2.

TENSORS OF SECOND ORDER 11

The result is a column matrix, or a vector, which we write Ta.

We see that the components of Ta are given by
(Ta)i = Tij aj :
We can then think of a tensor as a linear operator, which takes an arbitrary
vector a into a new vector Ta: The matrix of this linear operator or components
of the tensor are given by (1.2). If we think of a tensor as a linear operator taking
vectors into vectors, we donít need a set of basis vectors for the deÖnition of a
tensor.

Unit tensor
The simplest example of a tensor is perhaps the unit tensor
2 3
1 0 0
[1] = 4 0 1 0 5 : (1.3)
0 0 1
Its components are 1 on the diagonal and 0 o§ the diagonal
(1)ij = $ ij :
Here, the Kronecker delta is given by
1 if i = j
$ ij = f :
0 if i =
6 j
Exercise 2.1 Let us check in component notation how the unit tensor acts on
a vector a: We have
(1a)i = (1)ij aj = $ ij aj
= $ i1 a1 + $ i2 a2 + $ i3 a3 :
In this sum only one of the terms is non-zero. It is the one where the index
summed over also takes the value i. The Kronecker delta then has the value 1
and the result is
$ i1 a1 + $ i2 a2 + $ i3 a3 = ai :
If this seems strange, try in the Örst formula to give i the value 1: Then it goes
like this
(1a)1 = (1)1j aj = $ 1j aj = $ 11 a1 + $ 12 a2 + $ 13 a3
= 1a1 + 0a2 + 0a3 = a1 :
12 CHAPTER 1. VECTORS AND SECOND ORDER TENSORS

Tensor multiplication = matrix multiplication

If we have two tensors T; U we can multiply them. If
2 3
U11 U12 U13
4
[U] = U21 U22 U23 5 ; (1.4)
U31 U32 U33
the product TU is given by
2 32 3
T11 T12 T13 U11 U12 U13
[T] [U] = 4 T21 T22 T23 5 4 U21 U22 U23 5
T31 T32 T33 U31 U32 U33
2 3
T11 U11 + T12 U21 + T13 U31 T11 U12 + T12 U22 + T13 U32 :::
= 4 T21 U11 + T22 U21 + T23 U31 T21 U12 + T22 U22 + T23 U32 ::: 5 :
::: ::: :::
Or 2 3
T1j Uj1 T1j Uj2 T1j Uj3
4
[T] [U] = = T2j Uj1 T2j Uj2 T2j Uj3 5 : (1.5)
T3j Uj1 T3j Uj2 T3j Uj3
Or, even more compactly,
(TU)ij = Tik Ukj : (1.6)
Note that we changed the summation index from j to k as j is used as a free
index.

Trace of a tensor
The trace of a second order tensor is
trA = Aii : (1.7)

Tensor product of two vectors

In particular, if we have two vectors a; b, we can form a tensor with ij-components
ai bj :
It is simply called the tensor product (or dyadic product) of the two vectors.
There are two notations for this in the literature. Either a # b or simply ab
(note that there is no dot). In other words
(a # b)ij = (ab)ij = ai bj : (1.8)
2. TENSORS OF SECOND ORDER 13

We can also form the tensor with ij-components

(b # a)ij = (ba)ij = bi aj = aj bi :
Exercise 2.2 Show that
T
(a # b) = b # a:
Exercise 2.3 Show that the trace of a # b is the scalar product a $ b of the two
vectors.
This also gives us a possibility to deÖne trace directly. The trace of a tensor
is a linear scalar function of the tensor. When the tensor is a tensor product of
two vectors, the trace is simply the scalar product of the vectors.
tr(a # b) = a $ b: (1.9)

Matrix multiplication and the summation convention

If we have a second order tensor Tij and a vector ai and consider

Tij aj
we can think of this in terms of matrix multiplication. If we write the tensor T
and think of it as the matrix
2 3
T11 T12 T13
4
[T] = T21 T22 T23 5
T31 T32 T33
and the vector as the column matrix
2 3
a1
[a] = 4 a2 5 :
a3
Tij aj is the i-component of the vector Ta:
2 32 3
T11 T12 T13 a1
[Ta] = 4 T21 T22 T23 5 4 a2 5
T31 T32 T33 a3
2 3 2 3
T11 a1 + T12 a2 + T13 a3 T1j aj
= 4 T21 a1 + T22 a2 + T23 a3 5 = 4 T2j aj 5 :
T31 a1 + T32 a2 + T33 a3 T3j aj
14 CHAPTER 1. VECTORS AND SECOND ORDER TENSORS

In other words,
(Ta)i = Tij aj :

Another way of deÖning a tensor T is that it is given by its action on an

arbitrary vector a, and this action is Ta. So a tensor is nothing but a linear
operator.

Transpose, symmetric and antisymmetric tensors

Transposing a tensor means transposing its matrix

(TT )ij = (T)ji = Tji : (1.10)

A symmetric tensor equals its transpose. A symmetric tensor has 6 independent

components.
Let us now consider ai Tij . We note that there is one free index, in this case
j. So clearly this is still a vector, the j-component of a vector.

ai Tij = a1 T1j + a2 T2j + a3 T3j

= T1j a1 + T2j a2 + T3j a3 = Tij ai = (TT a)j :

Here,
2 32 3
% T & T 11 T 21 T 31 a1
T a = 4 T12 T22 T32 5 4 a2 5
T13 T23 T33 a3
2 3 2 3
T11 a1 + T21 a2 + T31 a3 Ti1 ai
= 4 T12 a1 + T22 a2 + T32 a3 5 = 4 Ti2 ai 5 :
T13 a1 + T23 a2 + T33 a3 Ti3 ai

Exercise 2.4 a; b are two vectors and T is a tensor. What are the free indices
of the expression ai Tij bj ?
Answer: there is no free index, so this is a scalar.

Exercise 2.5 Show that

ai Tij bj = a $ (Tb) = a $ Tb (1.11)

If we remember Örst to calculate the vector Tb, we do not need the paranthesis.
2. TENSORS OF SECOND ORDER 15

If in the foregoing formula, we take a to be the basis vector ei and b to

be the basis vector ej , we simply Önd the ij-matrix element of T. To Önd the
components of the basis vectors we use (2.19)

ei $Tej = (ei )k Tkl (ej )l = $ ik Tkl $ jl = Tij :

Note that it was essential to change the dummy su¢ces here.

Exercise 2.6 Show that (change dummy indices and note that (TT )ij = (T)ji =
Tji )
a $ Tb =ai Tij bj = bj Tij ai = bi Tji aj = b $ TT a (1.12)

Eigenvectors and eigenvalues

An eigenvector c of a tensor T is deÖned by the equation

Tc =.c: (1.13)

. is the eigenvalue. In components,

Tij cj = .ci : (1.14)

We can rewrite this equation as

(Tij % .$ ij )cj = 0:

Or as
(T%.1)c = 0:
The eigenvalues are then found from

det(T%.1) =0: (1.15)

From linear algebra we know that a symmetric tensor always has three eigen-
vectors and that they are (or can be chosen) orthonormal. If we choose the
eigenvectors as a basis, the matrix of the tensor is diagonal and the elements in
the diagonal are the eigenvalues.
If we calculate the determinant in the preceding equation we Önd

.3 % I1 .2 + I2 . % I3 = 0; (1.16)