αFμν + ∂μFνα + ∂νFαμ = 0 or ∂αFμν + cyclic = 0 .
One can see that each of these equa tions involves only tensors and we expect that in x'-space these
equations will take the form
∂'
νF 'μν = μ0 J'μ with J'μ = (cρ',J')
∂'αF 'μν + ∂'μF 'να + ∂'νF 'αμ = 0 or ∂'αF 'μν + cyclic = 0
Objects like ∂νFμν and ∂αFμν are true rank-3 tensors because the transformation F is linear.
Covariance of tensor equations involving derivatives with non-linear F.
A tensor equation which
involves derivatives of tensors is non-covariant unde r transformations F which are non-linear. The reason
is that the derivative of a tensor is, in that case, not a tensor, as shown in the next section. Such tensor
equations can be made covariant by replacement of all derivati ves by covariant derivatives (which are
indicated by a semicolon). In general relativity, th is is known as the Principle of General Covariance
(Weinberg p 106). A simple exam ple is the tensor equation g ab;c = 0 (Appendix F (i)). Examples relating
to the transformation from Cartesian to curv ilinear coordinates appear in Section 15.
(v) The Christoffel Business: covariant derivatives
This subject is treated in full detail in Appendix F, but here we provide some motivation. It should be
noted that a normal derivative is sometimes written ∂aVb = Vb,a with a comma, whereas the covariant
derivative discussed below is written V b;a with a semicolon.
When a transformation F is non-linear, the matrix Ra
b is a function of x. Thus one gets the following
transformation for a lower index derivative of a covariant vector field component ∂aVb(x), where a
"second term" quite logically appears,
103 (∂'aV'b) = (Rad∂d) (RbcVc) = Rad Rbc (∂dVc) + Rad(∂d Rbc)Vc
This second term did not arise earlier when we looked at ∂a on a scalar field φ'(x') = φ (x) ,
(∂'
aφ') = (Rad∂d) φ = Rad (∂d φ).
In special relativity, for example, where transformations are linear, ∂
d Rbc = 0, there is no second term,
and the object ∂aVb transforms as a covariant rank-2 tensor,
(∂'
aV'b) = Rad Rbc (∂dVc) , // F is a linear transformation
but in the general case the second term is present, so ∂
dVc fails to transform as a rank-2 covariant tensor.
In this case, one defines a certain "covarian t derivative" which itself has an extra piece
V
b;a ≡ ∂aVb – Γk
ab Vk => V d;c ≡ ∂cVd – Γk
cd Vk
where Γ
c
ab is a certain function of the metric tensor g. One then finds that
V'b;a = Rad Rbc V d;c // the notation ∇cVd ≡ V d;c is also commonly used
or
[∂'aV'b – Γ 'k
ab V'k] = Rad Rbc [∂dVc – Γk
cd Vk] (*)
so that this covariant derivative of a covariant vector field V c transforms as a covariant rank-2 tensor
even with non-linear transformation F (see Christoffel Ref., 1869). This issue arises in general relativity and elsewhere. The object Γ
c
ab (sometimes called the "Christo ffel connection") is given by
Γc
ab ≡ {ab,c} ≡ ⎩⎨⎧
⎭⎬⎫c
ab ≡ gcd [ab,d] = ½ gcd( ∂agbd + ∂bgad – ∂dgab ) // Christoffel 2nd kind
Γ dab ≡ [ab,d] ≡ ½ ( ∂agbd + ∂bgad – ∂dgab ) // Christoffel 1st kind
and this is where the various "Christoffel symbols" come into play. In general relativity and elsewhere,
Γc
ab is known as the "affine connection" which represen ts the effect of "curved space" appearing as a
force which acts on a mass (that is to say, a gravitational force), see Section 5(n).
Warning : There is a differently defined version of Γc
ab floating around in the literature. The version
used above and everywhere in this document is th at of Weinberg and is the most common form.
The derivative of any tensor field other than a scalar fiel d shows this same complication when the
underlying transformation F is non-linear. For example, ∂agbd(x) does not transform as a rank-3 tensor,
∂'
ag'bd(x') = (Rad∂d)(Rbb'Rdd'gb'd') = Rbb'Rdd'(∂d gb'd') + other terms
and therefore neither of the Christoffel symbols Γ
dab or Γc
ab transforms as a tensor in this case.
See Appendix F for more detail.
104 (w) Expansions of higher order tensors
Appendix E clarifies the use of direct product and polyadic notations for describing the basis vector
combinations onto which higher order tensors can be expanded in a simple generalization of the vector expansions presented in section (s) ab ove. There it was shown that a vector
A can be expanded in two
interesting ways :
A = Σn An
un An are the contravariant components of A in x-space
A = Σn A'n en A 'n are the contravariant components of A in x'-space
In the first,
un are axis-aligned basis vectors, and in the second en are the tangent base vectors. If A is
instead a tensor of rank n, thes e expansions are replaced by
A = Σijk... Aijk... (ui⊗uj⊗uk...) Aijk... are the contravariant components of A in x-space
A = Σijk... A'ijk... (ei⊗ej⊗ek...) A'ijk... are the contravariant components of A in x'-space
where there are n indices in each sum, n factors in th e direct products, and n contravariant indices on the
components of tensors A in x-space and in x'-space. In the polyadic notation the direct-product crosses are
eliminated giving
A = Σ
ijk... Aijk... uiujuk... Aijk... are the contravariant components of A in x-space
A = Σijk... A'ijk... eiejek... A'ijk... are the contravariant components of A in x'-space .
In the case of rank-2 tensors, a product like ui⊗uj = uiuj is called a dyadic (see Appendix E). In this
case (only) the product can be visualized as uiuT
j which is a matrix constructed from a column vector to
the left of a row vector. Thus one can write
A = Σij Aij uiuT
j Aij are the contravariant components of A in x-space
A = Σij A'ij eieT
j. A'ij are the contravariant components of A in x'-space .
Appendix E (g) promotes the interpre tation of a rank-2 tensor A as an operator in a Hilbert space, where
the matrices Aij and A'ij are matrices associated with the operator A in different bases,
Anm = <un | A | um > = the x-space components of tensor A
A'nm = <en | A | em > = the x'-space components of tensor A
As Appendix E shows, these two matrices are rela ted to each other by a similarity transformation
A' = R A R-1.
These expansion methods are used in Appendices G and H to derive curvilinear expressions for two
objects that play a role in continuum mechanics, ( ∇
v) and div(T) (where T is a tensor).
105 8. Transformation of Differential Length, Area and Volume
This Section and all remaining Sections use th e Standard Notation introduced in Section 7.
The term N-piped is short for N dimensional parallelepiped.
The context is Picture B:
Since this Section is quite lengthy, a brief overview is in order:
Overview
The transformation of differential length, area, and vol ume is first framed in terms of the mapping of an
orthogonal differential N-pipe d in x'-space to a skewed differential N-piped in x-space. The N-piped in x'-
space has axis-aligned edges of length dx'
n, while the N-piped in x-space has edges endx'n where en are
the tangent base vectors introduced in Section 3. We want to learn what happens to the edges, face areas and volume as one differential N-piped is mappe d into the other by the curvilinear coordinate
transformation
x' = F(x). After solving this problem, we go on to consider the transformations of arbitrary
differential vectors, areas and volume.
Section (a): The differential N-piped mapping
The differential N-piped mapping is descri bed and various symbols are defined.
Section (b): Properties of the fi nite N-piped spanned by the e n in x-space
Results from Appendix B concerning finite N-piped geometric properties are quoted. Certain definition
changes are made to make the formulas suitable for tensor analysis. The purpose of the lengthy Appendix
B is to lend credence to the general formulas for elements of area and volume in N dimensions.
Section (c): Back to the differential N-piped mapping: how edges, areas and volume transform
1. Setup. The finite N-piped edges en are scaled by curvilinear coordinate variations dx'n to create a
differential N-piped in x-space having edges ( endx'n).
2. Edge Transformation. The edges en of the x-space N-piped map into axis-aligned edges e'n in x'-space.
3. Area Transformation. Tensor density notions as presen ted in Appendix D are used here.
4. Volume Transformation. The volume transformation is computed several different ways.
5. Covariant Magnitudes . These are | d x'(n)|, | dA'n | and | dV' | in the Curv ilinear View of x'-space.
6. Two Theorems. (1) g' / h' n2 = g'nn g' = cof(g' nn) and (2) |( Πx
i≠nei)| = cof(g'nn) .
7. Cartesian-View Magnitude Ratios. Appropriate for the continuum mechanics application.
8. Nested Cofactor Formulas: Transformation of N-piped areas of dimension N-2 and lower.
9. Transformation of arbitrary differential vectors, areas and volume. Having built confidence with the
general form of vector area and volume expressions in the N-piped case, the N-piped is jettisoned and
formulas for the transformation of arbitrary vectors, areas and volume are derived.
106 10. Concatenation of Transformations. What happens to the transformati on of vectors, areas and volumes
when two transformations are concat enated? One result is that J = J 1J2.
Examples of area magnitude transformation for N = 2,3,4
Example 2: Spherical Coordinates: area patches
Section (d): Transformation of Differential Volume applied to Integration
The volume transformation obtained in Section (c) is related to the traditional notion of the Jacobian
changing the "measure" in an integration. The "Jacobi an Integration Rule" can then be expressed as a
distributional equation.
Section (e): Interpretations of the Jacobian
(a) The differential N-piped mapping
Section 3 (a) above considered the following situation (dx'
n > 0) :
d x'(n) = e'n dx'n x'-space axis-aligne d differential vector, and ( e'n)i = δni
d
x(n) = en dx'n x-space mapping of the above vector under F-1 or R-1
d
x'(n) = R( x) dx(n) relation of the two differential vectors (contravariant rule)
A superscript (n) on the differentials makes clear there is no implied sum on n. The vectors d
x(n) span a differential N-piped in x-space, while the d x'(n) span a corresponding
differential N-piped in x'-space. The two N-pipeds are related by the mapping x' = F(x). Since the regions
are differentially small, this mapping is the same as the linearized mapping d x' = R d x.
The metric tensor in x-space will be taken to be g = 1, so it is a Cartesian space.
As discussed at the end of Section 5 (a), the x'-sp ace N-piped can be viewed in (at least) two ways
depending on how the metric tensor g' is set. For a continuum mechanics flow application, one sets g' = 1
and this gives the Cartesian View of the x'-space N-piped. For such flows dot products and magnitudes of
vectors like d x(n) are not invariant under the transformation. For our curvilinear coordinates application,
however, we set g' = RgRT = RRT and this causes vector dot products and magnitudes to be invariant and
we can talk about such objects as being tensorial s calars. This is the Curvilinear View of x'-space.
When g' ≠ 1, it is impossible to accurately represent the Curvilinear-View picture of the x'-space N-
piped as a drawing in physical space (for N=3). This subject is discussed for a sample 2D system in
Appendix C (e). Although the basis vectors ( e'n)i = δni in x'-space are always axis-aligned, they are only
orthogonal for an orthogonal coordinate system, since e'n•e'm = en•em = g'nm . Nevertheless, even for a
non-orthogonal system we draw the axes as if they were orthogonal, which at least provides a
representation of the notion of "axis aligned" basis vectors. For N > 3 one at least imagine this kind of
drawing. Due to these graphical difficulties, in the drawing below the Cartesian View of x'-space is shown.
Since g' = 1 for this situation, the axis-aligned basis vectors
e'n are in fact unit vectors e^'n and are
orthogonal, so the picture becomes at least comprehensible:
107
The orthogonal Cartesian-View N-piped allows visualization of these curvilinear coordinate variations, all
dx'k > 0,
d L'n ≡ dx'n
d A'n ≡ Πi≠ndx'i
d V' ≡ Πidx'i = d An dLn
For example, for N=3 one would have
d
L'1 ≡ dx'1
d A'3 = dx'1dx'2 d A'1 = dx'2dx'3 d A'2 = dx'3dx'1
d V' = dx'1dx'2dx'3
The Cartesian-View x'-space N-piped is always orthogonal because the ( e'n) are orthonormal axis-aligned
unit vectors (since g'=1). In contrast, the x-space N-pi ped is typically rotated a nd possibly skewed as well
(if the coordinates x'i describe a non-orthogonal coordinate system). The transformation F and its
linearized version R map the skewed x-space N-piped into the orthogonal x'-space N-piped. As one
moves around in x-space so that point x changes, the picture on the left above keeps its shape, just
translating itself to the new point x', but the picture on the right changes shape and volume because the
vectors en(x) are functions of x.
It is our goal to write expressions for edges, area s and volumes in these two spaces and to then show
how these objects transform between th e two spaces. To this end, we sh all rely on work done in Appendix
B which is summarized in the next section. Followi ng that, we shall add to each edge a differential
associated with that edge (such as er → erdr in spherical coordinates), a nd that will bring us back to the
differential N-piped picture above.
108
(b) Properties of the finite N-piped spanned by the e n in x-space
The finite N-piped spanned by the tangent base vectors en in x-space has the following properties (as
shown in Appendix B) :
• The N spanning edges are the vectors en which have lengths | en| = h'n (scale factors ).
• There are 2
N vertices.
• There are N pairs of faces. The two faces of each pair are parallel in N dimensions. One face of each
pair touches the point where the tails of all the en vectors meet (the near face) while the other does not
touch this meeting poi nt (the far face).
• Each face of an N-piped is an (N-1)-piped having 2N-1 vertices. The faces are planar surfaces of
dimension N-1 embedded in an N dimensional space.
• A face's vector area An is spanned by all the ei except en and is labeled by this missing en vector.
• The far face has out-facing vector area
An , and the near face has out-facing area vector – An. These
vector areas are normal to the faces.
• The vector area An is given by several equivalent expressions:
An = |det(Sa
b)| en
An = σ (-1)n-1 Πx
i≠n ei
An = σ (-1)n-1 e1 x e2 ... x eN // en missing σ ≡ sign[det(Sa
b)] = sign[det(Ra
b)]
(
An)i = σ (-1)n-1 εiabc..x (e1)a(e2)b.... (eN)x // e n missing
• The volume of the N-piped is given by (see Section 5 (k) concerning J)
V = | det [ e1, e2, e3 ... eN] | = | det(Sa
b) | = g'1/2 = |J|
The mapping picture above does not apply to a finite N-piped. The finite N-piped just discussed exists in
x-space. One might ponder into what shape it maps in x'-space under the transformation F. In the case of spherical coordinates (Section 1 Example 2), all of x-space maps into a certain orthogonal "office
building" in x'-space. A finite N-piped within x-space maps into some very complicated 3D shape within the office building which is bounded by curves which in general are not even coplanar. The point is that a
finite N-piped in x-space does NOT map back into some nice orthogonal N-piped in x'-space and the
picture drawn in the previous section does not apply. However, when differentials are added in the next
section, then, since the mapped regions are very small, the mapping of the x-space differential N-piped is
109 in fact an "orthogonal" N-piped in x'-space. This is because for a tiny region near some point x, the
mapping between d x and d x' is described by matrix R.
Conventions for defining the area vector and volume . In Appendix B (and as shown above) the area
vector An is defined so that the out-facing normal of the x-space N-piped's "far face n" is An, regardless
of the sign of det(S). This was done to simplify the computation of the flux of a vector field emerging from the N-piped in the geometric divergence calculation in Section 9. That calculation is then valid for
either sign of det(S), a sign that we call σ. The following picture illustrates on the left an x-space 3-piped
which is obtained by reverse-mapping the x'-space or thogonal 3-piped using an S which has det(S) > 0.
On the right one sees the x-space 3-piped that results for S → -S. These two 3-pipeds are related by a
parity inversion of all points through the origin. If the origin lies far away, these two N-pipeds lie far
away from each other, a fact not illustrated in the picture:
Notice that A3 for the "far face 3" is outfacing in both cases.
This definition of the vector area is not suitable for the vector analysis we are about to undertake.
Instead of the above situation, we will redefine A3 = e1xe2 for both pictures, and this will cause the A3
vector in the right picture to point up into the interi or of the N-piped. This new definition allows us to
interpret A3 = e1xe2 as a "valid vector equation" to which we may apply the ideas of covariance and
tensor densities. Notice that under a parity transformation, this newly defined
A3 is a "pseudovector" which is one
which does not reverse direction under a parity transformation, since A3 = (- e1) x (- e2). The subject of
parity and handedness and the sign of det(S) is discussed more in Section 6 (i).
Here then are the expressions for An with this new definition, where the new forms are obtained from
the previous ones by multiplying by σ = sign ( det(S) ) :
An = det(Sa
b) en = J en
An = (-1)n-1 e1 x e2 ... x eN // en missing
( An)i = (-1)n-1 εiabc..x (e1)a(e2)b.... (eN)x // e n missing
The second line shows that pseudovectors can only exist for an odd number of dimensions (such as N=3).
110 A similar redefinition of the volume will now be do ne. In Appendix B the volume is defined so as to
be a positive number regardless of σ with the result V = |det(S)|. We now redefine the volume by
multiplication by σ, so that now V = det(S) which is of course a negative number when det(S) < 0, which
in turn means the en are forming a left-handed coordinate system as per Section 6 (i). So:
V = det [ e1, e2, e3 ... eN] = det(Sa
b) = J
(c) Back to the differential N-piped mapping : how edges, areas and volume transform
1. The Setup. If the edges of the finite N-piped described above are scaled by positive differentials dx'n >
0, the result is a differential N-piped in x-space whic h has the properties listed above with the following
edges and areas and volume:
d
x(n) = en dx'n / / e d g e s
d
An = J en (Πi≠ndx'i) // areas
dAn = (-1)n-1 (dx'1e1) x (dx'2e2) ... x (dx' NeN) // en missing from cross product
= (-1)
n-1 e1 x e2 ... x eN (Πi≠ndx'i) // en missing from cross product
= (-1)
n-1 (Πx
i≠nei) (Πi≠ndx'i) // shorthand of Appendix A (i)
(d An)i = (-1)n-1 εiabc..x (e1)a(e2)b.... (eN)x (Πi≠ndx'i) // en factor and index missing
dV = det [dx' e1, dx'e2, dx'e3 ... dx' eN] = det [ e1, e2, e3 ... eN] (Πidx'i) = J det(Sa
b)
= ε
abc..x (dx'e1)a(dx'e2)b..... (dx' eN)x
where d
An and dV obtained from An and V according to the new definitions described above. These
equations apply to the right side of the N-pi ped mapping picture which is replicated here
111
For spherical coordinates, the N-piped on the right would be spanned by these vectors (Sec. 3, Ex. 2 )
erdr = r^dr, eθdθ= rθ^dθ eφdφ = rsinθ φ^dφ
2. Edge Transformation. The edge d x(n) we know transforms as a tensorial vector under transformation
F, so
d x'(n) = R d x(n) where d x(n) = en dx'n
Evaluation gives
[d
x'(n)]i = Ri
j (en)j dx'n = Ri
j Sj
n dx'n = (RS)i
n dx'n = δi
n dx'n
=> d
x'(n) = e'n dx'n since ( e'n)i = δni
so this contravariant edge points in the n axis direction in x'-space.
3. Area Transformation. How does d An transform under F? Looking at the component form stated
above
(d
An)i = (-1)n-1 εiabc..x (e1)a(e2)b.... (eN)x (Πi≠ndx'i) // en factor and index missing
it is seen that dA
n is a combination of tensor objects like εiabc..x and (e2)b. As discussed in Appendix
D, a vector density of weight 0 is an ordinary vector such as e2 or d x. The ε tensor (rank-N) is a tensor
density of weight -1. In forming more complicated tens or objects, the rule is that one adds the weights of
the objects being combined. Therefore, one may conclude that the object d An is a vector density of
weight -1. This has the immediate implication that dAn transforms under F according to the rule
112 d A'n = J R d An or (d A'n)i = J Ri
j (dAn)j // J-W = J-(-1) = J
where J = det(S) is the Jacobian of Section 5 (k). Moreover, the above equation for (d An)i is a "valid
tensor density equation" as per Section 7 (u) and is therefore covariant. This means that in x'-space the equation has the exact same form, but tensor objects are primed (the dx'
i are constants),
(d
A'n)i = (-1)n-1 ε'iabc..x (e'1)a(e'2)b.... (e'N)x (Πi≠ndx'i) // e'n factor and index missing
Insertion of ε'
iabc..x = J2 εiabc..x ( Appendix D (e) 3) and (e' n)i = δni then gives
(d
A'n)i = (-1)n-1 J2 εiabc..x δ1aδ2b...δNx (Πi≠ndx'i)
= (-1)
n-1 J2 εi123..N (Πi≠ndx'i) // index n missing on ε
= δ
n
i J2(Πi≠ndx'i)
The last step follows from the fact that ε
i123..N with n missing must vanish if i ≠n, and if i=n then
εn123..N = (-1)n εi123..N = (-1)n. The conclusion then is that
d
A'n = J2(Πi≠ndx'i) e'n since ( e'n)i = δn
i // Section 7 (s)
and the covariant vector area d
A'n points in the n-axis direction in x'-space.
For the reader dubious of the claim that d A'n = J R d An, consider:
(d
A'n)i = J Rij (dAn)j = J Rij {[ (-1)n-1 εiabc..x (e1)a(e2)b.... (eN)x (Πi≠ndx'i) } // en missing
= J R
ij {[ (-1)n-1 εiabc..x R1a R2b.... RNx (Πi≠ndx'i) } // R nκ missing
= J {[ (-1)
n-1 εiabc..x Rij R1a R2b.... RNx (Πi≠ndx'i) } // R nκ missing
= J {[ (-1)
n-1 εiabc..x Sj
i Sa
1 Sb
2.... Sx
N (Πi≠ndx'i) } // Sκ
n missing
If i ≠ n, one has a determinant with two columns the same since S
κ
n is missing so the result is 0 so the
result is proportional to δn
i. Continuing,
= δ
n
i J { (-1)n-1 εnabc..x Sj
n Sa
1 Sb
2.... Sx
N (Πi≠ndx'i) } // Sκ
n missing in group
= δ
n
i J { (-1)n-1 εnabc..x Sa
1 Sb
2.... Sj
n.... Sx
N (Πi≠ndx'i) }
= δn
i J { εabc..n...x Sa
1 Sb
2.... Sj
n.... Sx
N (Πi≠ndx'i) }
= δn
i J { det(S) ( Πi≠ndx'i) }
= δ
n
i J2 (Πi≠ndx'i)
113
which agrees with the result just obtaine d from the covariant x'-space equation.
4. Volume Transformation. What about the volume dV? Assume for the moment that dV is correctly
represented this way, where any n will do:
dV = d An • dx(n) = (d An)i [dx(n)]i // no implied sum
Installing our expression for d An and d x(n) gives
dV = J en (Πi≠ndx'i) • (en dx'n) = J (Π idx'i) en • en = J (Πidx'i)
which is seen to agree with the modified dV definition stated above. Looking at dV = (d An)i [dx(n)]i,
dV is seen to be a tensor combination of a vector de nsity of weight -1 with a vector density of weight 0
(an ordinary vector d x(n)), so according to Appendix D, dV must be scalar density of weight -1. This
then tells us that
dV' = J dV
Since dV = J ( Π
idx'i) one gets
dV' = J
2 (Πidx'i) .
Again, one can verify this last result from th e x'-space covariant form of the equation:
dV' = d A'n • dx'(n) = { J2(Πi≠ndx'i) e'n } • {e'n dx'n) = J2(Πidx'i) e'n• e'n = J2(Πidx'i)
since e'n• e'n = en•en = 1.
An alternate derivation of the dV transform rule dV' = J dV comes from just staring at
dV = ε abc..x (dx'e1)a(dx'e2)b..... (dx' eN)x
which by the argument above is seen directly to transf orm as a tensor density of weight -1. To complete
the circle, we can verify for a second time the claim made above that dV = d An • dx(n) :
d An • dx(n) = (d An)i [dx(n)]i
= {(-1)n-1 εiabc..x (e1)a(e2)b.... (eN)x (Πk≠ndx'k) } (dx'nen)i // en missing .....
= ε
abc..i..x (e1)a(e2)b.. (en)κ.. (eN)x (Πkdx'i) = det(S) (Π kdx'i) = dV
To summarize the above, by examining the vector dens ity nature of our various objects, we have been
able to determine exactly how edges, areas a nd the volume transform under transformation F:
114
edges d x'(n) = R d x(n) or [d x'(n)]i = Ri
j [dx(n)] j // ordinary vector
areas d A'n = J R d An or (d A'n)i = J Ri
j (dAn)j // vector density W = -1
volume V' = J dV // scalar density W = -1
5. Covariant Magnitudes. The x'-space magnitudes here are the "covariant" ones which are associated
with the Curvilinear View of x'-space, as discussed above. Since d x(n)is a vector, it follows that
| d x'(n)|2 = dx'(n) • dx'(n) = dx(n) • dx(n) = | d x(n)|2 => | d x'(n)| = | d x(n)|
Since d An is a vector density of weight -1, if follows that
| d A'n |2 = dA'n • dA'n = J2 dAn • dAn = J2| dAn |2 => | d A'n | = |J| | d An |
where we note that d
A'n • dA'n, being a combination of two weight -1 vector densities, is a scalar density
of weight -2 and thus transforms as shown above. For completeness, we can add from the above table,
V' = J dV => | dV' | = |J| | dV | . Moreover it has been shown above that
d
x(n) = en dx'n => | d x(n)| = | en| dx'n = h'n dx'n
d x'(n) = e'n dx'n => | d x'(n)| = | e'n| dx'n = h'n dx'n
d
An = J (Πi≠ndx'i) en => | d An| = |J| | en| (Πi≠ndx'i) = (|J| /h' n) (Πi≠ndx'i)
d A'n = J2(Πi≠ndx'i) e'n => | d A'n| = J2 |e'n| (Πi≠ndx'i) = (|J|2/h'n) (Πi≠ndx'i)
dV = J (Π
idx'i) => |dV| = |J| ( Πidx'i)
dV' = J2 (Πidx'i) => |dV'| = |J2 (Πidx'i)
which can be written more compactly using the Ca rtesian-View coordinate variation groupings,
d x(n) = en dL'n => | d x(n)| = h'n dL'n d L'n ≡ dx'n
d x'(n) = e'n dL'n
=> | d x'(n)| = h'n dL'n `
d
An = J d A'n en => | d An| = (|J| /h' n) dA'n dA'n ≡ Πi≠ndx'i
d A'n = J2 dA'n e'n => | d A'n| = (|J|2/h'n) dA'n
dV = J d
V' => |dV| = |J| d V' d V' ≡ Πidx'i
dV' = J2 dV' => |dV'| = |J|2 dV'
The covariant edge magnitude is of course unchanged by the transforma tion since it is a scalar, while the
area and volume magnitudes are magnified by |J| in going from x-space to x'-space. Since dV = d An •
dx(n), it is clear that the area's transformation factor of |J| is passed onto the volume. Notice that dV' is
115 always positive regardless of the sign of J, and th is is because x'-space is always a right-handed
coordinate system, as in Section 6 (i). In contrast , dV can have either sign depending on the sign of J =
det(S), and so dV < 0 when the en form a left-handed coordinate system in x-space.
6. Two Theorems : g' / h' n2 = g'nn g' = cof(g' nn) and |(Πx
i≠nei)| = cof(g'nn)
We now pause to prove two small theo rems which will be used below.
Theorem 1 : g' / h'n2 = g'nn g' = cof(g' nn) where g' = det(g' ij).
The left equality is obvious since g'nn = 1/h'n2 . The right equality can be shown as follows:
(g'
up)ab ≡ g'ab (g'dn)ab ≡ g'ab
g'
up = (g'dn)-1 = cof(g' dnT)/det(g'dn) = cof(g' dn)/det(g'dn)
=> (g'
up)nn = cof[(g' dn)nn]/det(g'dn)
or
g'nn = cof[g' nn] / g' QED
Theorem 2: |(Πx
i≠nei)| = cof(g'nn)
The quantity on the left is this
|(Πx
i≠nei)| ≡ | e1 x e2 ... x eN | where en is missing from cross product.
We shall give three quick proofs of Theorem 2, the last being valid only for N=3.
• First, at the start of section (c) above, one form for d
An is given by
d An = (-1)n-1 (Πx
i≠nei) (Πi≠ndx'i) = (-1)n-1 (Πx
i≠nei) dA'n
=> | d
An| = |(Πx
i≠nei)| dA'n
Comparison of this last result with the third line of the table above shows that the following must be true
|(Πx
i≠nei)| = (|J| /h' n) = g'1/2/h'n = (g' / h' n2)1/2 = cof(g'nn) QED
where the last step follows from Theorem 1.
• Here is a more direct proof:
| Π
x
i≠n (ei)|2 = Πx
i≠n (ei) • Πx
j≠n (ej) = [ Πx
i≠n (ei)]k [ Πx
j≠n (ej)]k
116 = [ εkabc...x (e1)a(e2)b ...... ( eN)x] [ εka'b'c'...x (e1)a'(e2)b' ...... ( eN)x'] // en missing in both
= εkabc...x εka'b'c'...x {(e1)a(e2)b ...... ( eN)x } (e1)a'(e2)b' ...... ( eN)x' // en missing
= e1•e1 e2•e2 .... eN•eN + all signed permutations of the 2nd labels // en missing
= g'11g'22..... g'NN + all signed permutations of the 2nd indices // en missing
But this is last object is the determinant of the g' ij matrix with g' nn crossed out, which is to say, it is the
minor of g' nn. Since g' nn is a diagonal element, the minor and cofactor are the same. Thus, this last object
is in fact just cof(g' nn). QED.
• A proof for N=3 uses normal vector algebra. Settin g n = 1, for example, one needs to show that
| Πx
i≠1 ei |2 = | e2 x e3 |2 = cof(g' 11)
To this end, use the vector identity
(
A x B) • (A x B) = A2B2 – (A•B)2
to show that
|
e2 x e3 |2 = (e2 x e3) • (e2 x e3 ) = | e2|2 |e3|2 - (e2•e3)2 = g'22 g'33 - (g'23)2 = cof(g' 11).
and the cases n = 2 and 3 are similar.
7. Cartesian-View Magnitude Ratios. In the Cartesian View of x'-space one can write the Cartesian x'-
space magnitudes as
| d
x'(n)|c = dL'n | dA'(n)|c = dA'n | dV'|c = dV'
Then from the three x-space equations in the above table (just above Two Theorems) one obtains the
following three ratios of x-space objects divided by th eir corresponding Cartesian-View x'-space objects:
| d x(n)|/ dL'n = h'n = [ g'nn]1/2 = the scale factor for edge d x(n)
| d
A(n)|/ dA'n = (1/h'n) |J| = (1/h' n) g'1/2 = [ g'nn g']1/2 = [cof( g'nn)]1/2 // Theorem 1 above
|dV| / d V' = |J| = g'1/2 / / g' ≡ det(g'ij) = J2
In these expressions, all g' references refer to the x'-space metric tensor which results in scalars actually
being scalar under the transformation F:
g'nm ≡ RniRmjgij = RniRmi = Si
nSi
m where Si
n = (en)i .
117
That is to say, g'nm is determined by the basis vectors en of the N-piped in x-space. In the continuum
mechanics application mentioned in Section 5 (o), the actual metric tensor for x'-space is set to g' = 1
which means scalars are no longer scalars under F. Th e "Cartesian View" of x'-space then coincides with
the physical x'-space and the ratios given above ar e then the physical length, area and volume magnitude
ratios. The use here of a scripted g is just a temporary contrivance to allow distinction between g'nm ≡
Si
nSi
m and g'nm = δnm for this particular "non-covariant" appli cation of tensor analysis. From now on, we
restore g' to its usual meaning g' nm ≡ RniRmjgij .
It is convenient to make the definition
dA
n ≡ | dA(n)|
and then the above area magnitude ratio relation may be written
dAn = cof(g'nn) dA'n
and d A'n = Πi≠ndx'i is just a product of the appropriate curvilinear coordinate variations.
8. Nested Cofactor Formulas. The object d An is the "area" of a face on an N-piped. This face, which is
itself an (N-1)-piped, in turn has its own "areas" which are (N-2)-pipeds, and so on, so there is a hierarchy
of "areas" of dimensions N-1 all the way down. The area ratios of corresponding areas under
transformation F are determined by equations similar to that above. For example, the mth face of face n
of an N-piped has area ratio cof[cof(g' nn)]mm . This at least makes some sense since the matrix cof(g' nn)
has dimension N-1, so its cofactor matrix has dimension N-2, a nd so on. For N=3, these faces would be
line segments and one would have
cof(g' 33) = ⎝⎛
⎠⎞ g'11 g'12
g'21 g'22 => cof[cof(g' 33)]22 = g'11 = h'12 => cof[cof(g' 33)]22 = h'1
and h'1 is in fact the edge length ratio given above.
9. Transformation of arbitrary differential vectors, areas and volume. The above discussion is geared
to the N-piped transform picture and reveals how d x(n), dA(n) and dV transform where all these
quantities are directly associated with the particular differential N-piped in x-space spanned by the (
endx'n) vectors.
But suppose d x is an arbitrary differential vector in x-space. Certainly d x' = R d x, so we know how
this d x transforms under F. But what about area and volume?
Based on the work in Appendix B as carried through into the N-piped transform discussion above, it
seems clear that an arbitrary differential area in x-space d A can be represented as follows : (g=1)
d A = (d x[1]) x (d x[2]) ... x (d x[N-1])
(d
A)i = εiabc..x (dx[1])a(dx[2])b.... (d x[N-1])x ,
118 where the d x[i] are an arbitrary set of N-1 linearly independe nt differential vectors in x-space. For N=3
one would write d A = dx[1] x dx[2]. Since ε has weight -1 and all other objects are true vectors (weight
0), one again concludes that d A transforms as a tensor density of weight -1, so
d A' = J R d A or dA 'i = J Rij dAj
If any of these d
x[k] were a linear combination of the N-2 others, one could say d x[k] = Σjαk
j dx[j] and
then the above (d A)i expression would give a sum of terms each of which vanishes by symmetry,
resulting in (d A)i = 0.
Finally, given the set of d x[i] linearly independent vectors shown above for i = 1,2..N-1, we can
certainly find one more such that all N are then linearly independent, so then we have a set of N arbitrary
differential vectors d x[i] ( arbitrary as long as they are linearly independent), and these will form a
volume in x-space,
dV = det (d x[1], dx[2], ..... d x[N] ) = εabc..y (dx[1])a(dx[2])b.... (d x[N])y
By the argument just given, inspection shows that this dV transforms as a tensor density of weight -1 so dV' = JdV. These then are the transformation rules for ar bitrary differential vectors, areas and volumes
transforming under F : d
x' = R d x |dx'| = |d x|
dA' = J R d A |dA'| = |J| |dA|
dV' = JdV |dV'| = |J| |dV| J = det(S) J2 = g'
Review and covariant form of the d
A and dV equations
To review, then, in Cartesian x-space we have these expressions for area and volume
d
A = (d x[1]) x (d x[2]) ... x (d x[N-1])
dV = det [d x[1], dx[2], ... d x[N]] .
Written out in terms of covariant vector components these expressions appear as,
(d A)i = εiabc..x (dx[1])a(dx[2])b.... (d x[N-1])x
dV = εabc..y (dx[1])a(dx[2])b.... (d x[N])y ,
where ε is the usual permutation tensor involved in cross products and determinants. As noted earlier,
these are both "valid tensor density e quations" (end of Section 7 (u)) , so they can be written in x'-space as
(d A')i = ε'iabc..x (dx'[1])a(dx'[2])b.... (d x'[N-1])x
dV' = ε'abc..y (dx'[1])a(dx'[2])b.... (d x'[N])y .
where d
x'[i]= Rd x[i]. From Appendix D, each ε' can be written as ε' = J2ε = (g'/g)ε = g'ε, so
119 (d A')i = g' εiabc..x (dx'[1])a(dx'[2])b.... (d x'[N-1])x
dV' = g' εabc..y (dx'[1])a(dx'[2])b.... (d x'[N])y .
Since the permutation tensor now appears, thes e can be written in terms of cross products,
d
A' = g' (d x'[1]) x (d x'[2]) ... x (d x'[N-1])
dV' = g' det [d x'[1], dx'[2], ... d x'[N]] .
Using contravariant components [d x'[1]]i, this cross product and determinant are formed just as they are
in x-space. These two equations then give at least some feel for "the meaning of d A' and dV' in x'-space" .
Going back to x-space, we could have wr itten the equations there using g = det(g'
ij) = det(δij) = 1 :
d
A = g (d x[1]) x (d x[2]) ... x (d x[N-1])
dV = g det (d x[1], dx[2], ... d x[N]) .
This then is a useful interpretation of the covariant form of these equations. Adding primes to everything
in the above two equations yields the previous two equations and only the permutation tensor ε is
involved in both sets of equations. With this understanding, the above transformation rule s for differential vectors, areas and volumes can be
extended from Picture B to the more general Pictur e A, where g is an arbitrary metric tensor,
How things look in developmental notation.
Recall that covariant tensor objects get overbars and all indices are down in the developmental notation used in Sections 1-6 of this document. Here then are some of the above equations expressed in this
notation:
d
A¯ = (d x[1]) x (d x[2]) ... x (d x[N-1])
dV = det [d x[1], dx[2], ... d x[N]] .
(d A¯)i = ε¯iabc..x (dx[1])a(dx[2])b.... (d x[N-1])x
dV = ε¯abc..y (dx[1])a(dx[2])b.... (d x[N])y ,
(d A¯')i = ε¯'iabc..x (dx'[1])a(dx'[2])b.... (d x'[N-1])x
dV' = ε¯'abc..y (dx'[1])a(dx'[2])b.... (d x'[N])y .
120 d x' = R d x |dx'| = |d x|
dA¯' = J ST dA¯ |dA'| = |J| |dA|
dV' = JdV |dV'| = |J| |dV| J = det(S) J2 = g'
Recall from Section 2 (c) that a covariant vector transforms as V' = ST V, and a covariant vector density
of weight W will then transform as V' = J-W ST V and this explains the middle line of the above three.
The contravariant differential area would transform as d A' = J R d A.
10. Concatenation of Transformations. Consider x" = F2(x') and x' = F1(x) so that x" = F2[F1(x)] ≡
F(x). At some point x, the linearization will yield d x" = R2R1dx as the rule for vector transformation, so
the R matrix associated with transformation F is R = R 2R1, and then S = R-1 = R1-1R2-1 = S1S2. Each
transformation will have an associated Jacobian: J 1 = det(S 1) and J2 = det(S2). The concatenated
transformation then has J = det(S) = det(S 1S2) = det(S 1)det(S2) = J1J2. The implication is that when one
concatenates two transformations in this manner, the area and volume transformations shown above still
apply, where J is taken to be the product of the two underlying Jacobians. For example, one could consider the mapping between two different skewed N-pipeds, each
representing a different curvilinear coordinate system , with our orthogonal N-pi ped as an intermediary
object,
In this case one has F = F2-1F1, so R = R 2-1R1 = S2R1 and then S = S 1R2 so J = J 1/J2. This J then
would be used in the above area and volume transformation rules, for example, d Aleft = J R d Aright .
In the continuum mechanics flow application, g = 1 on both left and right as well as center, time t 0 is
on the right, time t on the left, and the volume transformation is given by dV left = J dVright where J is
associated with the combined F. Th is J then characterizes the volume change between an initial and final
flow particle where each is skewed in some arbitrary manner.
Examples of area magnitude transformation for N = 2,3,4
In the previous section it was shown that dAn = cof(g'nn) dA'n. Since this is a somewhat strange result,
some examples are in order. Recall that the dAn are the areas of the faces of the differential N-piped in x-
space, while the d A'n are the curvilinear coordinate variations one can visualize in the Cartesian-View
picture shown above.
For N=2 the area magnitude transformation results ar e (for a general non-orthogonal x'-space system)
d A1 = g'22 dA'1 = h'2 dA'1 d A'1 = dx'1 = dL'1
d A2 = g'11 dA'2 = h'1 dA'2 d A'2 = dx'2 = dL'2
121
These equations are simple because the area of a parallelogram "face" is the length of an edge and so these equations just coincide with the length transforma tion results stated above . Remember that a face is
labeled by the index of the vector which does not span the face, so h
2' appears in the face 1 equation.
For N=3 the area magnitude transformation results are
dA1 = g'22 g'33 - (g'23)2 dA'1 d A'1 = dx'2dx'3
dA2 = g'33 g'11 - (g'31)2 dA'2 dA'2 = dx'3dx'1
dA3 = g'11 g'22 - (g'12)2 dA'3 dA'3 = dx'1dx'2
For an orthogonal N=3 system the metric tensor g' ab is diagonal, and then the above simplifies to
dA1 = g'22 g'33 dA'1 = h'2 h'3 dA'1 d A'1 = dx'2dx'3
dA2 = g'33 g'11 dA'2 = h'3 h'1 dA'2 dA'2 = dx'3dx'1
dA3 = g'11 g'22 dA'3 = h'1 h'2 dA'3 dA'3 = dx'1dx'2
For an N=4 orthogonal system,
dA
1 = cof(g'11) dA'1 = h'2 h'3 h'4 dA'1 d A'1 = dx'2dx'3dx'4
dA2 = cof(g'22) dA'2 = h'1 h'3 h'4 dA'2 d A'2 = dx'3dx'4dx'1
dA3 = cof(g'33) dA'3 = h'1 h'2 h'4 dA'3 d A'3 = dx'4dx'1dx'2
dA4 = cof(g'44) dA'4 = h'1 h'2 h'3 dA'4 d A'4 = dx'1dx'2dx'3
Example 2: Spherical Coordinates: area patches
Consider again dA
n = cof(g'nn) dA'n. Since spherical coordinates are orthogonal, the orthogonal N=3
example above may be used. Example 2 of Section 5 showed that [ 1,2,3 = r, θ,φ ]
h'1 = h'r = 1 d A'1 = dx'2dx'3 = dθdφ
h'2 = h'θ = r d A'2 = dx'3dx'1 = drdφ
h'3 = h'φ = rsinθ d A'3 = dx'1dx'2 = drdθ
Therefore
d A1 = dA1e^1 => d Ar = dAr e^r = dAr r^ with dAr = h'2 h'3 dA'1 = r2sinθ dθdφ
d A2 = dA2e^2 => d Aθ = dAθ e^θ = dAθ θ^ with dAθ = h'3 h'1 dA'2 = rsinθ drdφ
d A3 = dA3e^3 => d Aφ = dAφ e^φ = dAφ φ^ with dAφ = h'1 h'2 dA'3 = rdrdθ
so that
122 d Ar = r2sinθ dθdφr^ ρdφ rdθ ρ = rsinθ
d Aθ = rsinθ drdφ θ^ ρdφ dr
d Aφ = rdrdθ φ^ r d θ dr
where all three vectors are seen to have the correct dimensions L2. As an exercise in staring, the reader is
invited to verify these results from the picture below using the hints shown above on the right,
(d) Transformation of Differential Volume applied to Integration
As discussed in Appendix C (h), the integral ∫D dV h( x) is the same regardle ss of the way the dV
elements are chosen, as long as those elemen ts exactly fill the integration region D.
In the discussion above, |dV| (call it dV a) refers to a positive differen tial volume element in x-space
which is typically not aligned with the axes and for a general transformati on F is not in general
orthogonal. Moreover, the shape of the differential volume N-piped varies over the region of integration.
Nevertheless, this "rag-tag band" of differential volum es, as noted in Appendix C for the 2D case, fills the
integration region perfectly.
Alternatively one could consider |dV| (call it dV b) to be the usual dx 1dx2.....dxN differential volume
elements, and of course this set of differential volume elements also fills the integration space perfectly.
Thinking of these two different differential volumes as dV a and dVb , one can see from the definition
of the integral as the limit of a sum,
lim Σi dVa(xi) f(xi) = lim Σi dVb(xi) f(xi)
that
∫D dVa h(x) = ∫D dVb h(x)
There would be little meaning to the statement dV a = dVb, since no one is claiming there is some
particular skewed N-piped of volume dV a which matches some axis-aligned N-piped of volume dV b .
Nevertheless, one could write dV a = dVb as a distributional symbolic equality where the meaning of that
symbolic equality is precisely the equivalence of th e two integrals above for any domain D and for any
reasonable function h( x). [ Formally one might have to require h( x) to be a "test function" φ(x). Certainly
one would require that both integrals converge. ]
123 What has been shown in the previous section, regarding the Jacobian, is that
dVa = |J( x')| dV' = |J( x')| ( Πi=1N dx'i) |J( x')| = g'(x) // g = +1
Combining this with the distributional symbolic equation dV a = dVb gives
d V a = dVb
| J (
x')| ( Πi=1N dx'i) = ( Πi=1N dxi)
or
| J ( x')| dV' = dVb
Now overriding our previous notation, we can make these new commonly used definitions
dV ≡ ( Πi=1N dxi)
dV' ≡ ( Πi=1N dx'i)
and express the distributional result as |J(
x')| dV' = dV
We refer to this distributional e quality in Appendix C as the "Jacobian Integration Rule". The symbolic
equation is a shorthand for this equation
∫D dV h( x) = ∫D' dV' |J( x')| h( x)
where on the right h( x) = h( x(x')) and region D' is the same region as D expressed in terms of the x'
coordinates. Writing out the volume elements this says
∫D ( Πi=1N dxi) h(x) = ∫D' ( Πi=1N dx'i) |J(x')| h( x(x'))
and finally, using Section 5 (k),
∫D ( Πi=1N dxi) h(x) = ∫D' ( Πi=1N dx'i) [ det(g'ab) ] h( x(x'))
For example, when applied to polar and spherical coordinates, one gets
∫D dxdy h( x) = ∫D' drdθ [r] h( x(r,θ)) det(g'ab) = r
∫D dxdydz h( x) = ∫D' drdθdφ [ r2sinθ ] h(x(r,θ,φ)) det(g'ab) = r2 sinθ
124 In the first case h( x) = h(x,y) and h( x(r,θ)) = h(rcos θ,rsinθ).
In the second case h( x) = h(x,y,z) and h( x(r,θ,φ)) = h(rsin θcosφ,rsinθsinφ,rcosθ).
(e) Interpretations of the Jacobian
Using Section 5 (k) facts (in standard notation) and the above sections, one can produce various
expressions and interpretations for the J acobian J and its absolute value |J| :
J( x') ≡ det(Si
j(x')) = det( ∂xi/∂x'k) = 1/det(Ri
j(x(x')) = 1/ det(∂ x'i/∂xk) // Section 5 (k)
|J(x')| = det(g'ab(x')) = g'(x') / / S e c t i o n 5 ( k )
|J( x')| = the volume of the N-piped in x-space spanned by the en(x), where x = F-1(x')
|J( x')| = dVN-piped /dV' = ratio of differential x-space N-piped volume / ( Πi=1N dx'i)
|J( x')| = dV/dV' = ( Πi=1N dxi)/ ( Πi=1N dx'i) // distributional Jacobian Integration Rule
As discussed in Section 6 (i), if the curv ilinear coordinates are ordered so that the
en form a right handed
coordinate system, then det(S)>0, σ = sign(det(S)) = +1, and |J| = J.
125 9. The Divergence in curvilinear coordinates
Note: Covariant derivations of all the curvilinear differen tial operator expressions appear in Section 15. In
Sections 9 through 13, we provide more "physical" or "brute force" derivations which are, of necessity,
much less compact. That compactness is a testament to the power of the covariant derivative formalism,
which might be called "semicolon technology". The fo rmalism is not used in Sections 9 through 13.
(a) Geometric Derivation of th e Curvilinear Divergence Formula
In Cartesian coordinates div B = ∇ • B = ∂nBn, but expressed in curvilinear coordinates the right side has
a more complicated form.
We provide here a geometric derivation (in N dime nsions) of the formula for the divergence of a
contravariant vector field expressed in curvilinear c oordinates, which means x'-space coordinates with
Picture B.
This derivation is an exercise in using the transf ormation results obtained in Section 8 above, and in
understanding the meaning of the components of a vector, as discussed in Appendix C (d).
The divergence of a vector field can be computed in a Cartesian x-space by taking the limit of the flux emerging from a closed volume divided by the size of the volume, in the limit that the volume shrinks down around some point
x. Being a scalar field, the divergence is a property of the vector field at some
point x and therefore cannot depend on the shape of the closed volume used for the calculation. If the
shape of the volume is taken to be a standard-issue axis-aligned N-piped, the divergence obtained will be
expressed in terms of the Cartesia n coordinates and in terms of the Cartesian components of the vector
field: [div B](x) = ∂nBn(x) where B = Bnn^. However, if the N-piped shape is the one below, evaluation
of this same [div B](x) produces an expression which involves only the curvilinear coordinates and the
curvilinear components of the vector field, as will now be demonstrated. We start by considering again our differential non-or thogonal N-piped sitting in x-space, which has edges
endx'n, faces d An and volume dV, as discussed in Section 8 (c) above:
126
In order to avoid confusion with volume V or area A, we name the vector field B. As just noted, the
divergence of a vector field B is the total flux flowing out through the faces of the N-piped divided by the
volume of the N-piped, in the limit that all diffe rentials go to 0. Thus one writes symbolically,
[div B](x) = (1/dV) ∫ dA•B = (1/dV) ∫ dA(x)•B(x)
where the surface integral is over all the faces of the above x-space differential N-piped. Recall that as we
move around in space, the shape (and size) of the above N-piped changes, so the d A of a face changes,
hence d A(x).
Comment on the div
B as a scalar. If B is a tensorial vector field, then div B is a tensorial scalar field, and
one can write [ d i v
B]'(x') = [div B](x)
The operator object (1/dV) ∫dA(x)• acts as a tensorial vector operator so that the result of its action on B
is a tensorial scalar. In Section 8 it was shown that d A is a vector density of weight -1 and so is dV. This
means that dV' = J dV and d A' = J Rd A so the ratio d A/dV is a tensorial vector. The fact that div B is a
tensorial scalar is more obvious from the alternative divergence derivation given in Section 15 (c).
The task is now to compute the integral ∫dA(x)•B(x).
Appendix B shows that the N-piped faces come in paralle l pairs, so we start by considering pair n. As
shown in Section 8 (c), the vector area of the far face of pair n is given by
d
An(x) = |det(Si
j(x'))| en(x) ( Πi≠n dx'i) = g'(x') en(x) ( Πi≠n dx'i)
Here |det(S)| = |J| = g'1/2 (Section 5 (k)), and en are the reciprocal base vectors (Section 6) . Quantities
dAn, S, en and g' are explicitly shown as functions of space. Appendix B (c) shows that the out-facing
vector area for the far face of pair n is d An, while the out-facing vector area for the near face is - d An .
The contribution to the above divergence inte gral from "far face n" is, approximately,
127
[d An]•B(x) ≈ [g'(x'far) en(xfar) ( Πi≠n dx'i) ]•B(xfar)
= g'(x'far) ( Πi≠n dx'i) en(xfar) • B(xfar)
where xfar is taken to be a point at the center of far face n. Recall from Section 7 (s) that
B(x) = B'n(x')en where B'n(x') = en(x) • B(x)
which says that, when B is expanded on the en, the coefficients B'n of the expansion are the contravariant
components of vector B transformed into B' in x'-space (the curvilinear coordinate space) by B' = R B.
Inserting the last equation above applied at x' = x'far ,
B'n(x'far) = en(xfar) • B(xfar)
into the previous ≈ equation then gives
d An•B(xfar) ≈ g'(x'far) ( Πi≠n dx'i) B'n(x'far)
This far face n contribution to the flux integral is now expressed entirely in terms of x'-space objects and
coordinates. A similar expression obtains for the near face n, but the sign of d An is reversed. Adding the
contributions of these two faces of pair n gives
∫two faces n dA•B(x) = { g'(x'far) B'n(x'far) – g'(x'near) B'n(x'near) } ( Πi≠n dx'i)
In x'-space, if x'cen is a point at the center of the near face of face pair n, then
x'near = x'cen
x 'far = x'cen + e'n dx'n where e 'n = axis-aligned basis vector in x'-space ,
since these two points map into the near and far face n centers in x-space. For any function f,
f(
x'far) - f(x'near) = (∂'n f(x')) dx'n // no implied sum on n
where a change is made only in coordinate x'
n by amount dx'n. Applying to f = J B'n yields
{ g'(x'far) B'n(x'far) – g'(x'near) B'n(x'near) } ≈ ∂'n [g'(x'cen) B'n(x'cen)] dx'n
In the limit that differentials are very close to 0, replace xcen by x. Then
∫two faces n dA•B(x) = ∂'n [g'(x') B'n(x')] dx'n ( Πi≠n dx'i)
= ∂'n [g'(x') B'n(x')] ( Πi dx'i)
128
where now all N differentials are present in ( Πi dx'i). The total flux flowing out through all N pairs of
faces of the N-piped in x-space is this same result with an implicit sum on n, so
total flux = ∫ dA•B(x) = ∂'n [g'(x') B'n(x')] ( Πi dx'i) = ∂'n [g'(x') B'n(x')] dV'
where d V' = Πi dx'i is the volume of the differential N-piped in Cartesian-view x'-space (Section 8 (a)) .
The divergence of B from the defining symbolic expression is then
[div B](x) = ∫ dA•B(x) / dV = ∂'n [g'(x') B'n(x')] (d V'/dV)
where dV is the volume of the N-piped shown above. In Section 8 (c) item 7 it is shown that
dV = (g')
1/2 dV' => (d V'/dV) = 1/ g'(x')
so that
[div
B](x) = [1/ g'(x') ] ∂'n [g'(x') B'n(x')] // all x'-space coordinates and objects
[div B](x) = ∂nBn(x) // all x-space coordinates and objects
The added second line just shows [div B](x) expressed in terms of the Cartesian x-space coordinates and
objects, while the first line resulting from our derivation shows the same [div B](x) expressed in terms of
only x'-space objects and coordinates. The cl aim advertised above has been fulfilled.
If
B is a tensorial vector, then as noted above div B is a tensorial scalar,
[div
B](x) = [div B]'(x')
and thus the left sides of both equatio ns above could be replaced by [div
B]'(x').
(b) Various expressions for div B
It is shown above that
[div
B](x) = [1/ g'(x') ] ∂'n [g'(x') B'n(x')]
To obtain div B written in terms of covariant components B' n, one sets B'n = g'nm B'm to get
[div B](x) = [1/ g'(x') ] ∂'n [g'(x') g'nm(x') B'm(x')]
and recall that the B' m are the coefficients of B when expanded on the en, B = B'nen.
129 In practical work B is expanded on the unit vectors e^n ≡ en/ |en | = en/h'n so that
B = B'nen = B'n h'ne^n = B'ne^n where B'n ≡ B'n h'n
and then
[div
B](x) = [1/ g'(x') ] ∂'n [g'(x') B'n(x')/ h'n(x') ]
For example, spherical coordinate work might use e^1, e^1, e^1 = r^, θ^, φ^. As noted earlier, the components
Bn(x) are not contravariant vector components since they don't quite transform properly:
B'n = Rn
mBm ( B'n / h'n) = Rn
m (Bn / 1) B'n = h'n (Rn
m Bn)
Our Picture B results so far are these, assuming B is a tensorial vector,
General: B'n(x') = Rn
mBm(x) x = F-1(x') ≡ x(x') x' = F( x) ≡ x'(x)
[div B](x) = [1/ g'(x') ] ∂'n [g'(x') B'n(x' ) ] B = B'nen
[div B](x) = [1/ g'(x') ] ∂'n [g'(x') B'n(x')/ h'n(x') ] B = B'n e^n
[div B](x) = [1/ g'(x') ] ∂'n [g'(x') g'nm(x') B'm(x')] B = B'nen
[div B](x) = ∂n Bn(x) // Bn = Cartesian components of B B = Bn n^
[div B](x) = [div B]'(x')
For orthogonal curvilinear coordinates, one has
g'
ij = h'i2 δi,j g'ij = h'i-2 δi,j det(g' ij) = Πih'i2 g' = (Πih'i) = h'1h'2....h'N
so the above expressions ca n be written (the arguments x' of the h' n are now suppressed)
Orthogonal:
[div B](x) = [1/(Πih'i)] ∂'n [(Πih'i) B'n(x' ) ] B = B'nen
[div B](x) = [1/(Πih'i)] ∂'n [(Πih'i) B'n(x')/ h'n ] B = B'n e^n
[div B](x) = [1/(Πih'i)] ∂'n [(Πih'i) B'n(x')/h'n2] B = B'nen
[div B](x) = ∂n Bn(x) // Bn = Cartesian components of B B = Bn n^
[div B](x) = [div B]'(x')
Comment: Are the equations of the a bove "General" block valid if B is not a tensorial vector? For such a
B one might try to make it be tens orial "by definition" as discussed in Section 2 (h). One would then go
ahead and define B'n(x') ≡ Rn
mBm(x) and claim success. If such a de finition does not result in an
inconsistency, then such a B has been moved into the class of tensorial vectors. Example 1 of Section 2
(h) shows have such an inconsistency might arise, a nd it is interesting to see how that plays out here.
Suppose F is non-linear so that R and g' = RRT are functions of x' and are not constants. Take B(x) = x
130 (the identity field) and try to make it be contravariant by definition, x'n ≡ Rn
mxm. The Cartesian
divergence is then div B = ∂nBn(x) = ∂nxn = 3. But the first equation of the General block says
div B = [1/ g'(x') ] ∂'n [g'(x') x'n] = ∂ 'n x'n + [1/ g'(x') ] x'n∂'ng'(x') = 3 + other stuff
and thus the two calculations for div B disagree. As noted earlier, x' ≡ Rx conflicts with x' = F(x) in the
case of non-linear F. This comment can be applied to the tensorial char acter of the differential operators treated in later
Sections.
(c) Translation from Picture B to Picture M&S
Picture M&S reflects the notation used by Moon & Spen cer. In order to avoid a symbol conflict with the
Cartesian tensor components, the Curvilinear (now u-space) components are displayed in italics .
The rules for translation are
• replace x' by u everywhere
• replace ∂'n by ∂n meaning ∂/∂un ( exception: on a "Cartesian" line ∂n means ∂/∂xn)
• replace g' by g (both the scalar and the tensor) and h n' by hn
• put all primed tensor components (scalar, vector, etc) into unprimed italics (eg, B'n → Bn , f ' → f )
After this translation, all unprimed tensor components are functions of x, while all italicized tensor
components are functions of u.
Here then are the translations of the tw o blocks above: (implied summation everywhere)
General:
now Bn(u) = Rn
mBm(x) x = F-1(u) ≡ x(u) u = F( x) ≡ u(x)
[div B](x) = [1/ g ] ∂n [g Bn] B = Bnen
[div B](x) = [1/ g ] ∂n [g Bn/ hn ] B = Bne^n // M&S 1.06
[div B](x) = [1/ g ] ∂n [g gnm Bm] B = Bnen
[div B](x) = ∂nBn // Bn = Cartesian components of B B = Bn n^= Bn n^
[div B](x) = [div B](u) // transformation (scalar)
131 Orthogonal:
[div B](x) = [1/(Πihi)] ∂n [(Πihi) Bn] B = Bnen
[div B](x) = [1/(Πihi)] ∂n [(Πihi) Bn / hn] B = Bn e^n
[div B](x) = [1/(Πihi)] ∂n [(Πihi) Bn / hn2] B = Bnen
Notice that the scalar function [div B]'(x') → [div B](u) according to the fourth rule above, and that the
arguments of all h k(u) are suppressed.
As an example, for N=3 the second line above becomes
[div B](x) = [1/(h1h2h3)] { ∂1[h2h3 B1(u) ] + cyclic } B = Bn e^n
where + cyclic means two other terms with 1,2,3 cyclically permuted. With the replacements
B → E , Bn→ En hn → gnn
the equation marked above agrees with Moon & Spencer p 2 (1.06).
Comment:
We use the "script MT bold" font Bn for components of vectors expanded onto e^n. It had to be
something in upper case distinct from Bn and Bn. In practice one can replace Bn with a different symbol
and then Bn is just a formal notation appearing in formulas . For example, in spherical coordinates (1,2,3)
= (r,θ,φ) one can make the replacements B1, B2, B3 → Br, Bθ, Bφ and these then do not conflict with
Bx, By, Bz or Br, Bθ, Bφ . See Section 14 Example 1 for another example.
(d) Comparison of various authors ' notations
Different authors use different symbols for curvilin ear coordinates. They usually use x-space as the
Cartesian space, and then something like u-space or ξ-space as the curvilinear space:
Curvilinear coords Cartesian coords Curvilinear space gnn
Picture C xn x(0)n x-space h n
Picture B x'n xn x'-space h' n
Moon & Spencer (M&S) p 2 un xn
u-space gnn
Morse & Feshbach (M&F) p 115 ξn x n ξ-space h n
Margenau & Murphy p 192 qn xn
q-space Q n
These authors don't use any special notation to disti nguish Cartesian from curvilinear components, nor is
it always clear whether a component is a coefficient of a unit vector or not, so one must be careful. For
example, on page 115 Morse & Feshbach simply say
132
which compare to the above
[div A](x) = [div A](u) = [1/(h1h2h3)] ∂n [h1h2h3 An(u) / hn] A = An e^n
so one should identify the M&F A
n with An, the coefficient of e^n.
133 10. The Gradient in curvilinear coordinates
This Section is considered in the Picture B context,
(a) Expressions for grad f
The gradient of f is defined in Cartesian space by
[grad f]
n ≡ Gn ≡ ∂nf(x) G = grad f = ∂nf(x) n^
Assuming f is a tensorial scalar field under F, then G n = ∂nf(x) are covariant vector field components
under F. Since the equation above is then a tensor equation, we know it is covariant in the sense of
Section 7 (u). Therefore in x'-space it becomes
[grad f]'
n = G'n ≡ ∂'nf '(x')
According to Section 7 (s) ( based on Section 6 (f)) vector
G can be expanded as
G = G'1e1 + G'2 e2 +... = ΣnG'n en where en • G = G 'n
where the coefficients G' n are the covariant components of G' in x'-space, which is the transformed G.
One can thus write
G(x) = [grad f]( x) = G'n en = ∂'nf '(x') en = en∂'nf '(x') ≡ ∇'CLf '(x') ∇'CL ≡ en∂'n
G(x) = [grad f]( x) = ∂nf(x) n^ = n^ ∂nf(x) = ∇ f(x) ∇ ≡ n^ ∂n
where the second line shows the usual Cartesian form of the gradient. The first line shows how one could
define a "curvilinear gradient" operator ∇'CL ≡ en∂'n, but this does not seem particular useful. To restate,
[grad f]( x) = ∂'nf '(x') en // Curvilinear
[grad f](x) = ∂nf(x) n^ // Cartesian
In the first line, the reciprocal vectors
en exist in x-space, but the coefficients are expressed entirely in
terms of x'-space coordinates and objects. Since f( x) is a scalar field, f( x) = f '(x'), one could regard the
derivative appearing in the first line as
∂'nf '(x') = ∂ 'nf(x(x')) where x(x') = F-1(x')
134
The contravariant components of grad f are then easily obtained as
G'i(x') = [grad f]'i(x') = ∂'if '(x') = g'ij(x') ∂'jf '(x') G = grad f = G'i(x') ei
If an expansion on unit vectors is desired, the right equation on the last line can be written,
G = [grad f](x) = G'iei = (G'i h'i) e^i = G'i e^i where G'i ≡ h'i G'i
so then
G'i(x')/h'i = [grad f]'i(x') = ∂'if '(x') = g'ij(x') ∂'jf '(x') G = grad f = G'i e^i
Gathering up these results one gets
G'
i(x') = [grad f]' i(x') = ∂'if '(x' ) G = grad f = G' i(x') ei
G'i(x') = [grad f]'i(x') = ∂'if '(x') = g'ij(x') ∂'jf '(x') G = grad f = G'i(x') ei
G i(x') = h'i[grad f]'i(x') = h'i ∂'if '(x') = h'i G'ij(x') ∂'jf '(x') G = grad f = G'i(x') e^i
which can be rewritten
[grad f]( x) = (∂ 'if '(x')) ei
[grad f]( x) = (∂ 'if '(x')) ei = g'ij(x') (∂'jf '(x')) ei
[grad f](x) = h'i (∂'if '(x')) e^i = h'i g'ij(x') (∂'jf '(x')) e^i
[grad f]( x) = (∂if(x)) n^ = ∇f(x) // Cartesian
[grad f]' i(x') = Rij[grad f]j(x) // transformation f '( x') = f( x)
Again, in each of the first three forms above, G = [grad f]( x) is being expressed as a linear combination of
e vectors which are in x-space, but the coefficients ar e given entirely in terms of x'-space coordinates and
objects. Since div B was a scalar quantity, this mixture of vectors in x-space with components in x'-space
did not arise. For the orthogonal case g'
ij = (1/h'i2) δi,j so the block above becomes
[grad f]( x) = (∂ 'if '(x')) ei
[grad f]( x) = (∂ 'if '(x')) ei = (1/h' i2) (∂'if '(x')) ei
[grad f]( x) = h'i (∂'if '(x')) e^i = (1/h' i) (∂'if '(x')) e^i
[grad f]( x) = (∂if(x)) n^ // Cartesian
[grad f]' i(x') = Rij[grad f]j(x) // transformation f '( x') = f( x)
This above equations can be converted from Picture B to Picture M&S using the same rules given in
Section 9 (c), which we repeat below
135
• replace x' by u everywhere
• replace ∂'n by ∂n meaning ∂/∂un ( exception: on a "Cartesian" line ∂n means ∂/∂xn)
• replace g' by g (both the scalar and the tensor) and h n' by hn
• put all primed tensor components (scalar, vector, etc) into unprimed italics (eg, B'n → Bn , f ' → f )
After this translation, all unprimed tensor components are functions of x, while all italicized tensor
components are functions of u.
The translated results are then (all implied sums)
[grad f](
x) = (∂if ) ei
[grad f]( x) = (∂if ) ei = gij (∂jf ) ei
[grad f]( x) = hi(∂if ) e^i = hi gij (∂jf ) e^i
[grad f]( x) = (∂if) n^ // Cartesian
[ grad f ]i(u) = Rij[grad f]j(x) // transformation (vector) f (u) = f( x) = f( x(u))
Notice that [grad f]'
i(x') → [grad f ]i(u) according to the fourth rule, meaning G' i(x') → Gi(u) .
For orthogonal curvilinear coordinates,
[grad f](
x) = (∂if ) ei
[grad f]( x) = (∂if ) ei = (1/h i2) (∂if ) ei
[grad f]( x) = hi(∂if ) e^i = (1/h i) (∂if ) e^ // M&S 1.05
One can always make the replacement f (
u) = f( x(u)) in any of the above equations (f scalar). And one
more time: the various e vectors are in x-space, but all the coefficients are expressed in curvilinear u-
space coordinates and components. With the replacements
f → φ
e^i→ ai h i → gii
the equation marked agrees with Moon & Spencer p 2 (1.05).
(b) Expressions for grad f • B
Sometimes one is interested in the following quantity (back to Picture B)
grad f •
B
136 where f is a tensorial scalar field and B is a tensorial vector field. In this case, since grad f is a tensorial
vector field, the quantity grad f • B is a tensorial scalar, and so (grad f)' • B' = (grad f) • B .
This quantity grad f • B can be written severa l ways depending on how B is expanded:
B = Σi B'i ei => grad f • B = (∂ 'nf ') en • Σi B'i ei = (∂'nf ') B'n
B = Σi B'i ei => grad f • B = (∂ 'nf ') en • Σi B'i ei = (∂'nf ') B'n
The last line can be written, using B'i ≡ B'i h'i ,
B = Σi [B'i h'i] e^i ≡ Σi B'i e^i => grad f • B = (∂'nf ') B'n = (∂'nf ') (B'n/h'n)
To summarize:
[grad f](
x) • B(x) = (∂'nf '(x')) B'n(x') for B = Σi B'i ei
[grad f]( x) • B(x) = (∂'nf '(x')) B'n(x') for B = Σi B'i ei
[grad f]( x) • B(x) = (∂'nf '(x')) B'n(x')/h'n(x') for B = Σi B'i e^i
[grad f](x) • B(x) = (∂nf(x)) Bn(x) for B = Bn n^ // Cartesian
[grad f](x) • B(x) = [grad f]'( x') • B'(x')
Since grad f • B is a scalar, these results resemble the dive rgence results more than the gradient ones.
Everything on the right side of the first three equations involves only x' -space coordinates and
components.
The conversion from Picture B to Picture M&F is straightforward (see Sections 8 and 9)
[grad f](
x) • B(x) = (∂nf ) Bn B = Σi Bi ei
[grad f]( x) • B(x) = (∂nf ) Bn B = Σi Bi ei
[grad f]( x) • B(x) = (∂nf ) Bn/hn B = Σi Bi e^i
[grad f]( x) • B(x) = (∂nf) Bn // Cartesian B = Bn n^
[grad f](x) • B(x) = [grad f ](u) • B(u) // transformation (scalar)
where once again f ( u) = f(x(u)).
Comment: According to the second line above, one can write
grad f • dx = ∂nf(x) dxn = df = f( x+dx) - f(x)
This equation df = [grad f]( x) • dx is sometimes used as an alternate definition of the gradient. If d x is
selected to be in the direction of grad f, the dot product has its maximum value, and therefore the gradient
points in the direction of the maximum change of a scalar function f( x). For N=2, in the usual 3D plot of
real f(x,y), the gradient then points "uphill", and the negative of the gradient then points "downhill".
137 11. The Laplacian in curvilinear coordinates
The Laplacian (also known as the Laplace-Beltrami operator) is defined by lap f = div (grad f) = div
G where G ≡ grad f
Since f is (by assumption) a tensorial scalar field, grad f is a tensorial vector. Then, as found in Section 9,
div(grad f) is a tensorial scalar, meaning [lap f](
x) = [lap f]'( x').
In Cartesian coordinates one writes
lap f = ∇
2f = ∇•∇f = Σn∂n2f
but this form gets modified when lap f is expresse d in curvilinear coordinates. Section 9 showed that
div G = [1/ g' ] ∂ 'm [g' G' m] where G = G'nen g' = det(g')
Section 10 showed that
grad f =
G = [g'nm (∂'nf ') ] em = G' mem G' m = g'nm (∂'nf ') ∂'nf ' = ∂'n f(x(x')) = ∂ 'nf '(x')
Therefore
lap f = div (grad f) = div
G = [1/ g' ] ∂'m [g' G' m] = [1/ g' ] ∂'m [g' g'nm (∂'nf ')]
so the general results can be concisely stated:
[lap f](
x) = [1/ g'(x') ] ∂'m [ g'(x') g'nm(x') (∂'nf '(x')) ] // implied sum on n and m
[lap f]( x) = Σn ∂n2f(x) // Cartesian f '(x') = f( x) = f( x(x'))
[lap f]( x) = [lap f]'( x')
For an orthogonal coordinate system,
g'nm = h'n2 δn,m g'nm = (1/h'n2) δn,m g' = Πi h'i
and the first line above simplifies to
[lap f]( x) = [1/(Π ih'i)] ∂'m [(Πih'i) (1/h'm2) (∂'mf ') ]
138 Converting from Picture B to Picture MS gives (see Section 9 (c))
[lap f]( x) = [1/ g ] ∂m [g gnm (∂nf ) ]
[lap f]( x) = Σn ∂n2f(x) // Cartesian f (u) = f( x) = f( x(u))
[lap f]( x) = [ lap f ](u) // transformation (scalar)
The first line simplifies in the orthogonal case to
[lap f](
x) = [1/(Π ihi)] ∂m [ (Πihi) (1/hm2) (∂mf ) ] // orthogonal // M&S 1.09
For N=3 this says,
[lap f]( x) = 1/(h1h2h3) { ∂1 [ (h2h3/h1) ∂1f ] + cyclic }
With the replacements
f → φ h
i2 → gii (Πihi) → g
the equation marked above agrees with Moon & Spencer p 3 (1.09).
139 12. The Curl in curvilinear coordinates
The vector curl is defined only in N=3 dimensions (but see section (f) below). Picture B is used.
In Cartesian coordinates one writes
[curl
B]i(x) = [∇ x B(x)]i = εijk∂jBk(x)
but when expressed in terms of curvilinear coordinates and components, the form is different.
(a) Definition of curl B
Consider the x-space differential 3-piped shown on th e right side of the figure in Section 8 (a),
This 3-piped has three pairs of parallel faces. Within each pair, the "near" face touches the point x at
which the tails of the spanning vectors meet, while th e "far" face does not. As shown in Section 8 (c) item
1, the vector area associated with the face pair n is ( |J| = g'1/2 when g = 1)
d An = | det(Si
j)| en
( Πi≠n dx'i) = |J| en
( Πi≠n dx'i) = g'1/2 en
( Πi≠n dx'i) n = 1,2,3
where J = det(S
i
j) is the Jacobian, as in Section 5 (k), and en is a reciprocal base vector, as in Section 6
or Appendix A (called En). Area d An is the out-facing vector area for the far face of pair n, while - d An
is the out-facing vector for the near face.
Consider now the line integral of a vector field
B(x) around the boundary of near face n, where the
circulation sense of the integral is determined from the right-hand-rule by the direction of d An which is
140 the same as the direction of en. For example, for the bottom face (near face 3) of the 3-piped shown
above, this vector points "up", or toward the cente r of the 3-piped. Denote this line integral by
( ∫{B•dx)n
Sometimes this line integral is referred to as "the circulation" or "the rotation" of B around near face n
(and rot B is another notation used for curl B).
In x-space the quantity C(x) ≡ curl B(x) is a vector field defined in the following manner in the limit that
all the differentials dx'n → 0 :
C • dAn = ( ∫{B•dx)n C ≡ curl B
Since d An is given above in terms of en, C should be expanded on the ek. As shown in Appendix D (h),
C = curl B is in fact a vector field density of weight -1. For an ordinary vector one would write the
expansion as C = Σk C'k ek, but the rule for tensor densities says to replace C'k→ J W C'k = J-1 C'k, as
explained toward the end of Appendix E (b). Therefore,
C = J-1 Σk=13 C'k ek J-1 = (1/ g' )
so that
C • dAn = J-1 (Σk C'k ek) • (g'1/2 en
( Πi≠n dx'i) ) = C'n ( Πi≠n dx'i)
and then
C'
n(x') ( Πi≠n dx'i) = ( ∫{B•dx)n // "curl = circulation/area"
Our task is to compute this line integral and thereby come up with an expression for C'n(x'), the
components of curl B when B is expanded onto the ek in x-space.
Comment:
This factor of J-1 won't appear in the final results, as will be seen, but we must include it in
the analysis in order to claim that C'k are the components of vector C in x'-space.
(b) Computation of the line integral
This shall be done for the bottom face (n=3) of the x-space differential 3-piped. Since
e3 is "up", the
circulation is a counterclockwise line integral around the boundary of the bottom face. It is useful to have
the above picture near at hand to allow visualizati on of the four contributions to the line integral:
141
( ∫{B•ds)3 ≈ [B(xfront ) - B(xback)] • (e1 dx'1) + [ B(xright ) - B(xleft)] • (e2 dx'2)
where B(xfront ) refers to the value of B at the center of the "front" edge of the parallelogram which is the
bottom face, and similarly for the other three edges. In the limit that the dx'n → 0, this simple
approximation of the line integral is "go od enough" to produce the desired results.
Motivated by ei • ej = δij, expand B as follows
B = B'jej where B' j(x') = B(x) • ej
where the B' j are the covariant components of B in x'-space. This gives
( ∫{B•dx)3 = [B'1(x'front ) - B'1(x'back)] dx'1 + [B'2(x'right ) - B'2(x'left)] dx'2
where x'front = F( xfront ) and similarly for the other three points. In x-space one has
d
xBF ≡ xback - xfront = e2dx'2
d xRL ≡ xright - xleft = e1dx'1
Applying matrix R gives the corre sponding x'-space equations (recall d
x' = R d x and e'n = Ren)
d
x'BF ≡ x'back - x'front = e'2dx'2 e'2 = (0,1,0...)
d x'RL ≡ x'right - x'left = e'1dx'1 e'1 = (1,0,0...)
Using the fact that f(
x'+dx') ≈ f(x') + Σn∂nf(x') dx'n one finds
B'
1(x'back) ≈ B'1(x'front ) + (∂ B'1/∂x'2) dx'2 d x' = e'2dx'2
B'2(x'right ) ≈ B'2 (x'left)) + (∂B'2/∂x'1) dx'1 dx' = e'1dx'1
142 so the circulation integral is then
( ∫{B•dx)3 ≈ – (∂B'1/∂x'2) dx'2 dx'1 + (∂B'2/∂x'1) dx'1 dx'2
= [ – ( ∂B'1/∂x'2) + (∂B'2/∂x'1)] dx'1 dx'2 = [– ∂'2B'1 + ∂'1B'2] dx'1 dx'2
= [ ∂'1B'2 – ∂'2B'1] dx'1 dx'2
= ε
3ab ∂'aB'b ( Πi≠3 dx'i)
Repeating this calculation for faces 1 and 2 produces cyclic results, and all three face line integrals can be
summarized as (where equality holds in the limit dx'i → 0)
( ∫{B•dx)n = εnab ∂'aB'b ( Πi≠n dx'i)
Appendix D discusses the tensor ε known as the Levi-Civita ε tensor. In Cartesian space, the up and down
position of the indices does not matter, as fo r any tensor. In non-Cartesian space up and down does
matter, as with any tensor. The onl y fact needed here is that ε'abc... = εabc... where ε' is the tensor in
x'-space, as shown in Appendix D (d). In Cartesian space one can regard εabc... = εabc... as a
bookkeeping permutation tens or with the properties given in Sec tion 7 (h). Installing the prime on ε,
( ∫{B•dx)n = ε'nab ∂'aB'b ( Πi≠n dx'i)
and this integral is then given entirely in terms of x'-space coordinates and objects.
(c) Solving for the curl
The equation for the curl obtained at the end of section (a) was
C'
n(x') ( Πi≠n dx'i) = ( ∫{B•dx)n
Insert the section (b) result for (
∫{B•dx)n to get
C'n(x') ( Πi≠n dx'i) = ε'nab ∂'aB'b ( Πi≠n dx'i)
The differentials cancel out, so then take dx'
i→ 0 and thus shrink the 3-piped around the point of interest
x = F-1(x') so that
C'n = ε'nab ∂'aB'b C = J-1C'n en B = B'n en
curl B = C = [(1/ g' ) ε'nab ∂'aB'b ] en
143
The comparison between the curvilinear and Cartesian expressed curls is this:
[curl B](x) = [(1/ g' ) ε'nab ∂'aB'b(x') ] en = (1/ g' ) { [∂'1B'2 - ∂'2B'1] e3 + cyclic }
[curl B](x) = εnab ∂aBb(x) n^ = { [ ∂1B2 - ∂2B1 ] 3^ + cyclic }
Comment 1: In the first line above one can replace [curl B](x) by [∇ x B](x) with the understanding that
the LHS is the curl in Cartesian x-space and the RHS is expressing this LH S in terms of x'-space
coordinates and objects. The RHS is certainly not equal to ∇' x B' = ε'nab ∂'aB'b(x') n^' . It is to avoid this
possible confusion that the curl is written out as the word curl, and the same comment applies to the other
differential operators.
Comment 2: The equation curl B = C = [(1/ g' ) ε'nab ∂'aB'b ] en obtained above assumed that B was a
vector and the expansion B = B'n en was used. If B were a vector density of weight -1, the expansion
would be B = J-1B'nen and the result would be curl B = C = [(1/ g' ) ε'nab ∂'a(J-1B'b) ]. This situation
will arise in consideration of the vector Laplacian in Section 13. Once again, J = g' .
(d) Various forms of the curl
The first form is that just presented above, with C = curl B,
C'n = ε'nab ∂'aB'b C = J-1C'n en B = B'n en
curl B = [(1/ g' ) ε'nab ∂'aB'b ] en
If it is desired to have contravariant components of B, one gets
C'
n = ε'nab ∂'a(g'bcB'c ) C = J-1C'n en B = B'n en
curl B = [(1/ g' ) ε'nab ∂'a(g'bcB'c )] en
For practical applications, one usua lly wants both vectors expanded on the e^n unit vectors in this way
C = J-1C'n en = (J-1C'n h'n) e^n ≡ C 'n e^n C 'n = h'n J-1C'n
B = B'n en = (B'n h'n) e^n ≡ B'n e^n B'n = h'nB'n
so that
C'n = [(1/ g' ) h'n ε'nab ∂'a(g'bc B'c/h'c )] C = C 'n e^n B = B 'n e^n
curl B = [(1/ g' ) h'n ε'nab ∂'a(g'bc B'c/h'c )] e^n curl B = C
144 To summarize: B'c = Rc
dBd g' = g'( x') etc.
[curl B](x) = ε'nab [(1/ g' ) ∂ 'aB'b ] en B = B'nen
[curl B](x) = ε'nab [(1/ g' ) ∂ 'a(g'bcB'c )] en B = B'nen
[curl B](x) = ε'nab [(1/ g' ) h'n ∂'a(g'bc B'c/h'c )] e^n B = B 'n e^n
[curl B](x) = εnab ∂aBb(x) n^ // Cartesian B = Bn n^
Converting from Picture B to Picture MS (see Section 9 (c))
one gets :
[curl B](x) = εnab [(1/ g ) ∂aBb ] en B = Bnen
[curl B](x) = εnab [(1/ g ) ∂a(gbcBc )] en B = Bnen
[curl B](x) = εnab[(1/ g ) hn ∂a(gbc Bc/hc )] e^n B = Bne^n
[curl B](x) = εnab ∂aBb(x) n^ // Cartesian B = Bn n^
Warning : The object εnab in the first three equations is now in u-space which is non-Cartesian, so up and
down index positions do matter, but when indices are all up, it continues to be the normal permutation
tensor.
Each of the above results can be written as a determinant using the idea det( Q) ≡ Σi Q1i cof(Q1i) :
[curl B](x) = (1/ g )
⎪⎪⎪⎪
⎪⎪⎪⎪ e1 e2 e3
∂1 ∂2 ∂3
B1 B2 B3 B = Bn en
[curl B](x) = (1/ g )
⎪⎪⎪⎪
⎪⎪⎪⎪ e1 e2 e3
∂1 ∂2 ∂3
g1cBc g2cBc g3cBc B = Bn en
[curl B](x) = (1/ g )
⎪⎪⎪⎪
⎪⎪⎪⎪ h1 e^1 h 2 e^2 h 3 e^3
∂1 ∂ 2 ∂ 3
(g1c/hc) Bc (g2c/hc) Bc (g3c/hc) Bc B = Bn e^n // M&S 1.07
[curl B](x) =
⎪⎪⎪⎪
⎪⎪⎪⎪ 1^ 2^ 3^
∂1 ∂2 ∂3
B1 B2 B3 // here ∂n= ∂/∂xn and Bi = Bi(x) B = Bn n^
145
(e) The curl in orthogonal coordinate systems
For such systems g ij = δi,jhi2 and det(g ab) = h12h22h32 so g = h1h2h3 . It is then a simple matter to
convert all the above forms and the results are:
Picture B: B'c(x') = Rc
dBd(x) h i' = hi'(x') etc.
[curl
B](x) = ε'nab [(1/(h1'h2'h3') ∂'aB'b ] en B = B'nen
[curl B](x) = ε'nab [(1/(h1'h2'h3')) ∂'a(h'b2B'b )] en B = B'nen
[curl B](x) = ε'nab [(1/(h1'h2'h3')) h'n ∂'a(h'b B'b) )] e^n B = B 'n e^n
[curl B](x) = εnab ∂aBb(x) n^ // Cartesian B = Bn n^
Picture M&S: Bc(u) = Rc
dBd(x) h i = hi(u) etc.
[curl B](x) = εnab [(h1h2h3)-1 ∂aBb ] en B = Bnen
[curl B](x) = εnab [(h1h2h3)-1 ∂a(hb2Bb )] en B = Bnen
[curl B](x) = εnab[(h1h2h3)-1 hn ∂a(hb Bb)] e^n B = Bne^n
[curl B](x) = (h1h2h3)-1
⎪⎪⎪⎪
⎪⎪⎪⎪ e1 e2 e3
∂1 ∂2 ∂3
B1 B2 B3 B = Bn en
[curl B](x) = (h1h2h3)-1
⎪⎪⎪⎪
⎪⎪⎪⎪ e1 e2 e3
∂1 ∂2 ∂3
h12B1 h22B2 h32B3 B = Bn en
[curl B](x) = (h1h2h3)-1
⎪⎪⎪⎪
⎪⎪⎪⎪ h1 e^1 h2 e^2 h3 e^3
∂1 ∂2 ∂3
h1 B1 h2 B2 h3 B3 B = Bn e^n // M&S 1.07a
With the replacements
B → E Bn→ En e^n→ an hi → gii (h1h2h3)-1 → (1/ g )
the equations marked above agree with Moon & Spencer p 2 (1.07) and p 3 (1.07a).
(f) The curl in N > 3 dimensions
Looking at the basic form of the curl above
[curl B]n(x) = εnab ∂aBb(x) // Cartesian
146 it is hard to imagine a generalization to N>3 dimensi ons where the curl is still a vector. The only vectors
available for construction purposes are ∂n and Bn . For N=4 one might try out various generalizing forms
[curl B]n(x) = (1/ g ) εnabc ∂a(∂b Bc) = (1/ g ) εnabc
∂a∂b Bc ?
[curl
B]n(x) = (1/ g ) εnabc ∂a (BbBc) ) ?
but these two forms vanish because antisymmetric ε is contracted against something symmetric. Thus the
idea of using multiple cross products as used in Appendix A does not prove helpful.
The rank-2 tensor B b;a – Ba;b = ∂aBb – ∂bBa discussed in Appendix D (h) provides the logical
extension of the curl to N > 3 dimensions. For N=3 it happens that the object can be associated with a
vector,
[curl B]n = εnab [Bb;a – Ba;b ]/2 = εnab Bb;a = εnab [∂aBb – ∂bBa ]/2 = εnab∂aBb .
In relativity work, since N=4, there is no vector curl, and one sees B
b;a – Ba;b referred to as the
covariant curl, and ∂aBb – ∂bBa as the ordinary curl ( Weinberg p 106).
Writing the N-dimensional contravariant curl co mponents in this manner in Cartesian x-space,
[curl B]
ij = (Bj;i – Bi;j)
one can then ask how this generalized curl would be expressed in terms of x'-space coordinates and
objects. (This curl is a regular rank-2 tensor with weight 0, the vector curl had weight -1 ). The general issue of expanding tensors is addressed in Appendix E where this general result is obtained
A = Σ
ijk... A'ijk... (ei⊗ej⊗ek...) A'ijk... = contravariant components of A in x'-space
Applying this to A = [curl B] one gets
[curl B] = Σ
ij[curl B]'ijei⊗ej = Σij(B'j;i – B'i;j)ei⊗ej
The Cartesian components of curl B in x-space can th en be expressed in terms of x'-space components
and coordinates,
[curl B]ab(x) = Σij [curl B]'ij (ei)a(ej)b
= Σij(B'j;i – B'i;j)(ei)a(ej)b
where the tangent base vectors
en exist as usual in x-space, and B'i = B'i(x') where x' = F(x).
147 13. The Vector Laplacian in curvilinear coordinates
This operator is defined in terms of the vector curl which is only defined for N=3. The context is Picture B.
(a) Derivation of the Vector Laplacia n in general curvilinear coordinates
The definition of the vector Laplacian of a vector field
B(x) is
∇2B ≡ grad(div B) – curl (curl B) .
If
B is a vector, div B is a scalar, grad(div B) is a vector, so we expect ∇2B to be a vector. An annoying
observation is that curl B is a vector density of weight -1 (see Appendix D (h)) and curl(curl B) a vector
density of weight -2, and so apples ar e being subtracted from oranges to make ∇2B. This tensor
conundrum is resolved in Section 15 (g) so we ignore it for now and proceed undaunted.
In Cartesian coordinates, one finds that
[∇2B]i = ∇2(Bi) ≡ Σn ∂n2Bi
but expressed in general curvilinear c oordinates the form gets modified.
To avoid confusion, some authors use different symb ols for the vector Laplacian operator. For example,
M&S use
@ in place of ∇2 and we will honor these authors by using that symbol here, so
@ B ≡ grad(div B) – curl (curl B)
In order to make use of the re sults of earlier sections, define
G ≡ grad(f) where f = div B
V ≡ curl C where C ≡ curl B
so that
@ B = G – V
Section 10 (a) gives this expression for
G,
G = grad(f) = ( ∂'kf ') ek
in which expression Section 9 (b) allows replacement of f ' as follows,
f ' = f '(
x') = f( x) = div B = [1/ g' ] ∂ 'i [g' B'i]
148 so that
=> G = ∂'k{ (1/ g' ) ∂'i (g' B'i)} ek
= ∂'n{ (1/ g' ) ∂'i (g' B'i)} en
The second term V is little more complicated. First, from Section 12 (d),
C = curl B = ε'nab [(1/ g' ) ∂ 'a{ B'b} ] en = J-1C'n en J = g'
V = curl C = ε'ncd [(1/ g' ) ∂ 'c{ J-1C'd} ] en = J-1V'n en (*)
where recall from Appendix D (d) that ε'abc... = εabc.. = the usual permutation tensor, but written up
and primed so as to be in covariant form. The reason for the factor J-1 in ∂'c{ J-1C'd} was explained in
Comment 2 at the end of Section 12 (c) (namely, C is a vector density of wei ght -1). The above lines can
be rewritten as
C'n = ε'nab ∂'a{ B'b}
V'n = ε'ncd ∂'c{ J-1C'd} / / J = g'
Then write
C'
d = g'deC'e = g'de ε'eab (∂'aB'b)
and insert this into the V'
n equation to get
V'n = ε'ncd ∂'c{ (1/g' ) g'de ε'eab (∂'aB'b) }
= ε'ncd ε'eab ∂'c { (1/g' ) g'de(∂'aB'b) }
so
V = curl C = J-1V'n en = [ (1/ g' )ε'ncd ε'eab ∂'c { (1/g' ) g'de(∂'aB'b) }] en
We can then summarize our results:
@ B = G – V
G = ∂'n{ (1/ g' ) ∂'i (g' B'i)} en B = B'nen
V = [ (1/ g' ) ε'ncd ε'eab ∂'c { (1/g' ) g'de(∂'aB'b) }] en B = B'nen
= [ (1/ g' ) ε'ncd ε'eab ∂'c { (1/g' ) g'de(∂'a[g'bfB'f]) }] en B = B'nen
Often one wants vectors expanded onto the unit vectors e^n
B = B'n en = B'n h'n e^n = B 'ne^n => B'n = B 'n/h'n
149 and the above set of equations becomes
@ B = G – V
G = h'n ∂'n{ (1/ g' ) ∂ 'i (g' B 'i/h'i)} e^n B = B'n e^n
V = h'n [ (1/ g' ) ε'ncd ε'eab ∂'c {(1/ g' ) g'de(∂'a[g'bf B 'f/h'f]) }] e^n
and to this list we can add the Cartesian form
@ B = [∇2Bn ] n^ // Cartesian, n^ = un B = Bn n^
Converting from Picture B to Picture MS gives (see Section 9 (c))
@ B = G – V
G = ∂n{ (1/ g ) ∂i (g Bi)} en B = Bnen
V = [ (1/ g ) εncd εeab ∂c { (1/g ) gde(∂a[gbfBf]) }] en
G = hn ∂n{ (1/ g ) ∂i (g B i/hi)} e^n B = Bn e^n
V = hn [ (1/ g ) εncd εeab ∂c { (1/g ) gde(∂a[gbfBf/hf]) }] e^n
@ B = [∇2Bn ] n^ // Cartesian, n^ = un B = Bn n^
In the equations above, all the ∂i mean ∂/∂ui and the argument u of all functions is suppressed. The
Cartesian form will be verified below.
(b) The Vector Laplacian in orthogonal curvilinear coordinates
We continue in Picture M&S and shall use only the e^n expansion. Setting g ij = hi2δi,j a n d gij =
(1/hi)2δi,j things simplify somewhat,
@ B = hn e^n [gnk ∂k{ (1/ g ) ∂i (g Bi(u)/hi)}
– (1/ g ) εncd εeab ∂c{ (1/ g ) gde (∂a [gbf Bf(u)/hf]) } ]
= hn e^n [δk,n ∂k{ (1/ g ) ∂i (g Bi(u)/hi)} (1/hn)2
– (1/ g ) εncd εeab ∂c{ (1/ g ) hd2δd,e (∂a [hb2δb,f Bf(u)/hf]) } ]
= h
n e^n [ ∂n{ (1/ g ) ∂i (g Bi(u)/hi)} (1/hn)2
150 – (1/ g ) εncd εdab ∂c{ (1/ g ) hd2 (∂a [hb Bb(u)]) } ]
= e^n [ (1/hn) ∂n{ (1/ g ) ∂i (g Bi/hi)} – (hn/g ) εncd εdab ∂c{ (1/ g ) hd2 (∂a [hb Bb]) } ]
The first term can be written as
e^n (1/hn) ∂nT where T = (1/ g ) ∂i (g Bi/hi)
To expand the second term, set n = 1 and then write things out explicitly. For the moment, we suppress
the leading factor – (h 1/g ) and write
ε1cd εdab ∂c{ (1/ g ) hd2 (∂a [hb Bb]) }
= ε
3ab ∂2{ (1/ g ) h32 (∂a [hb Bb]) } – ε2ab ∂3{ (1/ g ) h22 (∂a [hb Bb]) }
c=2 d=3 c=3 d=2
= [ ∂2{ (1/ g ) h32 (∂1 [h2 B2]) } – ∂ 2{ (1/ g ) h32 (∂2 [h1 B1]) } ]
a = 1 b = 2 a = 2 b = 1
– [ ∂ 3{ (1/ g ) h22 (∂3 [h1 B1]) } – ∂ 3{ (1/ g ) h22 (∂1 [h3 B3]) } ]
a = 3 b = 1 a = 1 b = 3
= ∂2{ (1/ g ) h32 ( ∂1 [h2 B2] – ∂2 [h1 B1] ) }
– ∂
3{ (1/ g ) h22 (∂3 [h1 B1] – ∂1 [h3 B3] ) }
Define now Γn in cyclic fashion.
Γ1 ≡ (1/ g ) h12 ( ∂2 [h3 B3] – ∂3 [h2 B2] )
Γ2 ≡ (1/ g ) h22 ( ∂3 [h1 B1] – ∂1 [h3 B3] )
Γ3 ≡ (1/ g ) h32 ( ∂1 [h2 B2] – ∂2 [h1 B1] )
and then we have shown that
2nd term (n=1) = – (h 1/g ) ε1cd εdab ∂c{ (1/ g ) hd2 (∂a [hb Bb]) } e^1
= – ( h
1/g ) (∂2 Γ3 – ∂3 Γ2) e^1 = + (h 1/g ) (∂3 Γ2 – ∂2 Γ3) e^1
Therefore the entire first term (n=1) of @ B is given by
@ B (first term) = [(1/h 1) ∂1T + (h1/g ) (∂3 Γ2 – ∂2 Γ3) ] e^1
151 The other two terms are obtained by cyclic permutation so the final result is then
[@ B](x) = [(1/h 1) ∂1T + (h1/g ) (∂3 Γ2 – ∂2 Γ3) ] e^1 + cyclic
= [ ( 1 / h
1) ∂1T + (h1/g ) (∂3 Γ2 – ∂2 Γ3) ] e^1
+ [ ( 1 / h 2) ∂2T + (h2/g ) (∂1 Γ3 – ∂3 Γ1) ] e^2
+ [ ( 1 / h 3) ∂3T + (h3/g ) (∂2 Γ1 – ∂1 Γ2) ] e^3 // M&S 1.11
where
T = (1/ g ) ∂i (g Bi/hi)
Γ
1 = (1/ g ) h12 ( ∂2 [h3 B3] – ∂3 [h2 B2] )
Γ2 = (1/ g ) h22 ( ∂3 [h1 B1] – ∂1 [h3 B3] )
Γ3 = (1/ g ) h32 ( ∂1 [h2 B2] – ∂2 [h1 B1] )
With the replacements
B → E Bn→ En e^n→ an hi → gii T → ϒ
the result agrees with M&S p 3 (1.11). A more compact summary is this:
@ B = [ (1/h n) ∂nT – (hn/g ) εnab∂a Γb ] e^n
T = (1/ g ) ∂i (g Bi(u)/hi)
Γb = (1/ g ) hb2 εbcd ( ∂c [hd Bd(u)])
(c) The Vector Laplacian in Cartesian coordinates
First, one can verify that the last result of section (b) gives the starting point formula for @ B if g = 1 (in
u-space). One then has,
h
i = 1 g = 1 u = F(x) = x
( e^n)i = Sni = δni => e^n = n^,
B = Bn e^n = Bn n^ => Bn = Bn
so the above 3-line equation block becomes
@ B = [ ∂nT – εnab∂a Γb ] n^
T = ∂i (Bi(u))
Γb = εbcd ( ∂c Bd(u))
or
152 @ B = [ ∂n{∂iBi} – εnab∂a { εbcd ( ∂c Bd)} ] n^ (*)
= [ ∂ n{div B} – εnab∂a { (curl B)b } ] n^
= [ ∂ n{div B} – [curl (curl B)]n } ] n^
= g r a d { d i v B} – [curl (curl B)] QED
Second, one can verify the claim made earlier that in Cartesian coordinates
[@ B]n = ∇2 Bn .
To show this, it is necessary to show that (left side from (*) above)
∂n ∂i Bi – εnab∂a εbcd(∂c Bd) = ∂i2Bn ?
εnab εbcd ∂a (∂c Bd) = ∂n ∂i Bi – ∂i2Bn ?
εbna εbcd ∂a (∂c Bd) = ∂n ∂i Bi – ∂i2Bn ?
But since index b now appears only in the ε's, use ( up and down indices same in Cartesian x-space)
ε
bna εbcd = δncδad – δndδac // Appendix D (j) item 4
so
(δncδad – δndδac) ∂a (∂c Bd) = ∂n ∂i Bi – ∂i2Bn ?
δncδad∂a (∂c Bd) – δndδac∂a (∂c Bd) = ∂n ∂i Bi – ∂i2Bn ?
∂a (∂n Ba) – ∂a (∂a Bn) = ∂n ∂i Bi – ∂i2Bn ?
∂n (∂a Ba) – ∂a2Bn = ∂n (∂i Bi) – ∂i2Bn ?
Since this last equation is true on inspection, QED.
Thus it has been shown that, in Cartesian coordinates,
[
@ B]n = ∇2 (Bn) = [ grad(div B) – curl (curl B) ]n
It is this second (and rather complicated) form [ grad(div B) – curl (curl B) ]n which allowed us to obtain
an expression for [ @ B] in general curvilinear coordinates using methods described in this document.
153 14. Summary of Differential Operators in curvilinear coordinates
The results are given in the Picture M&S context, and are copied from Sections 9-13.
The Standard Notation of Section 7 is used throughout. In all the differential operator equations below, an operator acts either on a tensorial vector field
B or on a
tensorial scalar field f. On the right side of the dr awing above, objects are said to be in x-space, and f( x)
and Bn(x) (components of B) are x-space tensorial objects. On the le ft side of the drawing objects are said
to be in u-space. The function f is represented in u-space as f (u), while there are three different ways to
represent the components of B, called Bn(u), Bn(u) and Bn(u). There is a big distinction between the x-
space objects and the u-space objects. For the scalar, f (u) = f(x) = f( x(u)) and so f has a different
functional form than f. For the vector components, the u-space components are linear combinations of the
x-space components, for example Bn = Rn
mBm ( or B = RB, contravariant vector transformation).
See comment at the end of Section 9 (c) concerning the font used for Bn(u).
On lines marked "Cartesian", ∂n = ∂/∂xn and f( x) and Bn(x) appear (Cartesian components).
On other lines, ∂
n = ∂/∂un, and the f and B objects appear in italics and are functions of u. The other
functions like h n, gab and g are also functions of u.
The vectors en, e^n and en all exist in Cartesian x-space. The en are the tangent base vectors of Section 3,
and the en are the reciprocal base vectors of Section 6. The unit vectors e^n ≡ en/ |en| = en/hn are used as
well.
The dot product A•B is the covariant one of Section 5 (i).
For each differential operator, the object on the LHS of the equations is always the same: it is a differential operator acting on f(
x) or B(x) in x-space . In the Cartesian lines, the RHS expresses that LHS
object in terms of Cartesian objects and Cartesian coordi nates. On the other lines, the RHS expresses that
exact same LHS x-space object in terms of Curvilinear (u-space) objects a nd coordinates. When the LHS
is a scalar, the LHS object can be considered to be in either x-space or u-space. When the LHS is a vector,
that LHS object is in x-space but can be related to u-space objects by a linear transformation by R.
154 The expressions marked below appear on pages 2 or 3 of Moon & Spencer (M&S).
general: g ≡ det(gab) hn2 ≡ gnn ∂i = gij∂j Bn = hnBn en = hne^n
orthogonal: g = (Πihi) = h1h2...hN gnm = hn2 δn,m gnm = hn-2 δn,m
___________________________________________________________________________
(a) divergence
divergence general:
[div B](x) = [1/ g ] ∂n [g Bn] B = Bnen
[div B](x) = [1/ g ] ∂n [g Bn/ hn ] B = Bne^n // M&S 1.06
[div B](x) = [1/ g ] ∂n [g gnm Bm] B = Bnen
[div B](x) = ∂nBn // Bn = Cartesian components of B B = Bn n^= Bn n^
[div B](x) = [div B](u) // transformation (scalar)
divergence orthogonal:
[div B](x) = [1/(Πihi)] ∂n [(Πihi) Bn] B = Bnen
[div B](x) = [1/(Πihi)] ∂n [(Πihi) Bn / hn] B = Bn e^n
[div B](x) = [1/(Πihi)] ∂n [(Πihi) Bn / hn2] B = Bnen
divergence orthogonal N=3:
[div B](x) = [1/(h1h2h3)] { ∂1[h2h3 B1(u) ] + cyclic } B = Bn e^n
___________________________________________________________________________
(b) gradient and gradient dot vector
gradient general:
[grad f]( x) = (∂if ) ei
[grad f]( x) = (∂if ) ei = gij (∂jf ) ei
[grad f]( x) = hi(∂if ) e^i = hi gij (∂jf ) e^i
[grad f]( x) = (∂if) n^ // Cartesian
[ grad f ]i(u) = Rij[grad f]j(x) // transformation (vector) f (u) = f( x) = f( x(u))
gradient orthogonal:
[grad f](
x) = (∂if ) ei
[grad f]( x) = (∂if ) ei = (1/h i2) (∂if ) ei
[grad f]( x) = hi(∂if ) e^i = (1/h i) (∂if ) e^ // M&S 1.05
155
gradient dotted with a vector:
[grad f]( x) • B(x) = (∂nf ) Bn B = Bnen
[grad f]( x) • B(x) = (∂nf ) Bn B = Bnen
[grad f]( x) • B(x) = (∂nf ) Bn/hn B = Bn e^n
[grad f]( x) • B(x) = (∂nf) Bn // Cartesian B = Bn n^
[grad f]( x) • B(x) = [grad f ](u) • B(u) // transformation (scalar)
___________________________________________________________________________
(c) Laplacian
Laplacian general:
[lap f]( x) = [1/ g ] ∂m[g gnm (∂nf ) ]
[lap f]( x) = ∂n2f(x) // Cartesian f (u) = f( x) = f( x(u))
[lap f]( x) = [ lap f ](u) // transformation (scalar)
Laplacian orthogonal:
[lap f]( x) = [1/(Π ihi)] ∂m[ (Πihi) (1/hm2) (∂mf ) ] // orthogonal // M&S 1.09
Laplacian orthogonal N=3:
[lap f]( x) = 1/(h1h2h3) { ∂1 [ (h2h3/h1) ∂1f ] + cyclic }
___________________________________________________________________________
(d) curl
curl general: / / N = 3 o n l y
[curl B](x) = εnab [(1/ g ) ∂aBb ] en B = Bnen
[curl B](x) = εnab [(1/ g ) ∂a(gbcBc )] en B = Bnen
[curl B](x) = εnab[(1/ g ) hn ∂a(gbc Bc/hc )] e^n B = Bne^n
[curl B](x) = εnab ∂aBb(x) n^ // Cartesian B = Bn n^
[curl B](x) = (1/ g )
⎪⎪⎪⎪
⎪⎪⎪⎪ e1 e2 e3
∂1 ∂2 ∂3
B1 B2 B3 B = Bnen
[curl B](x) = (1/ g )
⎪⎪⎪⎪
⎪⎪⎪⎪ e1 e2 e3
∂1 ∂2 ∂3
g1cBc g2cBc g3cBc B = Bnen
156 [curl B](x) = (1/ g )
⎪⎪⎪⎪
⎪⎪⎪⎪ h1 e^1 h 2 e^2 h 3 e^3
∂1 ∂ 2 ∂ 3
(g1c/hc) Bc (g2c/hc) Bc (g3c/hc) Bc B = Bne^n // M&S 1.07
[curl B](x) =
⎪⎪⎪⎪
⎪⎪⎪⎪ 1^ 2^ 3^
∂1 ∂2 ∂3
B1 B2 B3 // here ∂n= ∂/∂xn and Bi = Bi(x) B = Bn n^
curl orthogonal:
[curl B](x) = εnab [(h1h2h3)-1 ∂aBb ] en B = Bnen
[curl B](x) = εnab [(h1h2h3)-1 ∂a(hb2Bb )] en B = Bnen
[curl B](x) = εnab[(h1h2h3)-1 hn ∂a(hb Bb)] e^n B = Bne^n
[curl B](x) = (h1h2h3)-1
⎪⎪⎪⎪
⎪⎪⎪⎪ e1 e2 e3
∂1 ∂2 ∂3
B1 B2 B3 B = Bnen
[curl B](x) = (h1h2h3)-1
⎪⎪⎪⎪
⎪⎪⎪⎪ e1 e2 e3
∂1 ∂2 ∂3
h12B1 h22B2 h32B3 B = Bnen
[curl B](x) = (h1h2h3)-1
⎪⎪⎪⎪
⎪⎪⎪⎪ h1 e^1 h2 e^2 h3 e^3
∂1 ∂2 ∂3
h1 B1 h2 B2 h3 B3 B = Bne^n // M&S 1.07a
___________________________________________________________________________
(e) vector Laplacian
vector Laplacian general:
// N=3 only
[@ B](x) = G – V
G = ∂n{ (1/ g ) ∂i (g Bi)} en B = Bnen
V = [ (1/ g ) εncd εeab ∂c { (1/g ) gde(∂a[gbfBf]) }] en
G = hn ∂n{ (1/ g ) ∂i (g B i/hi)} e^n B = Bn e^n
V = hn [ (1/ g ) εncd εeab ∂c { (1/g ) gde(∂a[gbfBf/hf]) }] e^n
@ B = [∇2Bn ] n^ // Cartesian, n^ = un B = Bn n^
157 vector Laplacian orthogonal:
[@ B](x) = [(1/h 1) ∂1T + (h1/g ) (∂3 Γ2 – ∂2 Γ3) ] e^1 // M&S 1.11
+ [ ( 1 / h 2) ∂2T + (h2/g ) (∂1 Γ3 – ∂3 Γ1) ] e^2
+ [ ( 1 / h 3) ∂3T + (h3/g ) (∂2 Γ1 – ∂1 Γ2) ] e^3
T = (1/
g ) ∂i (g Bi/hi)
Γ1 = (1/ g ) h12 ( ∂2 [h3 B3] – ∂3 [h2 B2] )
Γ2 = (1/ g ) h22 ( ∂3 [h1 B1] – ∂1 [h3 B3] )
Γ3 = (1/ g ) h32 ( ∂1 [h2 B2] – ∂2 [h1 B1] )
or
[
@ B](x) = [ (1/h n) ∂nT – (h n/g ) εnab∂a Γb ] e^n
T = (1/
g ) ∂i (g Bi/hi)
Γb = (1/ g ) hb2 εbcd ( ∂c [hd Bd])
___________________________________________________________________________
Example 1: Polar coordinates: a practical curvilinear notation
From earlier versions of this example we know that
general: g ≡ det(gab) hn2 ≡ gnn ∂i = gij∂j Bn = hnBn en = hne^n
orthogonal: g = (Πihi) = h1h2...hN gnm = hn2 δn,m gnm = hn-2 δn,m
e1 = r(-sinθ,cosθ) = eθ = r e^θ // = r θ^
e2 = (cosθ,sinθ) = er = e^r // = r^
θ r x y
gij = ⎝⎛
⎠⎞ r2 0
0 1 θ
r R = ⎝⎛
⎠⎞-sinθ/r cosθ/r
cos(θ) sinθ θ
r u 1 = θ u2 = r
h1 = hθ = gθθ = r h 2 = hr = grr = 1
Assume one is working with a 2D vector velocity field v(x), our first encounter with a "lower case" vector
field which we have been careful to support with the general notations above . Since one knows the names
of the variables 1= θ and 2= r, one might define the following new variables on the first line to be the
officially named variables on the second line
158 vθ vr vθ vr v θ vr vx v y
v1 v2 v1 v2 v1 v2 v1=v1 v2=v2
contravariant covariant unit vector Cartesian
(italic) (italic) (non-italic) (non-italic)
One ends up with the comfortable v = vθθ^ + vrr^ notation as shown below.
vθ ≡ v1 = h1ν1 = hθ vθ = r vθ // unit vector projection components
vr ≡ v2 = h2ν2 = hr vr = vr
vθ = Rθ
xvx + Rθ
yvy = -sinθ /r vx + cosθ/r vy
vr = Rr
xvx + Rr
yvy = cosθ vx +sinθ vy
so v
θ = r vθ = -sinθ vx + cosθ vy
vr = vr = cosθ vx +sinθ vy
v = vnen = vθeθ + vrer
v = vne^n = vθe^θ + vre^r = vθθ^ + vrr^
v = vnn^ = vxx^ + vyy^
As an example of a differential operator, consider the divergence for orthogonal coordinates from the
above table,
[div B](x) = [1/(Πihi)] ∂n [(Πihi) Bn / hn] B = Bn e^n
which applied to the present situation reads (h 1 = hθ = r and h 2 = hr = 1),
[div v](x) = [1/(h1h2)] { ∂1 [h2 v1] + ∂2[h1 v2] } V = vn e^n
= [ 1 / ( h θhr)] { ∂θ [hr vθ ] + ∂r[hθ vr] }
= (1/r) { ∂θvθ + ∂r(rvr) }
Suppose v x and vy are constants. Then the Cartesian expression says
[div v](x) = ∂nvn = ∂xvx + ∂yvy = 0 + 0 = 0
The above curvilinear expression gives
[div
v](x) = (1/r) { ∂ θvθ + ∂r(rvr) }
= (1/r) { ∂θ[-sinθ vx + cosθ vy] + ∂r(r [cosθ vx + sinθ vy]) }
= (1/r) { [-cos θ vx - sinθ vy] + [cosθ vx + sinθ vy] }
= 0
The notation illustrated here works for any curvilinear coordinates.
159 15. Covariant derivation of all curvili near differential operator expressions
(a) Review of Sections 9 through 13
Let us review the discussion of Sections 9 through 13 concerning the expression of differential operators
div, grad, lap, curl and @
in curvilinear coordinates. The underlying framework was provided by Picture B,
where the coordinates x'n of x'-space were the curvilinear coordinate s of interest, while the coordinates of
x-space were the Cartesian coordinates. The transformation x' = F(x) provided the connection between the
curvilinear coordinates and the Cartesian ones.
In Section 9 the object div B was treated as the B flux emitting from an N-piped in x-space divided by the
volume of that N-piped in the limit the N-piped shrank to a point. Using Appendix B formulas for the N-piped area, and using the key result (Section 7 (s)),
B = B'nen ,
where the
en are tangent base vectors in x-space, while the B'n are components of B in x'-space, we
obtained a way to write the Cartesian-space div B in terms of curvilinear x' coordinates and x'-space
objects, namely, B'n(x') and the gradient operator ∂'i = ∂/∂x'i.
In Section 10 the object grad f was expanded using another Section 7 (s) expansion which is that shown
above with the index tilt reversed,
grad f = [grad f]' nen = (∂'nf ')en
where en are the reciprocal base vectors. This result was expressed in various ways, and gradf •B was
also treated such that gradf •B = (∂'nf ')en • B'mem = (∂'nf ') B'n . [ Recall that f '(x') = f( x). ]
In Section 11 the Laplacian was written as lap f = div (grad f) and then the results of Sections 9 and 10
for div and grad were used to express lap f in terms of curvilinear coordinates. In traditional notation, one
writes ∇2f = ∇ • [ ∇f ] = div (grad f).
In Section 12 the object [curl B]n was treated as the circulation line integral around near face n of the
same N-piped used in Section 9 for divergence, divide d by the area of that face, again in the limit the N-
160 piped shrank to a point. With the same expansion for B shown above, this led to an expression of curl B
once again in terms of the curvilinear x' coordinates and the components B'n.
In Section 13 the vector Laplacian was treated using the definition
@ B ≡ grad(div B) – curl (curl B)
and then the results of Sections 9, 10 and 12 on div, grad and curl were recruited to produce an
expression for @ B in terms of B'n(x') and x'-space coordinates.
(b) The Covariant Method
We shall now repeat all of the above work using "the covariant method" which, as will be shown, gets
most results extremely quickly, but at a cost of requiring knowledge of tens or densities and covariant
differentiation, as described in Appendices D, E and F.
Imagine that one has a Cartesian x-space expre ssion for some tensor object of interest Q,
Q---- = [ Cartesian form with various up and down indices and various derivatives ]
where Q---- means that Q has some number of up and down indices. The following four steps should then be carried out: 1. First, arrange any summed index pairs within [....] so they are "tilted". Then when [...] is "tensorized"
those tilted pairs will be true contractions. Note that doing this does not affect the Cartesian va lue of this object [...] since up and down indices
are the same in Cartesian space. 2. Second, replace all derivatives w ith covariant derivatives. Thus is done by first writing all derivatives
in comma notation, and then by replacing those commas with semicolons. For example:
∂
αBa = Ba,α → Ba;α // B a;α = ∂α Ba – Γn
aαBn
Objects like ∂
αBa which are not tensors become objects like B a;α which are tensors (see Appendix F (g)
through (i) ).
Note again that doing this does not affect the Cartes ian value of this object [...], because in Cartesian
x-space Γn
aα = 0. This is so because, as implied by Appendix F (a) ( where x-space is called ξ-space ),
Γc
ab ≡ uc • (∂aub)
and the basis vectors un are constants in Cartesian space so ( ∂aub) = 0 and then Γc
ab = 0.
3. Third, insert a ppropriate powers of g
1/2 as needed to achieve appropriate tensor density weights so that
all terms in [...] have the same weight and this we ight equals the weight of Q---- . Tensor densities are
discussed in Appendix D, and this weight adjustment idea appears in Appendix D (b) item 3 Example 2.
161 Note again that doing this does not affect the Cart esian value of this object [...] because g = 1 in
Cartesian space (g = det(g ij) ).
4. At this point one has
Q---- = { tensorized form of the Cartesian expression of interest }
Since this is then a "true tensor equation" (it could be a true tensor density equa tion), according to the rule
of covariance described in Section 7 (u) the above equation can be converted to x'-space by simply priming all objects within { }. One then has Q' ---- = { tensorized form of the Cartesian expression of interest }' where the notation {...}' means that everything inside {...} is primed.
Perhaps at this point one does some simplificati ons of the resulting {...}' object. The result then is the
expression of Q---- in general curvilinear c oordinates if the underlying transformation
x' = F(x) describes
the transformation from Cartesian to curvilinear coordinates. (For a vector, recall that Q = Q'nen so the
"curvilinear coordinates" expression of Q involves the the x'-space components Q'a(x') but the tangent
base vectors en are in x-space. A similar statement can be made for Q being any tensor, as outlined in
Appendix (a) and (b) ).
This then is "the covariant method". The method of c ourse applies to tensor analysis applications other
than "curvilinear coordinates".
Uniqueness.
One might obtain two tensorizations of a Cartesian expression that look different. Both these
tensorizations must lead to the same Q'---- in x'-s pace. For example, suppose one finds two tensorizations
of a vector Qa , call them {...} 1a and {...} 2a which, when evaluated in Cartesian x-space, are equal
{...} 1a = {...}2a when both sides are evaluated in Cartesian x-space
One can then transform both objects to x'-space in the usual manner, {...}'
1a = Ra
b{...}1b and {...}' 2a = Ra
b{...}2b
Therefore, since {...} 1a = {...}2a in x-space, one must have {...}' 1a = {...}'2a in x'-space.
Example:
In Section (g) below we will estab lish the following tensorization of ( @B)n (the vector
Laplacian),
(@B)n = {.....} 1n = (Bj
;j);n – g-1/2εnab(g-1/2gbcεcdeBe;d);a .
Since in Cartesian x-space one can write ( @B)n = ∇2(Bn) = ∂j∂jBn = Bn,j
,j , another tensorization of
(@B)n is given by
162 (@B)n = {.....} 2n = Bn;j
;j .
Therefore, the following must be true in x'-space
B'
n;j
;j = (B'j
;j);n – g'-1/2ε'nab(g'-1/2g'bcε'cdeB'e;d);a
Verifying this equality is a non-trivial exercise. Both forms are used in Appendix I to compute @B in
spherical and cylindrical coordinates. In the following sections, then, we shall in short order derive the curvilinear expressions for the basic differential operators using the cova riant method outlined above. This me thod is used as well (along with
parallel brute force methods) to obtain expressions for objects ∇
v and divT in Appendices G and H.
(c) divergence (Section 9)
In Cartesian coordinates, divB = ∂iBi = Bi
,i. The true tensorial tensor which matches this is divB ≡
Bi
;i since Γ = 0 for Cartesian coordinates. Since Bi
;i is a scalar, it is the same in x-space as in x'-space.
According to the first J = 1 example of Appendix F (i), Ba
;α = ∂α Ba + Γa
αn Bn, so
[divB] = [divB]' = B'
i
;i = ∂'i B'i + Γ 'i
in B'n
where B'
n are the contravariant components of vector B in x'-space. As shown in Appendix F (d),
Γ 'i
in = (1/ g' ) ∂ 'n(g' ) and therefore
[divB] = ∂'n B'n + (1/ g' ) ∂ 'n(g' )B'n = (1/ g' ) ∂'n (g' B'n).
This matches the result obtained in Section 9 by geometric methods.
(d) gradient and gradient dot vector (Section 10)
If f is a scalar, then
G = grad f transforms as an ordinary vector, so it is already a tensor. According to
Section 7 (s) or Appendix E (b), the expansion of such a vector may be written
G = grad f = G'iei = (∂'if ') ei = (∂'if ') ei
Also, grad f • B is a scalar, again already a tensor. Thus
[grad f]' • B' = grad f • B = (∂'if')B'i
Both these results match those of Section 10. Since f is a scalar, f '(x') = f( x).
(e) Laplacian (Section 11)
In Cartesian x-space the Laplacian of a scalar function f can be written as
163 [lap f] Cart = ∂i∂if = f,i
,i
The tensorized version of the Laplacian is th en taken to be the following, using the ,→ ; rule,
lap f = f;i
;i
Since f
;i
;i is the contraction of a rank-2 te nsor, it is a scalar, and therefore
lap f = f
;i
;i = f ' ;i
;i = ∂'i f ' ;i + Γ 'i
in f ' ;n
where the example B
;a
;α = ∂α B;a + Γa
αn B;n from Appendix F (i) is used. Another example shows that
for scalar B, B;α = ∂α B . Applying this to f ' ;i and f ' ;n , the above becomes
lap f = ∂'
i∂'if ' + Γ 'i
in ∂'nf '
Again, as shown in Appendix F (d), Γ 'i
in = (1/ g' ) ∂ 'n(g' ) and therefore
lap f = ∂'
n∂'nf ' + (1/ g' ) ∂ 'n(g' ) (∂'nf ') = [1/ g' ] ∂ 'n [g' (∂'nf ')]
which matches the result of Section 11.
(f) curl (Section 12)
As shown in Appendix D (h), C ≡ curl B is a vector density of weight -1 because it contains the ε tensor
which has this weight. According to Appendix E (b), th e expansion of such a vector density is given by
C = J-1C'iei . Therefore,
C = curl B = J-1C'iei = J-1 ε'ijkB'k;jei = (1/ g' ) ε'ijkB'k,jei
so [ c u r l
B(e)]i = (1/ g' ) ε'ijkB'k,j
This matches the result of Section 12.
(g) vector Laplacian (Section 13)
This differential operator is going to take a bit more work. In Section 13 the vector Laplacian is written
@
(instead of ∇2) and in Cartesian coordinates is defined by
@B ≡ grad(div B) – curl (curl B)
Recall that in Cartesian space (as shown in Section 13 (c))
[grad(div
B) – curl (curl B)]n = ∇2(Bn) = (@B)n // Cartesian x-space
164 so we are allowed to use the LHS here to find the curvilinear expression of @B . In components,
(@B)n = ∂n(∂jBj) - εnab∂a [curl B] b
= ∂
n(∂jBj) - εnab∂a (εbde∂dBe)
In Cartesian space up and down index position does not ma tter and we are just jockeying the indices in
search of a tensorized form with contracted indi ces where possible. Writing the above in comma notation
gives
(
@B)n = (Bj
,j),n – εnab(εbdeBe,d),a
and then we are free to replace commas with semicolons since Γ = 0 in Cartesian coordinates (see
Appendix F sections (d) and (i) ) :
(@B)n = (Bj
;j);n – εnab(εbdeBe;d);a
There are several "technical difficulties" visible here. The first term (B
j
;j);n is a true vector since it is
the contraction of a rank-3 tensor on two tilted indices . In the second term, in order to neutralize the
weight of each ε tensor density (each has weight -1), we shall now add a benign factor of g-1/2, using the
idea of Appendix D (b) item 3 Example 2 (that is, g-1/2 is a scalar density of weight +1). (The factor is
benign since g = 1 in Cartesian coordinates. )
(
@B)n = (Bj
;j);n – g-1/2εnab(g-1/2εbdeBe;d);a
Now both objects T b ≡ ( g-1/2εbdeBe;d) and Vn ≡ g-1/2εnab Tb;a are normal vectors, so the above
equation says that a normal vector is the di fference between two other normal vectors.
Anticipating a few steps ahead when our ship lands in x'-space, we know that ε
bdeBe;d = εbdeBe,d due
to the e↔ d symmetry of the Γ term in B e;d (see Appendix F (i) Examples with J=1), and this motivates
us to perform a "tilt change" in this product. Such a tilt-change also gets the ;d index "down" which is a
nicer place for it to be since it will soon become ∂d. The tilt operation is done as follows ,
ε
bdeBe;d = εbd
eBe
;d = εbdeBe;d = gbc εcdeBe;d .
Recall that tilt changes like this are only allowed with tr ue tensor indices ( Section 7 (k) ) and that is why
the e tilt reversal can only be done after the semicolon in B e;d is installed. The result is then
(@B)n = (Bj
;j);n – g-1/2εnab(g-1/2gbcεcdeBe;d);a .
Although ε
bde is a fine tensor, we really prefer εcde since this is the permutation te nsor, and that is why
the gbc factor is added.
165 At this point every index is a tensor index, so we ha ve a "true tensor equation" in the sense of Section 7
(u). The above equation agrees exactly with the Cartesian expression of ( @B)n since g = 1, g bc = δb,c,
and the semicolons are commas since Γ = 0. The point is that we have found a way to write the Cartesian
expression of ( @B)n such that both terms are true tensors. Th e equation is therefore now "covariant" and
the equation in x'-space can be obtai ned simply by priming all objects:
(@B)'n = (B'j
;j);n – g'-1/2ε'nab(g'-1/2g'bcε'cdeB'e;d);a
The semicolons were installed to obtain a true tensor equation, but now that we have successfully arrived in x'-space, we want to remove as many semicolons as possible since they imply "extra terms". Consider
for example, this grouping which appears in the above,
ε'
nab (g'-1/2g'bcε'cdeB'e;d);a = ε'nab T'b;a T' b ≡ (g'-1/2g'bcε'cdeB'e;d)
Since Tb;a = Tb,a – Γn
baTn (Appendix F (i)) , the above expression is equal to εnab Tb,a because εnab
is antisymmetric on a,b while Γn
ba is symmetric. Thus,
(@B)'n = (B'j
;j);n – g'-1/2ε'nab(g'-1/2g'bcε'cdeB'e;d),a
↑
Now we activate the fact that ε'cdeB'e;d = ε'cdeB'e,d for the exact same symmetry reason to get
(
@B)'n = (B'j
;j);n – g'-1/2ε'nab(g'-1/2g'bcε'cdeB'e,d),a
↑
Meanwhile, an Appendix F (i) example that says D;n = D,n s o t h a t ( Bj
;j);n = (B'j
;j),n , since the
object B'j
;j is a scalar like D. Therefore,
(
@B)'n = (B'j
;j),n – g'-1/2ε'nab(g'-1/2g'bcε'cdeB'e,d),a .
↑
Since ε'cde is a constant (the permutation tensor, see Appendix D (d) ), we now pull it through the ∂'a
derivative implied by ,a and then show ing all derivatives the above becomes
(
@B)'n = ∂'n(B'j
;j) – g'-1/2ε'nabε'cde ∂'a(g'-1/2g'bc∂'dB'e) .
The object (B'
j
;j) we know from section (c) above
[divB] = B'j
;j = (1/ g' ) ∂ 'j (g' B'j)
so that
(
@B)'n = ∂'n{(1/ g' ) ∂ 'j(g' B'j)} – g'-1/2ε'nabε'cde ∂'a(g'-1/2g'bc∂'dB'e)
In order to compare this result to that of Section 13 , it is necessary to process the indices in the second
term as follows,
166 g'-1/2ε'nabε'cde ∂'a(g'-1/2g'bc∂'dB'e)
g'-1/2ε'nABε'CDE ∂'A(g'-1/2g'BC∂'DB'E)
Then take A →c, B→d, C→e, D→a, E→b to get
g'-1/2ε'ncdε'eab ∂'c(g'-1/2g'de∂'aB'b) .
Then also changing j →i in the first term we have,
(
@B)'n = ∂'n{(1/ g' ) ∂ 'i(g' B'i)} – g'-1/2ε'ncdε'eab ∂'c(g'-1/2g'de∂'aB'b) .
This may now be compared with the Section 13 (a) result which we quote :
@ B = G – V
G = ∂'n{ (1/ g' ) ∂'i (g' B'i)} en B = B'nen
V = [ (1/ g' ) ε'ncd ε'eab ∂'c { (1/g' ) g'de(∂'aB'b) }] en B = B'nen
The results agree, and further processing of this result is given in Section 13.
167
References
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G. Backus, Continuum Mechanics (Samizdat Press, Golden Colo., 1997).
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R. Hermann, Ricci and Levi-Civita's Tensor Analysis Paper (English translation with comments) (Math
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material. One realizes that differential geometry is a very large field touching upon many areas of
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Equations and their Solutions (Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 1961). This is the place to go to find explicit
expressions for differential operators in specific curv ilinear coordinate systems (and very much more).
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discovery of general relativity. The title is "Met hods of absolute differential calculus and their
168 applications". Absolute differential calculus was the authors' phrase for what is now called Tensor
Analysis/Calculus/Algebra. The word absolute referred to the idea of equations being covariant (see
Section 7 (u) above).
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