# Division using index notation

Hello everyone,

Recently I started to use index notation, but still the division is not clear for me. I'll mention just some simple examples that I'm not sure about:

Does $a =\frac{1}{b_i}$ mean that $a = \sum_{i=1}^{3}\frac{1}{b_i}$ or $a = 1 / \sum_{i = 1}^{3}b_i$ ?

Similarly, does $a_i =\frac{b_i}{c_{jj}}$ mean that $a_i = \sum_{j=1}^{3}\frac{b_i}{c_{jj}}$ or $a = b_i / \sum_{j = 1}^{3}c_{jj}$ ?

thanks beforehand!

Muphrid
Generally speaking, there is no summation involved if an index is not repeated on the same side of an equation. An index that is "free" (not repeated) should be free on both sides of the equation. Hence, $a = 1/b_i$ is a nonsensical expression.

$a_i = b_i/c_{jj} = \sum_j b_i/c_{jj}$ is fine, however. Divisions don't come up very often with vector quantities, though.

Generally speaking, there is no summation involved if an index is not repeated on the same side of an equation. An index that is "free" (not repeated) should be free on both sides of the equation. Hence, $a = 1/b_i$ is a nonsensical expression.
Indeed, I'm sorry, what I wanted to write is $a = 1/b_{ii}$
$a_i = b_i/c_{jj} = \sum_j b_i/c_{jj}$ is fine