A little clarification on Cartesian tensor notation

Join the discussion
Ask a follow-up here, or get your own question answered by working scientists, mathematicians and engineers — people, not an autocomplete.
Real named experts · corrections over time · the nuance an AI answer skips
2 replies · 1K views
Kashmir
Messages
466
Reaction score
74
Goldstein pg 192, 2 edIn a Cartesian three-dimensional space, a tensor ##\mathrm{T}## of the ##N## th rank may be defined for our purposes as a quantity having ##3^{N}## components ##T_{i j k}##.. (with ##N## indices) that transform under an orthogonal transformation of coordinates, ##\mathbf{A}##) according to the following scheme:*
##
T_{i j k \ldots}^{\prime} \left(\mathbf{x}^{\prime}\right)=a_{i l} a_{j m} a_{k n} \ldots T_{l m n \ldots}(\mathbf{x})
##

I've just a small doubt here:

What do the ##\mathbf{x}## mean here, are they vectors that multiply ##T## or is the author using them to signify the coordinate system in which the components of ##T## are calculated?
 
Physics news on Phys.org
In general the tensor is a function of the position ##\mathbf{x} \in \mathbf{R}^3## in space (e.g. stress, strain, electrical conductivity, etc. all depend on the position within the material). After changing coordinates, every point ##p## has been re-labelled by a new set of position coordinates ##\mathbf{x} \rightarrow \mathbf{x}' = \mathbf{A} \mathbf{x}##; hence why you also put a prime on the argument.
 
Reply
  • Like
Likes   Reactions: PeroK and Kashmir
ergospherical said:
In general the tensor is a function of the position ##\mathbf{x} \in \mathbf{R}^3## in space (e.g. stress, strain, electrical conductivity, etc. all depend on the position within the material). After changing coordinates, every point ##p## has been re-labelled by a new set of position coordinates ##\mathbf{x} \rightarrow \mathbf{x}' = \mathbf{A} \mathbf{x}##; hence why you also put a prime on the argument.
Thank you. Makes it perfectly clear! I :)
 
Reply
  • Like
Likes   Reactions: vanhees71 and ergospherical