CHAPTER

Tensors
2
As mentioned in the introduction, all laws of continuum mechanics must be formulated in terms of quantities
that are independent of coordinates. It is the purpose of this chapter to introduce such mathematical entities.
We begin by introducing a shorthand notationthe indicial notationin Part A of this chapter, which is fol-
lowed by the concept of tensors, introduced as a linear transformation in Part B. Tensor calculus is considered
in Part C, and expressions for the components in cylindrical and spherical coordinates for tensors resulting
from operations such as the gradient, the divergence, and the Laplacian of them are derived in Part D.
PART A: INDICIAL NOTATION
2.1 SUMMATION CONVENTION, DUMMY INDICES
Consider the sum
s a
1
x
1
a
2
x
2
. . . a
n
x
n
: (2.1.1)
We can write the preceding equation in a compact form using a summation sign:
s
X
n
i1
a
i
x
i
: (2.1.2)
It is obvious that the following equations have exactly the same meaning as Eq. (2.1.2):
s
X
n
j1
a
j
x
j
; s
X
n
m1
a
m
x
m
; s
X
n
k1
a
k
x
k
: (2.1.3)
The index i in Eq. (2.1.2), or j or m or k in Eq. (2.1.3), is a dummy index in the sense that the sum is inde-
pendent of the letter used for the index. We can further simplify the writing of Eq. (2.1.1) if we adopt the
following convention: Whenever an index is repeated once, it is a dummy index indicating a summation with
the index running through the integral numbers 1, 2, . . ., n.
This convention is known as Einsteins summation convention. Using this convention, Eq. (2.1.1) can be
written simply as:
s a
i
x
i
or s a
j
x
j
or s a
m
x
m
; etc: (2.1.4)
Copyright 2010, Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
It is emphasized that expressions such as a
i
b
i
x
i
or a
m
b
m
x
m
are not defined within this convention. That is,
an index should never be repeated more than once when the summation convention is used. Therefore, an
expression of the form
X
n
i1
a
i
b
i
x
i
;
must retain its summation sign.
In the following, we shall always take the number of terms n in a summation to be 3, so that, for example:
a
i
x
i
a
1
x
1
a
2
x
2
a
3
x
3
; a
ii
a
11
a
22
a
33
:
The summation convention obviously can be used to express a double sum, a triple sum, and so on. For
example, we can write:
a
X
3
i1
X
3
j1
a
ij
x
i
x
j
concisely as
a a
ij
x
i
x
j
: (2.1.5)
Expanding in full, Eq. (2.1.5) gives a sum of nine terms in the right-hand side, i.e.,
a a
ij
x
i
x
j
a
11
x
1
x
1
a
12
x
1
x
2
a
13
x
1
x
3
a
21
x
2
x
1
a
22
x
2
x
2
a
23
x
2
x
3
a
31
x
3
x
1
a
32
x
3
x
2
a
33
x
3
x
3
:
For newcomers, it is probably better to perform the preceding expansion in two steps: first, sum over i,
and then sum over j (or vice versa), i.e.,
a
ij
x
i
x
j
a
1j
x
1
x
j
a
2j
x
2
x
j
a
3j
x
3
x
j
;
where
a
1j
x
1
x
j
a
11
x
1
x
1
a
12
x
1
x
2
a
13
x
1
x
3
;
and so on. Similarly, the indicial notation a
ijk
x
i
x
j
x
k
represents a triple sum of 27 terms, that is,
X
3
i1
X
3
j1
X
3
k1
a
ijk
x
i
x
j
x
k
a
ijk
x
i
x
j
x
k
: (2.1.6)
2.2 FREE INDICES
Consider the following system of three equations:
x
0
1
a
11
x
1
a
12
x
2
a
13
x
3
;
x
0
2
a
21
x
1
a
22
x
2
a
23
x
3
;
x
0
3
a
31
x
1
a
32
x
2
a
33
x
3
:
(2.2.1)
Using the summation convention, Eqs. (2.2.1) can be written as:
x
0
1
a
1m
x
m
;
x
0
2
a
2m
x
m
;
x
0
3
a
3m
x
m
;
(2.2.2)
4 CHAPTER 2 Tensors
which can be shortened into
x
0
i
a
im
x
m
; i 1; 2; 3: (2.2.3)
An index that appears only once in each term of an equation such as the index i in Eq. (2.2.3) is
called a free index. Unless stated otherwise, we agree that a free index takes on the integral num-
ber 1, 2 or 3. Thus, x
0
i
a
im
x
m
is shorthand for three equations, each having a sum of three terms on
its right-hand side. Another simple example of a free index is the following equation defining the com-
ponents of a vector a in terms of a dot product with each of the base vectors e
i
,
a
i
a e
i
; (2.2.4)
and clearly the vector a can also be expressed in terms of its components as
a a
i
e
i
: (2.2.5)
A further example is given by
e
0
i
Q
mi
e
m
; (2.2.6)
representing
e
0
1
Q
11
e
1
Q
21
e
2
Q
31
e
3
;
e
0
2
Q
12
e
1
Q
22
e
2
Q
32
e
3
;
e
0
3
Q
13
e
1
Q
23
e
2
Q
33
e
3
:
(2.2.7)
We note that x
0
j
a
jm
x
m
is the same as Eq. (2.2.3) and e
0
j
Q
mj
e
m
is the same as Eq. (2.2.6). However,
a
i
b
j
is a meaningless equation. The free index appearing in every term of an equation must be the same.
Thus, the following equations are meaningful:
a
i
k
i
c
i
or a
i
b
i
c
j
d
j
f
i
:
If there are two free indices appearing in an equation such as:
T
ij
A
im
A
jm
; (2.2.8)
then the equation is a shorthand for the nine equations, each with a sum of three terms on the right-hand side.
In fact,
T
11
A
1m
A
1m
A
11
A
11
A
12
A
12
A
13
A
13
;
T
12
A
1m
A
2m
A
11
A
21
A
12
A
22
A
13
A
23
;
T
13
A
1m
A
3m
A
11
A
31
A
12
A
32
A
13
A
33
;
T
21
A
2m
A
1m
A
21
A
11
A
22
A
12
A
23
A
13
;
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
T
33
A
3m
A
3m
A
31
A
31
A
32
A
32
A
33
A
33
:
2.3 THE KRONECKER DELTA
The Kronecker delta, denoted by d
ij
, is defined as:
d
ij

1 if i j;
0 if i 6 j:

(2.3.1)
2.3 The Kronecker Delta 5
That is,
d
11
d
22
d
33
1; d
12
d
13
d
21
d
23
d
31
d
32
0: (2.3.2)
In other words, the matrix of the Kronecker delta is the identity matrix:
d
ij

d
11
d
12
d
13
d
21
d
22
d
23
d
31
d
32
d
33
2
4
3
5

1 0 0
0 1 0
0 0 1
2
4
3
5
: (2.3.3)
We note the following:
(a) d
ii
d
11
d
22
d
33
1 1 1,
that is,
d
ii
3: (2.3.4)
(b) d
1m
a
m
d
11
a
1
d
12
a
2
d
13
a
3
d
11
a
1
a
1
;
d
2m
a
m
d
21
a
1
d
22
a
2
d
23
a
3
d
22
a
2
a
2
;
d
3m
a
m
d
31
a
1
d
32
a
2
d
33
a
3
d
33
a
3
a
3
;
that is,
d
im
a
m
a
i
: (2.3.5)
(c) d
1m
T
mj
d
11
T
1j
d
12
T
2j
d
13
T
3j
T
1j
;
d
2m
T
mj
d
21
T
1j
d
22
T
2j
d
23
T
3j
T
2j
;
d
3m
T
mj
d
31
T
1j
d
32
T
2j
d
33
T
3j
T
3j
;
that is,
d
im
T
mj
T
ij
: (2.3.6)
In particular,
d
im
d
mj
d
ij
; d
im
d
mn
d
nj
d
ij
; etc: (2.3.7)
(d) If e
1
, e
2
, e
3
are unit vectors perpendicular to one another, then clearly,
e
i
e
j
d
ij
: (2.3.8)
2.4 THE PERMUTATION SYMBOL
The permutation symbol, denoted by e
ijk
, is defined by:
e
ijk

1
1
0
8
<
:
9
=
;
according to whether i; j; k
form an even
form an odd
do not form
0
@
1
A
permutation of 1; 2; 3; (2.4.1)
i.e.,
e
123
e
231
e
312
1;
e
213
e
321
e
132
1;
e
111
e
112
e
222
. . . 0:
(2.4.2)
6 CHAPTER 2 Tensors
We note that
e
ijk
e
jki
e
kij
e
jik
e
kji
e
ikj
: (2.4.3)
If {e
1
, e
2
, e
3
} is a right-handed triad, then
e
1
e
2
e
3
; e
2
e
1
e
3
; e
2
e
3
e
1
; e
3
e
2
e
1
; etc., (2.4.4)
which can be written in a short form as
e
i
e
j
e
ijk
e
k
e
jki
e
k
e
kij
e
k
: (2.4.5)
Now, if a a
i
e
i
and b b
i
e
i
, then, since the cross-product is distributive, we have
a b a
i
e
i
b
j
e
j
a
i
b
j
e
i
e
j
a
i
b
j
e
ijk
e
k
: (2.4.6)
The following useful identity can be proven (see Prob. 2.12):
e
ijm
e
klm
d
ik
d
jl
d
il
d
jk
: (2.4.7)
2.5 INDICIAL NOTATION MANIPULATIONS
(a) Substitution: If
a
i
U
im
b
m
; (i)
and
b
i
V
im
c
m
; (ii)
then, in order to substitute the b
i
in Eq. (ii) into the b
m
in Eq. (i), we must first change the free index in Eq. (ii)
from i to m and the dummy index m to some other lettersay, nso that
b
m
V
mn
c
n
: (iii)
Now Eqs. (i) and (iii) give
a
i
U
im
V
mn
c
n
: (iv)
Note that Eq. (iv) represents three equations, each having a sum of nine terms on its right-hand side.
(b) Multiplication: If
p a
m
b
m
and q c
m
d
m
;
then
pq a
m
b
m
c
n
d
n
:
It is important to note that pq 6 a
m
b
m
c
m
d
m
: In fact, the right-hand side of this expression, i.e., a
m
b
m
c
m
d
m
,
is not even defined in the summation convention, and further, it is obvious that
pq 6
X
3
m1
a
m
b
m
c
m
d
m
:
2.5 Indicial Notation Manipulations 7
Since the dot product of vectors is distributive, therefore, if a a
i
e
i
and b b
i
e
i
, then
a b a
i
e
i
b
j
e
j
a
i
b
j
e
i
e
j
:
In particular, if e
1
, e
2
, e
3
are unit vectors perpendicular to one another, then e
i
e
j
d
ij
so that
a b a
i
b
j
d
ij
a
i
b
i
a
1
b
1
a
2
b
2
a
3
b
3
;
which is the familiar expression for the evaluation of the dot product in terms of the vector components.
(c) Factoring: If
T
ij
n
j
ln
i
0;
then, using the Kronecker delta, we can write n
i
d
ij
n
j
, so that we have
T
ij
n
j
ld
ij
n
j
0:
Thus,
T
ij
ld
ij
n
j
0:
(d) Contraction: The operation of identifying two indices is known as a contraction. Contraction indicates a
sum on the index. For example, T
ii
is the contraction of T
ij
with
T
ii
T
11
T
22
T
33
:
If
T
ij
lDd
ij
2mE
ij
;
then
T
ii
lDd
ii
2mE
ii
3lD 2mE
ii
:
8 CHAPTER 2 Tensors