Some intuition for the use of metric tensors to raise and lower indices

Dr. Christian Salas November 15, 2009

Introduction

In this note I try to provide some intuition for the properties of tensors and in particular why the metric tensor can be used to raise and lower indices when applied to other tensors.

Denition of tensors in terms of vectors

It is helpful to think of all tensors as being composed of contravariant and/or covariant vectors. A contravariant vector Ak dened with regard to a system k dened with of coordinates {xk } is one which is transformed into a vector A regard to a system of coordinates {z k } by the transformation law
k k = z Am A xm

(k, m = 1, . . . , N )

(1)

Contravariant vectors are always identied by a single upper index. In conk by trast, a covariant vector Bk is one which is transformed into a vector B the transformation law
m k = x Bm B z k

(k, m = 1, . . . , N )

(2)

Covariant vectors are always identied with a single lower index. We can now dene all types of tensors in terms of these two vectors. For example, a second-order contravariant tensor T uv with respect to the coordinate system {xk } can be dened as T uv = Au B v 1 (u, v = 1, . . . , N ) (3)

This can be thought of as the N 2 matrix T = A B. Using (1) we see that uv with respect T uv is transformed into a second-order contravariant tensor T to the coordinate system {z k } by the transformation law
v v u u uv = A u B v = z z Am B n = z z T mn T xm xn xm xn

(4)

Similarly, we can dene a second-order covariant tensor Tuv with respect to the coordinate system {xk } as Tuv = Au Bv (u, v = 1, . . . , N ) (5)

and using (2) we see that it transforms into a second-order covariant tensor uv with respect to the coordinate system {z k } according to the law T
m m n n uv = A u B v = x x Am Bn = x x Tmn T z u z v z u z v

(6)

We can dene tensors of any other order and type by adding vector factors. For example, a third-order mixed tensor with two contravariant components and one covariant component can be dened as
uv Tw = Au B v C w

(u, v, w = 1, . . . , N )

(7)

Using (1) and (2) we see that it transforms according to the law
u v p v p u uv w u B vC w = z z x Am B n Cp = z z x T mn T =A xm xn z w xm xn z w p

(8)

In the same way, we can dene tensors of arbitrary order and type.

The metric tensor

ds2 = (dy 1 )2 + (dy 2 )2 + + (dy N )2 = jk dy j dy k (9)

The metric of the usual Euclidean metric space can be written as

If instead of the Descartes orthogonal coordinates {y k } we introduce the arbitrary generalised coordinates {xk } by means of the equations y k = y k (x1 , x2 , . . . , xN ) then we can write y k 1 y k 2 y k N y k m dx + 2 dx + + N dx = dx dy = x1 x x xm
k

(k = 1, 2, . . . , N )

(10)

(11)

for k = 1, 2, . . . , N , and the metric form can be written as ds2 = y 1 1 y 1 2 y 1 N dx + dx + + dx x1 x2 xN

2

y 2 1 y 2 2 y 2 N dx + dx + + dx x1 x2 xN
2

y N 1 y N 2 y N N + + dx + dx + + N dx x1 x2 x

= dx1 dx2 dxN

y 1 x1 y 1 x2

. . .

y 1 x1 y 1 x1

y 1 x1 y 1 x2

. . .

y 1 x2 y 1 x2

. . .

y 1 x1 y 1 x2

. . .

y 1 xN y 1 xN

dx1 dx2 . . . dxN

y 1 y 1 xN x1

y 1 y 1 xN x2

y 1 y 1 xN xN

+ dx
1

dx

dx

y 2 x1 y 2 x2

. . .

y 2 x1 y 2 x1

y 2 x1 y 2 x2

. . .

y 2 x2 y 2 x2

. . .

y 2 x1 y 2 x2

. . .

y 2 xN y 2 xN

dx1 dx2 . . . dxN

y 2 y 2 xN x1

y 2 y 2 xN x2

y 2 y 2 xN xN

+ + dx1 dx2 dxN

y N x1 y N x2

. . .

y N x1 y N x1

y N x1 y N x2

. . .

y N x2 y N x2

. . .

y N x1 y N x2

. . .

y N xN y N xN

dx1 dx2 . . . dxN

y N y N xN x1

y N y N xN x2

y N y N xN xN

= dx1 dx2 dxN

N i=1 N i=1

. . .

y i x1 y i x2

y i x1 y i x1

N i=1 N i=1

. . .

y i x1 y i x2

y i x2 y i x2

. . .

N i=1 N i=1

y i x1 y i x2

. . .

y i xN y i xN

dx1 dx2 . . . dxN

N y i y i i=1 xN x1

N y i y i i=1 xN x2

N y i y i i=1 xN xN

This can be written more compactly in tensor notation as ds2 = gmn dxm dxn 3 (12)

where

y j y k (13) xm xn The symmetric second-order system gmn is a covariant second-order tensor called the metric tensor. As can be seen from the calculations above, the full matrix form of gmn is N y i y i N y i y i N y i y i 1 1 1 2 i=1 x x i=1 x1 xN i=1 x x N y i y i N y i y i N y i y i i=1 x2 x1 i=1 x2 x2 i=1 x2 xN [gmn ] = (14) . . . . . . . . . . . . gmn = jk
N y i y i i=1 xN x1 N y i y i i=1 xN x2

N y i y i i=1 xN xN

Raising and lowering indices

gmn An = Am (15)

Premultiplying a contravariant vector by gmn lowers the index i.e. we have

We can see that this is so by writing gmn An = jk y j k y k k y j y k n A = A = A = Am jk xm xn xm xm (16)

(by the transformation law for covariant vectors). Now, the inverse of the (covariant) metric tensor gmn gives the contravariant metric tensor g mn . This has the eect of raising the index on a covariant vector i.e. we have g mn An = Am (17)

To get an intuitive feeling for why this is so, suppose we are dealing with an orthogonal system so that gmn is diagonal i.e. g11 0 0 0 g22 0 [gmn ] = . (18) . . . . . . . . . . . 0 0 gN N Then the contravariant metric tensor is simply 1 0 g11 1 0 g22 mn 1 [g ] = [gmn ] = . . . . . . . . . 0 4 0

0 0 . . .
1 gN N

(19)

A typical non-zero element is g so we have g mm Am =

mm

1 gmm

xm xm = y j y j

(20)

xm xm xm A = Aj = Am m y j y j y j

(21)

(by the transformation law for contravariant vectors). Now, we can apply this raising and lowering of indices technique to tensors by remembering the denition of tensors in terms of contravariant and covariant vectors. For example, we can write
uv g mk Tk = T uvm

(22)

because
uv g mk Tk = Au B v g mk Ck = Au B v C m = T uvm

(23)

The same applies to tensors of arbitrary order and type.

(END OF NOTE)