Tensor

In mathematics, a tensor is an algebraic object that describes a multilinear

relationship between sets of algebraic objects related to a vector space. Tensors may
map between different objects such as vectors, scalars, and even other tensors.
There are many types of tensors, including scalars and vectors (which are the
simplest tensors), dual vectors, multilinear maps between vector spaces, and even
some operations such as the dot product. Tensors are defined independent of any
basis, although they are often referred to by their components in a basis related to a
particular coordinate system; those components form an array, which can be thought
of as a high-dimensional matrix.
 The second-order Cauchy stress tensor
describes the stress experienced by a material at a
given point. For any unit vector , the product
is a vector, denoted , that quantifies the force
per area along the plane perpendicular to . This
image shows, for cube faces perpendicular to
, the corresponding stress vectors
along those faces. Because
the stress tensor takes one vector as input and
gives one vector as output, it is a second-order
tensor.

Tensors have become important in physics because they provide a concise

mathematical framework for formulating and solving physics problems in areas such
as mechanics (stress, elasticity, quantum mechanics, fluid mechanics, moment of
inertia, ...), electrodynamics (electromagnetic tensor, Maxwell tensor, permittivity,
magnetic susceptibility, ...), general relativity (stress–energy tensor, curvature tensor,
...), and others. In applications, it is common to study situations in which a different
tensor can occur at each point of an object; for example the stress within an object
may vary from one location to another. This leads to the concept of a tensor field. In
some areas, tensor fields are so ubiquitous that they are often simply called "tensors".

Tullio Levi-Civita and Gregorio Ricci-Curbastro popularised tensors in 1900 –

continuing the earlier work of Bernhard Riemann, Elwin Bruno Christoffel, and others
– as part of the absolute differential calculus. The concept enabled an alternative
formulation of the intrinsic differential geometry of a manifold in the form of the
Riemann curvature tensor.[1]
Definition
Although seemingly different, the various approaches to defining tensors describe the
same geometric concept using different language and at different levels of
abstraction.

As multidimensional arrays
A tensor may be represented as a (potentially multidimensional) array. Just as a
vector in an n-dimensional space is represented by a one-dimensional array with n
components with respect to a given basis, any tensor with respect to a basis is
represented by a multidimensional array. For example, a linear operator is represented
in a basis as a two-dimensional square n × n array. The numbers in the
multidimensional array are known as the components of the tensor. They are denoted
by indices giving their position in the array, as subscripts and superscripts, following
the symbolic name of the tensor. For example, the components of an order 2 tensor T
could be denoted Tij , where i and j are indices running from 1 to n, or also by T ij.
Whether an index is displayed as a superscript or subscript depends on the
transformation properties of the tensor, described below. Thus while Tij and T ij can
both be expressed as n-by-n matrices, and are numerically related via index juggling,
the difference in their transformation laws indicates it would be improper to add them
together.

The total number of indices (m) required to identify each component uniquely is equal
to the dimension or the number of ways of an array, which is why a tensor is
sometimes referred to as an m-dimensional array or an m-way array. The total
number of indices is also called the order, degree or rank of a tensor,[2][3][4] although
the term "rank" generally has another meaning in the context of matrices and tensors.
Just as the components of a vector change when we change the basis of the vector
space, the components of a tensor also change under such a transformation. Each
type of tensor comes equipped with a transformation law that details how the
components of the tensor respond to a change of basis. The components of a vector
can respond in two distinct ways to a change of basis (see Covariance and
contravariance of vectors), where the new basis vectors are expressed in terms of
the old basis vectors as,

Here R ji are the entries of the change of basis matrix, and in the rightmost expression
the summation sign was suppressed: this is the Einstein summation convention,
which will be used throughout this article.[Note 1] The components vi of a column
vector v transform with the inverse of the matrix R,

where the hat denotes the components in the new basis. This is called a contravariant
transformation law, because the vector components transform by the inverse of the
change of basis. In contrast, the components, wi, of a covector (or row vector), w,
transform with the matrix R itself,

This is called a covariant transformation law, because the covector components

transform by the same matrix as the change of basis matrix. The components of a
more general tensor are transformed by some combination of covariant and
contravariant transformations, with one transformation law for each index. If the
transformation matrix of an index is the inverse matrix of the basis transformation,
then the index is called contravariant and is conventionally denoted with an upper
index (superscript) If the transformation matrix of an index is the basis
transformation itself, then the index is called covariant and is denoted with a lower
index (subscript).

As a simple example, the matrix of a linear operator with respect to a basis is a

rectangular array that transforms under a change of basis matrix by

. For the individual matrix entries, this transformation law has the form

so the tensor corresponding to the matrix of a linear operator

has one covariant and one contravariant index: it is of type (1,1).

Combinations of covariant and contravariant components with the same index allow
us to express geometric invariants. For example, the fact that a vector is the same
object in different coordinate systems can be captured by the following equations,
using the formulas defined above:

,
where is the Kronecker delta, which functions similarly to the identity matrix, and
has the effect of renaming indices (j into k in this example). This shows several
features of the component notation: the ability to re-arrange terms at will
(commutativity), the need to use different indices when working with multiple objects
in the same expression, the ability to rename indices, and the manner in which
contravariant and covariant tensors combine so that all instances of the
transformation matrix and its inverse cancel, so that expressions like can
immediately be seen to be geometrically identical in all coordinate systems.

Similarly, a linear operator, viewed as a geometric object, does not actually depend on
a basis: it is just a linear map that accepts a vector as an argument and produces
another vector. The transformation law for how the matrix of components of a linear
operator changes with the basis is consistent with the transformation law for a
contravariant vector, so that the action of a linear operator on a contravariant vector is
represented in coordinates as the matrix product of their respective coordinate
representations. That is, the components are given by . These
components transform contravariantly, since

The transformation law for an order p + q tensor with p contravariant indices and q
covariant indices is thus given as,

Here the primed indices denote components in the new coordinates, and the
unprimed indices denote the components in the old coordinates. Such a tensor is
said to be of order or type (p, q). The terms "order", "type", "rank", "valence", and
"degree" are all sometimes used for the same concept. Here, the term "order" or "total
order" will be used for the total dimension of the array (or its generalization in other
definitions), p + q in the preceding example, and the term "type" for the pair giving the
number of contravariant and covariant indices. A tensor of type (p, q) is also called a
(p, q)-tensor for short.

This discussion motivates the following formal definition:[5][6]

Definition. A tensor of type (p, q) is an assignment of a

multidimensional array
 to each basis f = (e1, ..., en) of an n-dimensional vector space such that, if
we apply the change of basis

then the multidimensional array obeys the transformation law

The definition of a tensor as a multidimensional array satisfying a transformation law

traces back to the work of Ricci.[1]

An equivalent definition of a tensor uses the representations of the general linear

group. There is an action of the general linear group on the set of all ordered bases of
an n-dimensional vector space. If is an ordered basis, and

is an invertible matrix, then the action is given by

Let F be the set of all ordered bases. Then F is a principal homogeneous space for
GL(n). Let W be a vector space and let be a representation of GL(n) on W (that is, a
group homomorphism ). Then a tensor of type is an
equivariant map . Equivariance here means that

When is a tensor representation of the general linear group, this gives the usual
describe tensors on manifolds,[7] and readily generalizes to other groups.[5]

As multilinear maps
A downside to the definition of a tensor using the multidimensional array approach is
that it is not apparent from the definition that the defined object is indeed basis
independent, as is expected from an intrinsically geometric object. Although it is
possible to show that transformation laws indeed ensure independence from the
basis, sometimes a more intrinsic definition is preferred. One approach that is
common in differential geometry is to define tensors relative to a fixed (finite-
dimensional) vector space V, which is usually taken to be a particular vector space of
some geometrical significance like the tangent space to a manifold.[8] In this
approach, a type (p, q) tensor T is defined as a multilinear map,

where V∗ is the corresponding dual space of covectors, which is linear in each of its
arguments. The above assumes V is a vector space over the real numbers, . More
generally, V can be taken over any field F (e.g. the complex numbers), with F replacing
as the codomain of the multilinear maps.

By applying a multilinear map T of type (p, q) to a basis {ej} for V and a canonical
cobasis {εi} for V∗,

a (p + q)-dimensional array of components can be obtained. A different choice of

basis will yield different components. But, because T is linear in all of its arguments,
the components satisfy the tensor transformation law used in the multilinear array
definition. The multidimensional array of components of T thus form a tensor
according to that definition. Moreover, such an array can be realized as the
components of some multilinear map T. This motivates viewing multilinear maps as
the intrinsic objects underlying tensors.

In viewing a tensor as a multilinear map, it is conventional to identify the double dual

V∗∗ of the vector space V, i.e., the space of linear functionals on the dual vector space
V∗, with the vector space V. There is always a natural linear map from V to its double
dual, given by evaluating a linear form in V∗ against a vector in V. This linear mapping
is an isomorphism in finite dimensions, and it is often then expedient to identify V
with its double dual.

Using tensor products

For some mathematical applications, a more abstract approach is sometimes useful.
This can be achieved by defining tensors in terms of elements of tensor products of
vector spaces, which in turn are defined through a universal property as explained
here and here.

A type (p, q) tensor is defined in this context as an element of the tensor product of
vector spaces,[9][10]

A basis vi of V and basis wj of W naturally induce a basis vi ⊗ w of the tensor

j
product V ⊗ W. The components of a tensor T are the coefficients of the tensor with
respect to the basis obtained from a basis {ei} for V and its dual basis {ε j}, i.e.
Using the properties of the tensor product, it can be shown that these components
satisfy the transformation law for a type (p, q) tensor. Moreover, the universal
property of the tensor product gives a one-to-one correspondence between tensors
defined in this way and tensors defined as multilinear maps.

This 1 to 1 correspondence can be archived the following way, because in the finite-
dimensional case there exists a canonical isomorphism between a vector space and
its double dual:

The last line is using the universal property of the tensor product, that there is a 1 to 1
correspondence between maps from and
.[11]

Tensor products can be defined in great generality – for example, involving arbitrary
modules over a ring. In principle, one could define a "tensor" simply to be an element
of any tensor product. However, the mathematics literature usually reserves the term
tensor for an element of a tensor product of any number of copies of a single vector
space V and its dual, as above.

Tensors in infinite dimensions

This discussion of tensors so far assumes finite dimensionality of the spaces
involved, where the spaces of tensors obtained by each of these constructions are
naturally isomorphic.[Note 2] Constructions of spaces of tensors based on the tensor
product and multilinear mappings can be generalized, essentially without
modification, to vector bundles or coherent sheaves.[12] For infinite-dimensional
vector spaces, inequivalent topologies lead to inequivalent notions of tensor, and
these various isomorphisms may or may not hold depending on what exactly is
meant by a tensor (see topological tensor product). In some applications, it is the
tensor product of Hilbert spaces that is intended, whose properties are the most
similar to the finite-dimensional case. A more modern view is that it is the tensors'
structure as a symmetric monoidal category that encodes their most important
properties, rather than the specific models of those categories.[13]

Tensor fields
In many applications, especially in differential geometry and physics, it is natural to
consider a tensor with components that are functions of the point in a space. This
was the setting of Ricci's original work. In modern mathematical terminology such an
object is called a tensor field, often referred to simply as a tensor.[1]

In this context, a coordinate basis is often chosen for the tangent vector space. The
transformation law may then be expressed in terms of partial derivatives of the
coordinate functions,

defining a coordinate transformation,[1]

History
The concepts of later tensor analysis arose from the work of Carl Friedrich Gauss in
differential geometry, and the formulation was much influenced by the theory of
algebraic forms and invariants developed during the middle of the nineteenth
century.[14] The word "tensor" itself was introduced in 1846 by William Rowan
Hamilton[15] to describe something different from what is now meant by a
tensor.[Note 3] Gibbs introduced Dyadics and Polyadic algebra, which are also tensors
in the modern sense.[16] The contemporary usage was introduced by Woldemar Voigt
in 1898.[17]

Tensor calculus was developed around 1890 by Gregorio Ricci-Curbastro under the
title absolute differential calculus, and originally presented by Ricci-Curbastro in
1892.[18] It was made accessible to many mathematicians by the publication of Ricci-
Curbastro and Tullio Levi-Civita's 1900 classic text Méthodes de calcul différentiel
absolu et leurs applications (Methods of absolute differential calculus and their
applications).[19] In Ricci's notation, he refers to "systems" with covariant and
contravariant components, which are known as tensor fields in the modern sense.[16]

In the 20th century, the subject came to be known as tensor analysis, and achieved
broader acceptance with the introduction of Einstein's theory of general relativity,
around 1915. General relativity is formulated completely in the language of tensors.
Einstein had learned about them, with great difficulty, from the geometer Marcel
Grossmann.[20] Levi-Civita then initiated a correspondence with Einstein to correct
mistakes Einstein had made in his use of tensor analysis. The correspondence lasted
1915–17, and was characterized by mutual respect:

I admire the elegance of your method of computation; it must be nice to

ride through these fields upon the horse of true mathematics while the
like of us have to make our way laboriously on foot.

— Albert Einstein[21]
Tensors and tensor fields were also found to be useful in other fields such as
continuum mechanics. Some well-known examples of tensors in differential
geometry are quadratic forms such as metric tensors, and the Riemann curvature
tensor. The exterior algebra of Hermann Grassmann, from the middle of the
nineteenth century, is itself a tensor theory, and highly geometric, but it was some
time before it was seen, with the theory of differential forms, as naturally unified with
tensor calculus. The work of Élie Cartan made differential forms one of the basic
kinds of tensors used in mathematics, and Hassler Whitney popularized the tensor
[16]
From about the 1920s onwards, it was realised that tensors play a basic role in
algebraic topology (for example in the Künneth theorem).[22] Correspondingly there
are types of tensors at work in many branches of abstract algebra, particularly in
homological algebra and representation theory. Multilinear algebra can be developed
in greater generality than for scalars coming from a field. For example, scalars can
come from a ring. But the theory is then less geometric and computations more
technical and less algorithmic.[23] Tensors are generalized within category theory by
means of the concept of monoidal category, from the 1960s.[24]

Examples
An elementary example of a mapping describable as a tensor is the dot product,
which maps two vectors to a scalar. A more complex example is the Cauchy stress
tensor T, which takes a directional unit vector v as input and maps it to the stress
vector T(v), which is the force (per unit area) exerted by material on the negative side
of the plane orthogonal to v against the material on the positive side of the plane,
thus expressing a relationship between these two vectors, shown in the figure (right).
The cross product, where two vectors are mapped to a third one, is strictly speaking
not a tensor because it changes its sign under those transformations that change the
orientation of the coordinate system. The totally anti-symmetric symbol
nevertheless allows a convenient handling of the cross product in equally oriented
three dimensional coordinate systems.

This table shows important examples of tensors on vector spaces and tensor fields
on manifolds. The tensors are classified according to their type (n, m), where n is the
number of contravariant indices, m is the number of covariant indices, and n + m
gives the total order of the tensor. For example, a bilinear form is the same thing as a
(0, 2)-tensor; an inner product is an example of a (0, 2)-tensor, but not all (0, 2)-
tensors are inner products. In the (0, M)-entry of the table, M denotes the
dimensionality of the underlying vector space or manifold because for each
dimension of the space, a separate index is needed to select that dimension to get a
maximally covariant antisymmetric tensor.
Example tensors on vector spaces and tensor fields on manifolds

0 1 2 3 ⋯ M ⋯

Bilinear form,
e.g. inner
product,
Covector, linear quadrupole
E.g. M-
Scalar, e.g. functional, 1-form, moment, 3-form E.g.
form i.e.
0 scalar e.g. dipole metric octupole
volume
curvature moment, gradient tensor, Ricci moment
form
of a scalar field curvature, 2-
form,
symplectic
form

E.g. cross E.g.

Linear
n Euclidean product in Riemann
1 transformation,[25]
vector three curvature
Kronecker delta
dimensions tensor

Inverse
metric
tensor, E.g. elasticity
2
bivector, tensor
e.g., Poisson
structure

⋮
N Multivector

Raising an index on an (n, m)-tensor produces an (n + 1, m − 1)-tensor; this

corresponds to moving diagonally down and to the left on the table. Symmetrically,
lowering an index corresponds to moving diagonally up and to the right on the table.
Contraction of an upper with a lower index of an (n, m)-tensor produces an
(n − 1, m − 1)-tensor; this corresponds to moving diagonally up and to the left on the
table.
 Orientation defined by an ordered set of Reversed orientation corresponds to
vectors. negating the exterior product.

Geometric interpretation of grade n elements in a real exterior algebra for n = 0 (signed point), 1 (directed
line segment, or vector), 2 (oriented plane element), 3 (oriented volume). The exterior product of n vectors
can be visualized as any n-dimensional shape (e.g. n-parallelotope, n-ellipsoid); with magnitude
(hypervolume), and orientation defined by that on its n − 1-dimensional boundary and on which side the
interior is.[26][27]

Properties
Assuming a basis of a real vector space, e.g., a coordinate frame in the ambient
space, a tensor can be represented as an organized multidimensional array of
numerical values with respect to this specific basis. Changing the basis transforms
the values in the array in a characteristic way that allows to define tensors as objects
adhering to this transformational behavior. For example, there are invariants of
tensors that must be preserved under any change of the basis, thereby making only
certain multidimensional arrays of numbers a tensor. Compare this to the array
representing not being a tensor, for the sign change under transformations
changing the orientation.

Because the components of vectors and their duals transform differently under the
h f th i d lb th i i t d/ t i tt f ti
law that relates the arrays, which represent the tensor with respect to one basis and
that with respect to the other one. The numbers of, respectively, vectors: n
(contravariant indices) and dual vectors: m (covariant indices) in the input and output
of a tensor determine the type (or valence) of the tensor, a pair of natural numbers
(n, m), which determine the precise form of the transformation law. The order of a
tensor is the sum of these two numbers.

The order (also degree or rank) of a tensor is thus the sum of the orders of its
arguments plus the order of the resulting tensor. This is also the dimensionality of the
array of numbers needed to represent the tensor with respect to a specific basis, or
equivalently, the number of indices needed to label each component in that array. For
example, in a fixed basis, a standard linear map that maps a vector to a vector, is
represented by a matrix (a 2-dimensional array), and therefore is a 2nd-order tensor. A
simple vector can be represented as a 1-dimensional array, and is therefore a 1st-
order tensor. Scalars are simple numbers and are thus 0th-order tensors. This way the
tensor representing the scalar product, taking two vectors and resulting in a scalar
has order 2 + 0 = 2, the same as the stress tensor, taking one vector and returning
another 1 + 1 = 2. The -symbol, mapping two vectors to one vector, would have
order 2 + 1 = 3.

The collection of tensors on a vector space and its dual forms a tensor algebra, which
allows products of arbitrary tensors. Simple applications of tensors of order 2, which
can be represented as a square matrix, can be solved by clever arrangement of
transposed vectors and by applying the rules of matrix multiplication, but the tensor
product should not be confused with this.

Notation
There are several notational systems that are used to describe tensors and perform
calculations involving them.
Ricci calculus
Ricci calculus is the modern formalism and notation for tensor indices: indicating
inner and outer products, covariance and contravariance, summations of tensor
components, symmetry and antisymmetry, and partial and covariant derivatives.

Einstein summation convention

The Einstein summation convention dispenses with writing summation signs, leaving
the summation implicit. Any repeated index symbol is summed over: if the index i is
used twice in a given term of a tensor expression, it means that the term is to be
summed for all i. Several distinct pairs of indices may be summed this way.

Penrose graphical notation

Penrose graphical notation is a diagrammatic notation which replaces the symbols
for tensors with shapes, and their indices by lines and curves. It is independent of
basis elements, and requires no symbols for the indices.

Abstract index notation

The abstract index notation is a way to write tensors such that the indices are no
longer thought of as numerical, but rather are indeterminates. This notation captures
Component-free notation
A component-free treatment of tensors uses notation that emphasises that tensors
do not rely on any basis, and is defined in terms of the tensor product of vector
spaces.

Operations
There are several operations on tensors that again produce a tensor. The linear nature
of tensor implies that two tensors of the same type may be added together, and that
tensors may be multiplied by a scalar with results analogous to the scaling of a
vector. On components, these operations are simply performed component-wise.
These operations do not change the type of the tensor; but there are also operations
that produce a tensor of different type.

Tensor product
The tensor product takes two tensors, S and T, and produces a new tensor, S ⊗ T,
whose order is the sum of the orders of the original tensors. When described as
multilinear maps, the tensor product simply multiplies the two tensors, i.e.,
which again produces a map that is
linear in all its arguments. On
components, the effect is to multiply
the components of the two input
tensors pairwise, i.e.,

If S is of type (l, k) and T is of type

(n, m), then the tensor product S ⊗T
has type (l + n, k + m).

Contraction
Tensor contraction is an operation that reduces a type (n, m) tensor to a type
(n − 1, m − 1) tensor, of which the trace is a special case. It thereby reduces the total
order of a tensor by two. The operation is achieved by summing components for
which one specified contravariant index is the same as one specified covariant index
to produce a new component. Components for which those two indices are different
are discarded. For example, a (1, 1)-tensor can be contracted to a scalar through
, where the summation is again implied. When the (1, 1)-tensor is interpreted as a
linear map, this operation is known as the trace.

The contraction is often used in conjunction with the tensor product to contract an
index from each tensor.
The contraction can also be understood using the definition of a tensor as an element
of a tensor product of copies of the space V with the space V∗ by first decomposing
the tensor into a linear combination of simple tensors, and then applying a factor
from V∗ to a factor from V. For example, a tensor can be written
as a linear combination

The contraction of T on the first and last slots is then the vector

In a vector space with an inner product (also known as a metric) g, the term
contraction is used for removing two contravariant or two covariant indices by
forming a trace with the metric tensor or its inverse. For example, a (2, 0)-tensor
can be contracted to a scalar through (yet again assuming the summation
convention).

Raising or lowering an index

When a vector space is equipped with a nondegenerate bilinear form (or metric tensor
as it is often called in this context), operations can be defined that convert a
contravariant (upper) index into a covariant (lower) index and vice versa. A metric
tensor is a (symmetric) (0, 2)-tensor; it is thus possible to contract an upper index of a
tensor with one of the lower indices of the metric tensor in the product. This produces
a new tensor with the same index structure as the previous tensor, but with lower
index generally shown in the same position of the contracted upper index. This
operation is quite graphically known as lowering an index.

Conversely, the inverse operation can be defined, and is called raising an index. This is
equivalent to a similar contraction on the product with a (2, 0)-tensor. This inverse
metric tensor has components that are the matrix inverse of those of the metric
tensor.

Applications

Continuum mechanics
Important examples are provided by continuum mechanics. The stresses inside a
solid body or fluid[28] are described by a tensor field. The stress tensor and strain
tensor are both second-order tensor fields, and are related in a general linear elastic
material by a fourth-order elasticity tensor field. In detail, the tensor quantifying stress
in a 3-dimensional solid object has components that can be conveniently represented
as a 3 × 3 array. The three faces of a cube-shaped infinitesimal volume segment of
the solid are each subject to some given force. The force's vector components are
also three in number. Thus, 3 × 3, or 9 components are required to describe the stress
at this cube-shaped infinitesimal segment. Within the bounds of this solid is a whole
mass of varying stress quantities, each requiring 9 quantities to describe. Thus, a
second-order tensor is needed.

If a particular surface element inside the material is singled out, the material on one
side of the surface will apply a force on the other side. In general, this force will not be
orthogonal to the surface, but it will depend on the orientation of the surface in a
linear manner. This is described by a tensor of type (2, 0), in linear elasticity, or more
precisely by a tensor field of type (2, 0), since the stresses may vary from point to
point.

Other examples from physics

C li ti i l d
Electromagnetic tensor (or Faraday
tensor) in electromagnetism
Finite deformation tensors for
describing deformations and strain
tensor for strain in continuum
mechanics
Permittivity and electric
susceptibility are tensors in
anisotropic media
Four-tensors in general relativity
(e.g. stress–energy tensor), used to
represent momentum fluxes
Spherical tensor operators are the
eigenfunctions of the quantum
 angular momentum operator in
spherical coordinates
Diffusion tensors, the basis of
diffusion tensor imaging, represent
rates of diffusion in biological
environments
Quantum mechanics and quantum
computing utilize tensor products
for combination of quantum states

Computer vision and optics

The concept of a tensor of order two is often conflated with that of a matrix. Tensors
of higher order do however capture ideas important in science and engineering, as
has been shown successively in numerous areas as they develop. This happens, for
instance, in the field of computer vision, with the trifocal tensor generalizing the
fundamental matrix.

The field of nonlinear optics studies the changes to material polarization density
under extreme electric fields. The polarization waves generated are related to the
generating electric fields through the nonlinear susceptibility tensor. If the
polarization P is not linearly proportional to the electric field E, the medium is termed
nonlinear. To a good approximation (for sufficiently weak fields, assuming no
permanent dipole moments are present), P is given by a Taylor series in E whose
coefficients are the nonlinear susceptibilities:

Here is the linear susceptibility, gives the Pockels effect and second
harmonic generation, and gives the Kerr effect. This expansion shows the way
higher-order tensors arise naturally in the subject matter.

Machine learning
The properties of Tensors (machine learning), especially tensor decomposition, have
enabled their use in machine learning to embed higher dimensional data in artificial
neural networks. This notion of tensor differs significantly from that in other areas of
mathematics and physics, in the sense that a tensor is usually regarded as a
numerical quantity in a fixed basis, and the dimension of the spaces along the
different axes of the tensor need not be the same.

Generalizations

Tensor products of vector spaces

The vector spaces of a tensor product need not be the same, and sometimes the
elements of such a more general tensor product are called "tensors". For example, an
element of the tensor product space V ⊗ W is a second-order "tensor" in this more
general sense,[29] and an order-d tensor may likewise be defined as an element of a
tensor product of d different vector spaces.[30] A type (n, m) tensor, in the sense
defined previously, is also a tensor of order n + m in this more general sense. The
concept of tensor product can be extended to arbitrary modules over a ring.

Tensors in infinite dimensions

The notion of a tensor can be generalized in a variety of ways to infinite dimensions.
One, for instance, is via the tensor product of Hilbert spaces.[31] Another way of
generalizing the idea of tensor, common in nonlinear analysis, is via the multilinear
maps definition where instead of using finite-dimensional vector spaces and their
algebraic duals, one uses infinite-dimensional Banach spaces and their continuous
dual.[32] Tensors thus live naturally on Banach manifolds[33] and Fréchet manifolds.

Tensor densities
Suppose that a homogeneous medium fills R3, so that the density of the medium is
described by a single scalar value ρ in kg⋅m−3. The mass, in kg, of a region Ω is
obtained by multiplying ρ by the volume of the region Ω, or equivalently integrating the
constant ρ over the region:

where the Cartesian coordinates x, y, z are measured in m. If the units of length are
changed into cm, then the numerical values of the coordinate functions must be
rescaled by a factor of 100:
The numerical value of the density ρ must then also transform by 100−3 m3/cm3 to
compensate, so that the numerical value of the mass in kg is still given by integral of
. Thus (in units of kg⋅cm−3).

More generally, if the Cartesian coordinates x, y, z undergo a linear transformation,

then the numerical value of the density ρ must change by a factor of the reciprocal of
the absolute value of the determinant of the coordinate transformation, so that the
integral remains invariant, by the change of variables formula for integration. Such a
quantity that scales by the reciprocal of the absolute value of the determinant of the
coordinate transition map is called a scalar density. To model a non-constant density,
ρ is a function of the variables x, y, z (a scalar field), and under a curvilinear change of
coordinates, it transforms by the reciprocal of the Jacobian of the coordinate change.
For more on the intrinsic meaning, see Density on a manifold.

A tensor density transforms like a tensor under a coordinate change, except that it in
addition picks up a factor of the absolute value of the determinant of the coordinate
transition:[34]

Here w is called the weight. In general, any tensor multiplied by a power of this
function or its absolute value is called a tensor density, or a weighted tensor.[35][36] An
example of a tensor density is the current density of electromagnetism.

Under an affine transformation of the coordinates, a tensor transforms by the linear

part of the transformation itself (or its inverse) on each index. These come from the
rational representations of the general linear group. But this is not quite the most
general linear transformation law that such an object may have: tensor densities are
non-rational, but are still semisimple representations. A further class of
transformations come from the logarithmic representation of the general linear group,
a reducible but not semisimple representation,[37] consisting of an (x, y) ∈R 2 with
the transformation law
Geometric objects
The transformation law for a tensor behaves as a functor on the category of
admissible coordinate systems, under general linear transformations (or, other
transformations within some class, such as local diffeomorphisms). This makes a
tensor a special case of a geometrical object, in the technical sense that it is a
function of the coordinate system transforming functorially under coordinate
changes.[38] Examples of objects obeying more general kinds of transformation laws
are jets and, more generally still, natural bundles.[39][40]

Spinors
When changing from one orthonormal basis (called a frame) to another by a rotation,
the components of a tensor transform by that same rotation. This transformation
does not depend on the path taken through the space of frames. However, the space
of frames is not simply connected (see orientation entanglement and plate trick):
there are continuous paths in the space of frames with the same beginning and
ending configurations that are not deformable one into the other. It is possible to
attach an additional discrete invariant to each frame that incorporates this path
dependence, and which turns out (locally) to have values of ±1.[41] A spinor is an
object that transforms like a tensor under rotations in the frame, apart from a
possible sign that is determined by the value of this discrete invariant.[42][43]

Succinctly, spinors are elements of the spin representation of the rotation group,
while tensors are elements of its tensor representations. Other classical groups have
tensor representations, and so also tensors that are compatible with the group, but all
non-compact classical groups have infinite-dimensional unitary representations as
well.
See also

The dictionary definition of tensor

at Wiktionary
Array data type, for tensor storage
and manipulation

Foundational

Cartesian tensor
Fibre bundle
Glossary of tensor theory
Multilinear projection
One-form
Tensor product of modules
Applications

Application of tensor theory in

engineering
Continuum mechanics
Covariant derivative
Curvature
Diffusion tensor MRI
Einstein field equations
Fluid mechanics
Gravity
Multilinear subspace learning
Riemannian geometry
Structure tensor
 Tensor Contraction Engine
Tensor decomposition
Tensor derivative
Tensor software

Explanatory notes

1. The Einstein summation convention,

in brief, requires the sum to be taken
over all values of the index whenever
the same symbol appears as a
subscript and superscript in the same
term. For example, under this
convention

2. The double duality isomorphism, for

instance, is used to identify V with the
 double dual space V∗∗, which consists
of multilinear forms of degree one on
V∗. It is typical in linear algebra to
identify spaces that are naturally
isomorphic, treating them as the
same space.

3. Namely, the norm operation in a

vector space.

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