User:John R. Brews/Sandbox: Difference between revisions
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== | ==Tensor== | ||
In ''physics'' a '''tensor''' in its simplest form is a proportionality factor between two [[vector]] quantities that may differ in both magnitude and direction. Mathematically this relationship is: | |||
{{ | :<math> v_j = \sum_{k} \chi_{jk} w_k \ , </math> | ||
where '''v''' is a vector with components {v<sub>j</sub>} and '''w''' is another vector with components {w<sub>j</sub>} and the quantity '''Χ''' = {χ<sub>ij</sub>} is a tensor. This example is a ''second rank'' tensor. The idea is extended to ''third'' rank tensors that relate a vector to a second rank tensor, as when electric polarization is related to stress in a crystal, and to ''fourth'' rank tensors that relate two second rank tensors, and so on. | |||
Tensors can relate vectors of different dimensionality, as in the relation: | |||
<math> \begin{pmatrix} | |||
p_1\\ | |||
p_2\\ | |||
p_3 | |||
{{ | \end{pmatrix} | ||
= | |||
\begin{pmatrix} | |||
T_{11} & T_{12} &T_{13}&T_{14}&T_{15}\\ | |||
T_{11} & T_{12} &T_{13}&T_{14}&T_{15}\\ | |||
T_{11} & T_{12} &T_{13}&T_{14}&T_{15}\\ | |||
T_{11} & T_{12} &T_{13}&T_{14}&T_{15}\\ | |||
T_{11} & T_{12} &T_{13}&T_{14}&T_{15} | |||
\end{pmatrix} | |||
\ | |||
{{ | \begin{pmatrix} | ||
q_1\\ | |||
q_2\\ | |||
q_3\\ | |||
{ | q_4\\ | ||
q_5 | |||
\end{pmatrix} </math> | |||
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Revision as of 19:12, 16 December 2010
Tensor
In physics a tensor in its simplest form is a proportionality factor between two vector quantities that may differ in both magnitude and direction. Mathematically this relationship is:
where v is a vector with components {vj} and w is another vector with components {wj} and the quantity Χ = {χij} is a tensor. This example is a second rank tensor. The idea is extended to third rank tensors that relate a vector to a second rank tensor, as when electric polarization is related to stress in a crystal, and to fourth rank tensors that relate two second rank tensors, and so on.
Tensors can relate vectors of different dimensionality, as in the relation: