differential geometry - Covariant vs contravariant vectors - Physics Stack Exchange 12.04.

20, 21:03

Covariant vs contravariant vectors

Asked 6 days ago Active 6 days ago Viewed 484 times

I understand that, in curvilinear coordinates, one can define a covariant basis and a
contravariant basis. It seems to me that any vector can be decomposed in either of those
basis, thus one can have covariant components and contravariant components of the same
10
vector, depending on the chosen basis. What is confusing to me, however, is when people
talk about covariant and contravariant vectors. Do they just mean the
covariant/contravariant components of vectors or there are indeed two distinct
types/classes of vectors? If the latter, covariant vectors can only be decomposed into
5 covariant bases and contravariant vectors only in contravariant bases?

differential-geometry metric-tensor tensor-calculus vectors covariance

asked Apr 6 at 3:35

Botond
546 1 13

2 Answers Active Oldest Votes

We don't talk of covariant and contravariant bases. Start with the basis {𝐞𝑖 } . Then a general
vector can be written
11 𝐯 = 𝑣𝑖 𝐞𝑖

Now if you double the length of a basis vector, you must halve the length of the componant.
The components are said to be contravariant, because they change opposite to the basis. In
index notation this vector is simply written 𝑣𝑖 , and we call it a contravariant vector
meaning that the components are contravariant.

The inner product

𝐮 ⋅ 𝐯 = 𝑔𝑖𝑗 𝑢𝑖 𝑣𝑗

prompts the definition

𝑢𝑗 = 𝑔𝑖𝑗 𝑢𝑖

The 𝑢𝑗 are components of a vector in the dual space. Because the inner product is invariant,

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the components 𝑢𝑗 change opposite to contravariant components, which means they

change in the same way as the basis vectors. They are called covariant components, and we
refer to them as covariant vectors.

Technically contravariant vectors are in one vector space, and covariant vectors are in a
different space, the dual space. But there is a clear 1-1 correspondence between the space
and its dual, and we tend to think of the contravariant and covariant vectors as different
descriptions of the same vector.

edited Apr 6 at 12:28 answered Apr 6 at 6:37

Aaron Stevens Charles Francis
32.9k 10 67 115 3,585 1 4 22

what about the components 𝑢 𝑖 ? Aren't those the components of the same vector 𝐮? – Botond
Apr 6 at 11:24

I have added a para to clarify. – Charles Francis Apr 6 at 12:10

4 God I've been waiting to read something like this for years! Thanks. – G.Clavier Apr 6 at 12:32

You have a basis 𝐞𝑖 in some vector space.

The contravariant components of a vector 𝐯 are given by 𝐯 = 𝑣𝑖 𝐞𝐢 , as Charles Francis says.

3
The covariant components of a vector 𝐯 are given by 𝑣𝑖 = 𝐯 ⋅ 𝐞𝑖

I think that's a more basic way of thinking about them than going in to their transformation
properties - though that is of course true.

Incidentally it's then obvious that 𝐮 ⋅ 𝐯 = ∑ 𝑢𝑖 𝑣𝑖 (or ∑ 𝑢𝑖 𝑣𝑖 )

I would say (though mathematicians would disagree and will probably downvote this
answer as heretical) that a 'physics' vector is neither covariant nor contravariant. It's a
pointing arrow. If you want to do anything useful with it you have to write down its
components, which can be either covariant of contravariant.

edited Apr 6 at 12:30 answered Apr 6 at 12:23

Aaron Stevens RogerJBarlow
32.9k 10 67 115 5,213 1 10 27

The problem with the arrow arises, surely, when we try to apply it to grad 𝜙 when working in a
non-orthogonal co-ordinates basis, {𝐞𝑖 }. The components of grad 𝜙 on this basis exist but do not
∂𝜙
give us what we'd like to have, namely { ∂𝑥 }. [These derivatives are components on the dual basis
𝑖
to {𝐞𝑖 }!] So I'd argue that it's not always 𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑓𝑢𝑙 to think of vectors as arrows. – Philip Wood Apr 7
at 12:05

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1 If you are standing on a hillside (height ≡ 𝜙 ) then you know the direction and the magnitude of
grad 𝜙 just by releasing a marble and seeing which direction it goes in and how fast it accelerates.
You can draw that as an arrow. Without writing down any components and hence without
involving a basis. But I agree that this is tricky stuff. – RogerJBarlow Apr 7 at 12:20

RogerJBarlow Thanks for replying. It's not that I'm saying that a gradient can't be thought of as
an arrow, so much as the arrow thing not being so 𝑠𝑢𝑔𝑔𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑓𝑢𝑙 𝑤𝑎𝑦𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑐𝑒𝑒𝑑 in the
case of a gradient, if we're working on a non-orthogonal basis. I don't think we're really at odds. –
Philip Wood Apr 7 at 15:42

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