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In mathematics, the tensor algebra of a vector space V, denoted T(V) or T • (V), is the algebra of tensors on V (of any rank) with multiplication being the tensor product.It is the free algebra on V, in the sense of being left adjoint to the forgetful functor from algebras to vector spaces: it is the "most general" algebra containing V, in the sense of the corresponding universal property ...
A metric tensor is a (symmetric) (0, 2)-tensor; it is thus possible to contract an upper index of a tensor with one of the lower indices of the metric tensor in the product. This produces a new tensor with the same index structure as the previous tensor, but with lower index generally shown in the same position of the contracted upper index.
A dyadic tensor T is an order-2 tensor formed by the tensor product ⊗ of two Cartesian vectors a and b, written T = a ⊗ b.Analogous to vectors, it can be written as a linear combination of the tensor basis e x ⊗ e x ≡ e xx, e x ⊗ e y ≡ e xy, ..., e z ⊗ e z ≡ e zz (the right-hand side of each identity is only an abbreviation, nothing more):
A simple tensor (also called a tensor of rank one, elementary tensor or decomposable tensor [1]) is a tensor that can be written as a product of tensors of the form = where a, b, ..., d are nonzero and in V or V ∗ – that is, if the tensor is nonzero and completely factorizable. Every tensor can be expressed as a sum of simple tensors.
The tensor product of two vector spaces is a vector space that is defined up to an isomorphism.There are several equivalent ways to define it. Most consist of defining explicitly a vector space that is called a tensor product, and, generally, the equivalence proof results almost immediately from the basic properties of the vector spaces that are so defined.
[a] [1] [2] [3] It is also the modern name for what used to be called the absolute differential calculus (the foundation of tensor calculus), tensor calculus or tensor analysis developed by Gregorio Ricci-Curbastro in 1887–1896, and subsequently popularized in a paper written with his pupil Tullio Levi-Civita in 1900. [4]
A real tensor in 3D (i.e., one with a 3x3 component matrix) has as many as six independent invariants, three being the invariants of its symmetric part and three characterizing the orientation of the axial vector of the skew-symmetric part relative to the principal directions of the symmetric part.
In the tensor calculus formulation, the electromagnetic tensor F αβ is an antisymmetric covariant order 2 tensor; the four-potential, A α, is a covariant vector; the current, J α, is a vector; the square brackets, [ ], denote antisymmetrization of indices; ∂ α is the partial derivative with respect to the coordinate, x α.