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Vectors Tensors 00 Intro

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6 views

Vectors Tensors 00 Intro

ve

Uploaded by

k d
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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1 Vectors & Tensors

The mathematical modeling of the physical world requires knowledge of quite a few
different mathematics subjects, such as Calculus, Differential Equations and Linear
Algebra. These topics are usually encountered in fundamental mathematics courses.
However, in a more thorough and in-depth treatment of mechanics, it is essential to
describe the physical world using the concept of the tensor, and so we begin this book
with a comprehensive chapter on the tensor.

The chapter is divided into three parts. The first part covers vectors (§1.1-1.7). The
second part is concerned with second, and higher-order, tensors (§1.8-1.15). The second
part covers much of the same ground as done in the first part, mainly generalizing the
vector concepts and expressions to tensors. The final part (§1.16-1.19) (not required in
the vast majority of applications) is concerned with generalizing the earlier work to
curvilinear coordinate systems.

The first part comprises basic vector algebra, such as the dot product and the cross
product; the mathematics of how the components of a vector transform between different
coordinate systems; the symbolic, index and matrix notations for vectors; the
differentiation of vectors, including the gradient, the divergence and the curl; the
integration of vectors, including line, double, surface and volume integrals, and the
integral theorems.

The second part comprises the definition of the tensor (and a re-definition of the vector);
dyads and dyadics; the manipulation of tensors; properties of tensors, such as the trace,
transpose, norm, determinant and principal values; special tensors, such as the spherical,
identity and orthogonal tensors; the transformation of tensor components between
different coordinate systems; the calculus of tensors, including the gradient of vectors and
higher order tensors and the divergence of higher order tensors and special fourth order
tensors.

In the first two parts, attention is restricted to rectangular Cartesian coordinates (except
for brief forays into cylindrical and spherical coordinates). In the third part, curvilinear
coordinates are introduced, including covariant and contravariant vectors and tensors, the
metric coefficients, the physical components of vectors and tensors, the metric, coordinate
transformation rules, tensor calculus, including the Christoffel symbols and covariant
differentiation, and curvilinear coordinates for curved surfaces.

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