Reversing transformations of displacements

  • Thread starter Thread starter beowulf.geata
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Transformations
beowulf.geata
Messages
13
Reaction score
0

Homework Statement



I've just started (self-studying) Neuenschwander's Tensor Calculus for Physics and I got stuck at page 23, where he deals with transformations of displacements. I've made a summary of page 23 in the first part of the attached file.

Homework Equations



I want to use the coordinates x(x', y', z'), y(x', y', z'), z(x', y', z') and x'(x,y,z), y'(x,y,z), z'(x,y,z) and try to reverse the original transformation from unprimed to primed, see attached file.

The Attempt at a Solution


[/B]
I get a result which seems to say that dx'= 3dx', see attached file. So I don't understand where I'm going wrong. I'd be very grateful if anyone could help.
 

Attachments

Physics news on Phys.org
beowulf.geata said:

Homework Statement



I've just started (self-studying) Neuenschwander's Tensor Calculus for Physics and I got stuck at page 23, where he deals with transformations of displacements. I've made a summary of page 23 in the first part of the attached file.

Homework Equations



I want to use the coordinates x(x', y', z'), y(x', y', z'), z(x', y', z') and x'(x,y,z), y'(x,y,z), z'(x,y,z) and try to reverse the original transformation from unprimed to primed, see attached file.

The Attempt at a Solution


[/B]
I get a result which seems to say that dx'= 3dx', see attached file. So I don't understand where I'm going wrong. I'd be very grateful if anyone could help.
Look carefully at the expression multiplying dx', and compare it with the fourth equation in your text, the one with the Kronecker delta.
You seem to assume that ##\frac{\partial x'}{\partial x}\frac{\partial x}{\partial x'}=1## and similarly for the other two terms. That is not necessarily the case.

You can test it with a simple transformation (for two dimensions):
##x'=x+y##
##y'=x-y##
 
Thanks very much! I now see the error of my ways :-)
 
There are two things I don't understand about this problem. First, when finding the nth root of a number, there should in theory be n solutions. However, the formula produces n+1 roots. Here is how. The first root is simply ##\left(r\right)^{\left(\frac{1}{n}\right)}##. Then you multiply this first root by n additional expressions given by the formula, as you go through k=0,1,...n-1. So you end up with n+1 roots, which cannot be correct. Let me illustrate what I mean. For this...
Back
Top