NPTEL – Physics – Mathematical Physics - 1

Module 5
Tensors
Lecture 24
Introduction

In this discussion, we present a very brief discussion on tensors. By no means,

the discussion is complete and the reader should consult specialist books such
as,

(i) Introduction to tensor calculus and continuum mechanics – J. H.

Heinebockel (Trafford Publishing)
(ii) Principles and applications of tensor analysis by M. S. Smith
(Howard W. Sams & Co. Inc.)
(iii) Tensors by A. Das (Springer)
(iv) Schaum’s Tensor Calculus – D. C. Kay (Mcgraw Hill)

Let us take some of the familiar expressions in physics, such as,

𝐹̅ = 𝑚𝑎⃗ (1a)

𝑗⃗ = 𝜎𝐸⃗⃗ (1b)

𝑃⃗⃗ = 𝛼𝐸⃗⃗ (1c)

where symbols have usual meaning. Before putting them in use, we should
realize that these formulae are strictly true with m, 𝜎 and 𝛼 as mere numbers
and the situation in which they are valid are restricted to isotropic medium or a
system that possesses high symmetry. In practical situations, many of the
systems are anisotropic, such that acceleration (𝑎⃑) is not in the direction of the
applied force or the current (𝑗⃑) and the polarization are not in the direction of
the applied electric field 𝐸⃗⃑ .

In such a situation, one has to use a generalized form as in the following

(for Eq. 1(c))

𝑃𝑥 𝛼𝑥𝑥 𝛼𝑥𝑦 𝛼𝑥𝑧 𝐸𝑥

(𝑃𝑦 ) = (𝛼𝑦𝑥 𝛼𝑦𝑦 𝛼𝑦𝑧 ) (𝐸𝑦 )
𝑃𝑧 𝛼𝑧𝑥 𝛼𝑧𝑦 𝛼𝑧𝑧 𝐸𝑧

where the entries in the columns correspond to components of the 𝑃⃗⃑ and 𝐸⃗⃑ in
cartesian coordinate system and 𝛼𝑖𝑗 are components of the polarizability tensor.

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In the same fashion we can talk about the mass tensor and the conductivity
tensor.

Preliminaries

If we have a N- dimensional space, 𝑉𝑁 , and let 𝑥 𝑖 (𝑖 = 1 … 𝑁) be the set of

coordinates in this space. Also let 𝑥̅ 𝛼 (𝛼 = 1, … … . 𝑁) be another set of
coordinate in the same space. Each of 𝑥 𝑖 𝑠 will depend on the N coordinates 𝑥̅ 𝛼
and vice versa. The Cartesian coordinates (x, y, z) are related to the spherical
polar coordinates (𝑟, 𝜃, 𝜙), both defined in 𝑉3 as,
𝑥 = 𝑟𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜙, 𝑦 = 𝑟𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜙, 𝑧 = 𝑟𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃.
The inverse transformation is of the form,

√𝑥 2 +𝑦2 𝑦
r = √𝑥 2 + 𝑦 2 + 𝑧 2 , 𝜃 = 𝑡𝑎𝑛−1 ( ) , 𝜑 = 𝑡𝑎𝑛−1 (𝑥 )
𝑧

Thus for the N- dimensional space, one can define,

𝑥 𝑖 = 𝑥 𝑖 (𝑥̅ 1 , 𝑥̅ 2 … … … 𝑥̅ 𝑁 ) 1≤𝑖≤𝑁 (1)

and 𝑥̅ 𝛼 = 𝑥̅ 𝛼 (𝑥1 , 𝑥 2 … … … . 𝑥 𝑁 ) 1≤𝛼≤𝑁

Differentiation Eq. (1)

𝜕𝑥 𝑖
𝑑𝑥 𝑖 = ∑𝑁
𝛼=1 𝜕𝑥 −𝛼 𝑑𝑥
−𝛼
1≤𝑖≤𝑁 (2)

𝜕𝑥 −𝛼
and 𝑑𝑥 −𝛼 = ∑𝑁
𝑖=1 𝑑𝑥 𝑖 1≤𝛼≤𝑁
𝜕𝑥 𝑖

using a summation convention where repeated indices are assumed to be

summed over, one can write Eq. (2) as,

𝜕𝑥 𝑖
𝑑𝑥 𝑖 = 𝜕𝑥̅ 𝛼 𝑑𝑥̅ 𝛼 (3)

The above is a set of N equation, one for each i = (1……N). Since 𝛼 is the
repeated index, it assumed to be summed over.

Also since 𝑥 𝑖 s are independent of each other,

𝑑𝑥 𝑖 1 for 𝑖 = 𝑗
={
𝑑𝑥 𝑗 0 for 𝑖 ≠ 𝑗

The above equation also illustrates the definition of Kronecker delta function
defined by

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1 if 𝑖 ≠ 𝑗
𝛿𝑗𝑖 = {
0 if 𝑖 ≠ 𝑗

𝑑𝑥 𝑖
Thus = 𝛿𝑗𝑖
𝑑𝑥 𝑗

Similarly for the barred coordinates,

𝑑𝑥̅ 𝛼
= 𝛿𝛽𝛼 , thus if {𝑥̅ 𝛼 , 𝑥̅ 𝛽 , 𝑥̅ 𝛾 … … … . } are independent variables, then
𝑑𝑥̅ 𝛽
𝑑𝑥̅ 𝛼
is the Kronecker delta, 𝛿𝛽𝛼 . The Kronecker delta corresponds to the identity
𝑑𝑥 𝛽
matrix. Since there are two free indices, it is a second rank tensor.

Similarly a third order Levi-Civita tensor is defined as,

1 if 𝑖, 𝑗, 𝑘 are cyclic nnnnnnnn

𝜀𝑖𝑗𝑘 {= −1 if 𝑖, 𝑗, 𝑘 are counter clockwise
= 0 otherwise 00000000000000

The vector cross product is devoted using the Levi-Civita tensor as,

𝐴⃗ × 𝐵
⃗⃗ = 𝜀𝑖𝑗𝑘 𝐴𝑗 𝐵𝑘

1 if i,j,k are cyclic

= -1 if i,j,k are counter clockwise

= 0 otherwise

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