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Del is a very convenient mathematical notation for those three operations (gradient, divergence, and curl) that makes many equations easier to write and remember. The del symbol (or nabla) can be formally defined as a vector operator whose components are the corresponding partial derivative operators.
D: divergence, C: curl, G: gradient, L: Laplacian, CC: curl of curl. Each arrow is labeled with the result of an identity, specifically, the result of applying the operator at the arrow's tail to the operator at its head. The blue circle in the middle means curl of curl exists, whereas the other two red circles (dashed) mean that DD and GG do ...
The above formula says that the curl of a vector field at a point is the infinitesimal volume density of this "circulation vector" around the point. To this definition fits naturally another global formula (similar to the Kelvin-Stokes theorem) which equates the volume integral of the curl of a vector field to the above surface integral taken ...
The nabla is a triangular symbol resembling an inverted Greek delta: [1] or ∇. The name comes, by reason of the symbol's shape, from the Hellenistic Greek word νάβλα for a Phoenician harp, [2] [3] and was suggested by the encyclopedist William Robertson Smith in an 1870 letter to Peter Guthrie Tait.
This article uses the standard notation ISO 80000-2, which supersedes ISO 31-11, for spherical coordinates (other sources may reverse the definitions of θ and φ): . The polar angle is denoted by [,]: it is the angle between the z-axis and the radial vector connecting the origin to the point in question.
Symbol Name Meaning SI unit of measure nabla dot the divergence operator often pronounced "del dot" per meter (m −1) nabla cross the curl operator often pronounced "del cross" per meter (m −1) nabla: delta (differential operator)
Divergence is a vector operator that operates on a vector field, producing a scalar field. Curl is a vector operator that operates on a vector field, producing a vector field. Defined in terms of del:
In vector calculus, divergence is a vector operator that operates on a vector field, producing a scalar field giving the quantity of the vector field's source at each point. More technically, the divergence represents the volume density of the outward flux of a vector field from an infinitesimal volume around a given point.