- #1
CosmicKitten
- 132
- 0
I finally got my library fine paid off last week and I Picked up Schaum's Outlines Tensor Calculus by David C. Kay. I figured I really need to learn about tensors because every time I read a book or paper about certain subjects such as relativity, nonlinear optics, aerodynamics, etc., I see stuff about tensors and so i will need to eat sleep and breathe them for a little while before my physics studies can progress.
I have been studying the book for around half to most of the day for the past three days, I had been studying it at the library for a while as well before I got my fine paid off, and I am kind of on chapter 7 now, which is about Riemannian geometry of curves. It all seems really easy to me, I got the hang of Einstein summation really quick, the metric is intuitive, I think I get how to test for tensor character, Christoffel symbols are easy to figure out, although I will have to pick up a more advanced book later to figure out the theory behind them, as well as the theory behind the differences between covariance and contravariance. But I think it's good to do some problems and see some problems being done before I read the theory, that way I have some material in my head to work on so I can concentrate on the more theoretical books better.
I have mostly been reading through the problems, working some out and just absorbing the language of tensor calculus, even addictively at moments, the meanings and ideas and answers to things I have been wondering about just jumping out at me; and after I read through all of the chapters I intend to go back and do a bunch more of the problems.
Does anybody want to test me?
I have been studying the book for around half to most of the day for the past three days, I had been studying it at the library for a while as well before I got my fine paid off, and I am kind of on chapter 7 now, which is about Riemannian geometry of curves. It all seems really easy to me, I got the hang of Einstein summation really quick, the metric is intuitive, I think I get how to test for tensor character, Christoffel symbols are easy to figure out, although I will have to pick up a more advanced book later to figure out the theory behind them, as well as the theory behind the differences between covariance and contravariance. But I think it's good to do some problems and see some problems being done before I read the theory, that way I have some material in my head to work on so I can concentrate on the more theoretical books better.
I have mostly been reading through the problems, working some out and just absorbing the language of tensor calculus, even addictively at moments, the meanings and ideas and answers to things I have been wondering about just jumping out at me; and after I read through all of the chapters I intend to go back and do a bunch more of the problems.
Does anybody want to test me?