Symmetric tensor

In mathematics, a symmetric tensor is a tensor that is invariant under a permutation of its vector arguments:

for every permutation σ of the symbols {1, 2, ..., r}. Alternatively, a symmetric tensor of order r represented
in coordinates as a quantity with r indices satisfies

The space of symmetric tensors of order r on a finite-dimensional vector space V is naturally isomorphic to
the dual of the space of homogeneous polynomials of degree r on V. Over fields of characteristic zero, the
graded vector space of all symmetric tensors can be naturally identified with the symmetric algebra on V. A
related concept is that of the antisymmetric tensor or alternating form. Symmetric tensors occur widely in
engineering, physics and mathematics.

Contents
Definition
Examples
Symmetric part of a tensor
Symmetric product
Decomposition
See also
Notes
References
External links

Definition
Let V be a vector space and

a tensor of order k. Then T is a symmetric tensor if

for the braiding maps associated to every permutation σ on the symbols {1,2,...,k} (or equivalently for every
transposition on these symbols).

Given a basis {ei} of V, any symmetric tensor T of rank k can be written as

for some unique list of coefficients (the components of the tensor in the basis) that are symmetric
on the indices. That is to say

for every permutation σ.

The space of all symmetric tensors of order k defined on V is often denoted by Sk(V) or Symk(V). It is itself a
vector space, and if V has dimension N then the dimension of Symk(V) is the binomial coefficient

We then construct Sym(V) as the direct sum of Symk(V) for k = 0,1,2,...

Examples
There are many examples of symmetric tensors. Some include, the metric tensor, , the Einstein tensor,
and the Ricci tensor, .

Many material properties and fields used in physics and engineering can be represented as symmetric tensor
fields; for example: stress, strain, and anisotropic conductivity. Also, in diffusion MRI one often uses
symmetric tensors to describe diffusion in the brain or other parts of the body.

Ellipsoids are examples of algebraic varieties; and so, for general rank, symmetric tensors, in the guise of
homogeneous polynomials, are used to define projective varieties, and are often studied as such.

Symmetric part of a tensor

Suppose is a vector space over a field of characteristic 0. If T ∈ V⊗k is a tensor of order , then the
symmetric part of is the symmetric tensor defined by

the summation extending over the symmetric group on k symbols. In terms of a basis, and employing the
Einstein summation convention, if

then
The components of the tensor appearing on the right are often denoted by

with parentheses () around the indices being symmetrized. Square brackets [] are used to indicate anti-
symmetrization.

Symmetric product
If T is a simple tensor, given as a pure tensor product

then the symmetric part of T is the symmetric product of the factors:

In general we can turn Sym(V) into an algebra by defining the commutative and associative product ⊙.[1]
Given two tensors T1 ∈ Symk1(V) and T2 ∈ Symk2(V), we use the symmetrization operator to define:

It can be verified (as is done by Kostrikin and Manin[1]) that the resulting product is in fact commutative and
associative. In some cases the operator is omitted: T1T2 = T1 ⊙ T2.

In some cases an exponential notation is used:

Where v is a vector. Again, in some cases the ⊙ is left out:

Decomposition
In analogy with the theory of symmetric matrices, a (real) symmetric tensor of order 2 can be
"diagonalized". More precisely, for any tensor T ∈ Sym2(V), there are an integer r, non-zero unit vectors
v1,...,vr ∈ V and weights λ1,...,λr such that
The minimum number r for which such a decomposition is possible is the (symmetric) rank of T. The
vectors appearing in this minimal expression are the principal axes of the tensor, and generally have an
important physical meaning. For example, the principal axes of the inertia tensor define the Poinsot's
ellipsoid representing the moment of inertia. Also see Sylvester's law of inertia.

For symmetric tensors of arbitrary order k, decompositions

are also possible. The minimum number r for which such a decomposition is possible is the symmetric rank
of T.[2] This minimal decomposition is called a Waring decomposition; it is a symmetric form of the tensor
rank decomposition. For second-order tensors this corresponds to the rank of the matrix representing the
tensor in any basis, and it is well known that the maximum rank is equal to the dimension of the underlying
vector space. However, for higher orders this need not hold: the rank can be higher than the number of
dimensions in the underlying vector space. Moreover, the rank and symmetric rank of a symmetric tensor
may differ.[3]

See also
Antisymmetric tensor
Ricci calculus
Schur polynomial
Symmetric polynomial
Transpose
Young symmetrizer

Notes
1. Kostrikin, Alexei I.; Manin, Iurii Ivanovich (1997). Linear algebra and geometry. Algebra, Logic
and Applications. 1. Gordon and Breach. pp. 276–279. ISBN 9056990497.
2. Comon, P.; Golub, G.; Lim, L. H.; Mourrain, B. (2008). "Symmetric Tensors and Symmetric
Tensor Rank". SIAM Journal on Matrix Analysis and Applications. 30 (3): 1254.
arXiv:0802.1681 (https://arxiv.org/abs/0802.1681). doi:10.1137/060661569 (https://doi.org/10.1
137%2F060661569).
3. Shitov, Yaroslav (2018). "A Counterexample to Comon's Conjecture" (https://epubs.siam.org/ac
tion/captchaChallenge?redirectUri=%2Fdoi%2F10.1137%2F17M1131970). SIAM Journal on
Applied Algebra and Geometry. 2 (3): 428–443. arXiv:1705.08740 (https://arxiv.org/abs/1705.0
8740). doi:10.1137/17m1131970 (https://doi.org/10.1137%2F17m1131970). ISSN 2470-6566
(https://www.worldcat.org/issn/2470-6566).

References
Bourbaki, Nicolas (1989), Elements of mathematics, Algebra I, Springer-Verlag, ISBN 3-540-
64243-9.
Bourbaki, Nicolas (1990), Elements of mathematics, Algebra II, Springer-Verlag, ISBN 3-540-
19375-8.
Greub, Werner Hildbert (1967), Multilinear algebra, Die Grundlehren der Mathematischen
Wissenschaften, Band 136, Springer-Verlag New York, Inc., New York, MR 0224623 (https://w
ww.ams.org/mathscinet-getitem?mr=0224623).
 Sternberg, Shlomo (1983), Lectures on differential geometry, New York: Chelsea, ISBN 978-0-
8284-0316-0.

External links
Cesar O. Aguilar, The Dimension of Symmetric k-tensors (https://web.archive.org/web/200612
18155852/http://www.mast.queensu.ca/~cesar/math_notes/dim_symmetric_tensors.pdf)

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