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C1 - Basics of Vectors
C1 - Basics of Vectors
2 Vector derivatives
2.1 Gradient of a scalar field
2.2 Divergence of a vector field
2.3 Curl of a vector field
2.4 Laplace operator
3 Appendix 1
convention is not used, the repeated indices are underlined, for example, xi xi xi2 is
equal to x12 or x 22 or x 32 , for i 1, 2, 3 , respectively.
A vector is denoted by a bold character, e.g., a.
A matrix is denoted by a bold character between 2 right parentheses, e.g., [Q].
For the 3-dimensional (3D) Cartesian system coordinates we use the notations:
x1 x, x2 y, x3 z for the coordinates and
i1 i, i 2 j, i 3 k for the unit vectors
and the corresponding symbols for a space dimension less than 3.
2
z
a3=a cos α3
z
a
i3 α3
e3 i 3 k a
α3
α2 i1 O i2 y
α1
e1 i1 i O y x
e2 i 2 j
x (a) (b)
z er
eθ
z e3
e2 θ
y
r eφ
i3 a e1 x
φ
i1 i2 y
x (d)
(c)
Fig. 1 In (a) and (b) xyz is a Cartesian right-handed system of coordinates; cos i (i=1, 2, 3) are the
direction cosines. In (c) and (d) are sketched orthogonal but not Cartesian system of coordinatess.
The orthonormal unit vectors { e i } are vectors perpendicular onto each other with the
magnitude equal to unity,
ei 1 .
For the unit vectors in Cartesian coordinates we use the notations:
e1 i1 i for x direction, e 2 i 2 j for y direction, and e3 i 3 k for z direction.
The vector a is expressed as
3
3
a a i a i ei ,
i1
(reminder: a i ei a1e1 a 2e 2 a 3e3 ) where the real a i ( a i R ) is the vector component on the
xi axis (positive if the vector projection on some axis and the axis have the same direction and
negative if opposite). By the use of direction cosines, cos i (see Fig. 1), the vector a is
expressed as
a a cos i e i ,
where a a 0 is the magnitude of vector a. From geometrical considerations, we can
write
a ai2
For the space of vectors we have the following properties:
a a (reflexivity),
abba (symmetry),
a b, b c a c (transitivity).
c b
a a
c
b
a) b)
by using eq. (1.1.1.1), we can write, a b d to obtain the vector d by the triangle rule as
shown in Fig. 3. Also,
ai bi d i (1.1.5)
d
a
Exercise 1.2.2
Compare eqs. (1.2.2) and (1.2.7). The consistency of scalar product definition requires
cos cos i cos i .
Prove the above equality.
5
b
a γ
Exercise 1.3.1
The equivalence of definitions of vector product from eqs. (1.3.2) and (1.3.3) requires
sin 2 cos1 cos 2 cos 2 cos 1 cos 2 cos 3 cos 3 cos 2
2 2
,
cos 3 cos 1 cos1 cos 3
2
where γ is the angle between vectors a and b and cos i , cos i are their direction
cosines, respectively. Prove the equality.
c) A third useful definition of the vector product is introduced by using the Levi-Civita
symbol, ijk . Thus, the i-component of vector c is written as follows
ci ijk a j bk . (1.3.6)
The Levi-Civita symbol is defined as
6
P1 Vector a is perpendicular on a b .
Proof
e1 e2 e3 e1 e2 e3 a1 a2 a3
a a b a a1 a2 a3 ai ei a1 a2 a3 a1 a2 a3 0 . (1.5.1)
b1 b2 b3 b1 b2 b3 b1 b2 b3
Since the scalar product is zero, the vector a is perpendicular on the vector a b .
Equivalently, b is perpendicular on the vector a b , that is, the vector a b is perpendicular
on the plan of vectors a and b. Alternatively, we can prove P1, by using the Levi-Civita
symbol which as follows
a a b ai ijk a j bk a j jik ai bk ai ijk a j bk 0 . (1.5.2)
In the third equality, i and j indices are inter-changed and in the last the anti-symmetry
property of Levi-Civita symbol is used.
7
P4 The equivalence of the 3rd and 1st definition for the vector product (from section 1.3)
can be proved as follows.
a b i ijk a j bk , (1.5.9)
and
a b ijk a j bk ilm al bm ijk ilm a j bk al bm jl km jm kl a j bk al bm
2
a j bk a j bk a j bk ak b j a 2j bk2 a j ak b j bk a 2 b 2 a j b j ak bk
(1.5.10)
a 2 b2 a b cos j cos j a b cos k cos k a 2 b2 a 2 b2 cos2
a 2 b2 sin 2 ,
8
where we used a j a cos j , b j b cos j , Exercise 1.2.2, and Appendix 1 for the product
ijk ilm . One can also write,
2
a b ijk a j bk ilm al bm ... a 2 b 2 a j b j ak bk
a 2 b 2 a b a 2 b 2 1 cos2 a 2 b 2 sin 2 .
2
Exercise 1.5.1
Prove that:
a b c b(a c ) c(a b) ;
a b c d (a c)(b d) (a d)(b c) .
2 Vector derivatives
Vector derivatives are of crucial importance in mathematics and physics. They are practically
used in all domains of physics, for example, solid mechanics, fluid mechanics, electricity and
magnetism, areas of theoretical and applied physics. In this section, we will define the basic
vector derivatives, namely, the gradient of a scalar field, divergence and curl of a vector field,
and Laplacian operator.
Let f be a vector field of a real variable, defined on the subset I of the real axis R with
values in the subset F of the 3-dimensional Euclidean space R3, f: I→ F. Then by the
application f to x I corresponds f ( x ) F.
Real axis x
y
g(x)
Earth
z
All the usual properties of functions of real variable are valid for the components fi(x) of
f (x ) . Thus:
i) f (x ) is continuous in x0 I if
lim f ( x ) f ( x0 ) lim f i ( x ) f i ( x0 ) for i=1, 2, 3.
x x0 x x0
ii) f (x ) is differentiable in x 0 if
9
f ( x ) f ( x0 ) f ( x ) f i ( x0 )
f ' ( x0 ) lim f i ' ( x0 ) lim i for i=1, 2, 3
x x0 x x0 x x0 x x0
exists and it is finite. f ' ( x0 ) is called the derivative of f (x ) in x 0 .
iii) The differential of f (x ) is defined as,
df ( x ) f ' ( x )dx .
Let f be a scalar field defined as the application f: F →I. Then by the application f to
r F corresponds f (r ) I . All the usual properties of a function of several (three here) real
variables are valid for f ( x1 , x2 , x3 ) . We denote by ( x1 x, x2 y , x3 z ) the components of
the vector r in a Cartesian system of coordinates associated to the three dimensional
Euclidean space. The differential of f (r ) is defined as
f (r )
df (r ) dxi
notation for Cartesian
i f (r)dxi
xi
1
see, e.g., https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smoothness: „the function f is said to be of (differentiability) class Ck if
the derivatives f′, f″, ..., f(k) exist and are continuous (continuity is implied by differentiability for all the
derivatives except for f(k)).
10
df dx j i j i k k f i j i k dx j k f jk dx j k f dx j j f (2.1.5)
By comparing eqs. (2.1.3) and (2.1.5), we obtain that in Cartesian coordinates
i i , i.e. x x ,y y ,z z (2.1.6)
xi x y z
and concluding the gradient operator in Cartesian coordinates is written as
i x j y k z i j k i x j y k z i l l .
x y z
f f f
f ( x1 , x2 , x3 ) f ( x, y, z ) i j k
x y z
i x j y k z f i l l f .
The Taylor expansion of a function of one variable is
f ' ' (a)
f ( x) f (a) f ' (a)( x a) ( x a) 2 ...
2!
df ( y ) 1 d 2 f ( y)
f (x h) f ( x ) ( y x) ( y x) 2 ...
y dy y x 2! dy 2 yx
1
f ( x) f '( x)h f ''( x)h 2 ...
2!
If above a 0 one obtains the so-called MacLaurin series.
f ' ' ( y) f ' ' ( x) 2
f (
x dx) f ( x) f ' ( y ) y x ( y x) ( y x) 2... f ( x) f ' ( x) dx dx ...
y 2! y x 2!
For a Taylor expansion of a vector field, we have
Exercise 2.1.1
Show that
r
f ( r ) r f ( r ) , where r=|r|.
r
1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0
111 1 0 0 0 , 112 1 0 0 0 , 123 0 1 0 1 . (A2)
1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1
il im in
P1 ijk lmn jl jm jn (A3)
kl km kn
To prove P1, we need to apply the rule “line by line” for the product of two determinants,
which is obtained as follows:
det ([A]) det ([B]) = det ([A][B]) =det ([A]) det ( [B]T ) = det ([A][B]T)] (A4)
where [A], [B] are square matrices. Then, from the first and last equality we have
a1 a2 a3 u1 u2 u3 a1 a2 a3 u1 v1 t1 ai ui ai vi ai ti
b1 b2 b3 v1 v2 v3 b1 b2 b3 u2 v2 t2 bi ui bi vi bi ti
c1 c2 c3 t1 t2 t3 c1 c2 c3 u3 v2 t3 ci ui ci vi ci ti
a u a v a t
a b c u v t b u b v b t . (A5)
c u c v c t
Thus,
ijk lmn ei e j e k el e m e n
ei1 ei 2 ei 3 el1 el 2 el 3 ei el ei e m ei e n il im in
(A6)
e j1 e j 2 e j 3 em1 em 2 em 3 e j el e j em e j e n jl jm jn
ek1 ek1 ek1 en1 en1 en1 e k el ek em ek en kl km kn
13
3 jl km jm kl jm kl jm kl jl km jl km jl km jm kl
In the third equality (the last two rows) from eq. (A8), for pedagogical reasons, the Einstein
convention is not used. We also can prove P2 as follows.