TENSOR ANALYSIS

with applications to

Geometry and Continuum Mechanics

C J Camilleri

Physical Components of Tensor Derivatives

1 ∂ b̃ik b̃ik ∂hI hK X hL n l o

∇
gb =
m ik + − b̃lk
hM ∂um hI hK hM ∂um hI hM im

δb
f
ik . . . (u, t) ∂ b̃ik . . .
= + ṽm ∇
gb
m ik . . . ,m
δt ∂t
Db
g
ik . . . (u, t) ∂ b̃ik . . . X
= + ṽm ∇
gb
m ik . . . + ω̃im b̃mk . . .
Dt ∂t
f . . k . . (u, t)
Vb Db
g X0
.i... . ik . . X
= + ẽmi b̃ . mk . . − ẽkm b̃ . im . .
Vt Dt
.k
gb = ṽ ∇
£ m m bik + ω̃im b̃mk + ω̃km b̃im + ẽim b̃mk − ẽkm b̃im
g
v i
Curvilinear Coordinates

Summation is understood over repeated lower-case indices. No components or summation are implied
by upper-case suffixes of the scale factors – they are just labels. At each stage an upper-case suffix
P
‘follows’ the value of the corresponding lower-case index. The denotes the sum of all such terms, one
for each similar index of the tensor.
 Electronic
Portable Document Format (PDF)

copy to

M J Roberts
of
Portsmouth, England

With best wishes

 TENSOR ANALYSIS
with applications to
Geometry and Continuum Mechanics

C J Camilleri
Department of Mathematics
University of Malta

Second Edition

July 16, 2004

First Edition published in 1999 by
Malta University Press, Tal-Qroqq, Msida, Malta

Second Edition in electronic-pdf format published in 2004 by

C J Camilleri, Department of Mathematics
University of Malta, Tal-Qroqq, Msida, Malta

Typesetting and Page Layout Produced C J Camilleri.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,

stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any
means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise
without the prior permission of the author.

Copyright ­
c C J Camilleri 1999 and 2004.

The text was prepared by the author using LaTEX2.09 under Windows XP.
The diagrams were drawn by the author using AutoCad.

Windows XP is a trademark of Microsoft Corp.

AutoCad is a trademark of Autodesk, Inc.
To my beloved wife Kate, who makes life a joy,
and my children
Anthony, Susan, David, Christopher
Contents

Preface vii

1 Notation and Definitions 1

1.1 Index Notation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.2 Summation Convention . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.3 Symmetry and Skew-symmetry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.4 Elementary Algebraic Operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.4.1 Equality of Holors – Free Index Balance . . . . . . . . . 5
1.4.2 Null Holor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.4.3 Sum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.4.4 Product . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.4.5 Contraction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.4.6 Contracted or Inner Product . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.5 The Alternators and the Kronecker Deltas . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Exercises 1.1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1.6 Determinant of a (3 × 3) Matrix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
1.6.1 Useful Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
1.6.2 Cofactors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Exercises 1.2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
1.7 Matrices and Vectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
1.7.1 Multiplication of Matrices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
1.7.2 Square Matrices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Exercises 1.3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

2 Rectilinear Coordinate Systems 25

2.1 Rectangular Systems and Base Vectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
2.2 Scalar and Vector Products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Exercises 2.1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
2.3 Oblique Systems and Base Vectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

i
ii CONTENTS Tensors_cjc

2.4 Covariant and Contravariant Components . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

2.4.1 Relation Between Covariant and Contravariant Compo-
nents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
2.5 Physical Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
2.6 Scalar and Vector Products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
2.7 Special Cases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
2.8 Relation Between Skew and Rectangular Systems . . . . . . . . 37
Exercises 2.2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
2.9 The Metric Form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
2.10 Magnitude of a Vector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
2.11 Angle Between Two Directions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Exercises 2.3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

3 Curvilinear Coordinate Systems 49

3.1 Cylindrical Polar Coordinates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
3.2 Spherical Polar Coordinates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
3.3 General Curvilinear Coordinates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
3.4 Natural Base Vectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
3.5 Reciprocal Base Vectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
3.6 Components of Vectors on Local Basis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
3.7 The Metric Tensor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
3.8 Element of Volume . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
3.9 Magnitude of a Vector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
3.10 Angle Between Two Directions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Exercises 3.1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
3.11 Background Rectangular Cartesian System . . . . . . . . . . . 59
3.12 Orthogonal Curvilinear Coordinates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
3.12.1 Scale Factors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Exercises 3.2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

4 Cartesian Tensors 69
4.1 Transformation of Rectangular Cartesian Coordinates . . . . . 69
4.2 Transformation of Orthonormal Basis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
4.3 Transformation of Vector Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
4.4 Cartesian Tensors of Order One . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
4.5 Scalars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
4.6 Cartesian Tensors of Order Two . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
4.7 Cartesian Tensors of order n . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
4.8 Elementary Algebraic Operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
4.8.1 Sum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
 Tensors_cjc CONTENTS iii

4.8.2 Product . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
4.8.3 Contraction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
4.9 The Quotient Law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
4.10 Invariance of Tensor Equations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
4.11 Isotropic Tensors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Exercises 4.1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

5 General Tensors 83
5.1 Transformation of Curvilinear Coordinates . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
5.2 Transformation of Local Bases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
5.3 Transformation of Vectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
5.4 Tensors of Order One . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
5.5 Associated Vectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
5.6 Tensors of Order Two . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
Exercises 5.1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
5.7 Tensors of Order n . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
5.7.1 Lateral Position of Indices – Symmetry . . . . . . . . . 91
5.8 Associated Tensors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
5.9 Relative or Weighted Tensors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
5.9.1 Conservation of Indices in Transformation Laws . . . . . 94
5.10 Reduction of Relative Tensors to Tensors . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
5.11 Algebraic Operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
5.12 The Quotient Law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
5.13 Invariance of General Tensor Equations . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
5.14 Isotropic General Tensors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
5.15 Principal Directions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
Exercises 5.2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98

6 Differential Tensor Calculus 103

6.1 General Tensor Fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
6.2 Differentiation of General Tensor Fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
6.3 Base Vectors and the Christoffel Symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
Exercises 6.1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
6.4 Intrinsic Derivative of a Vector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
6.5 Covariant Derivative of a Vector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
6.5.1 The Operator ∇j . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
Exercises 6.2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
6.6 Differentiation of Sum and Product . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
6.7 Intrinsic and Covariant Derivative of Tensors . . . . . . . . . . 116
6.8 Generalized Vector Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
iv CONTENTS Tensors_cjc

6.8.1 Generalized Vector Identities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119

6.9 Commutative Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
Exercises 6.3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
6.10 Second Derivative of a Tensor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
Exercises 6.4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128

7 Orthogonal Curvilinear Coordinates 133

7.1 Christoffel Symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
7.2 Physical Components of Tensors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
7.3 Intrinsic Derivative . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
7.4 Covariant Derivative . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
7.5 The ε-Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
7.6 Physical Components of Vector Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
Exercises 7.1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141

8 Differential Geometry 145

8.1 Space Curves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
8.2 Unit Tangent to Curve . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
8.3 Unit Normal to Curve . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
Exercises 8.1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
8.4 Frenet Formulæ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
8.5 Parallel Fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
Exercises 8.2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
8.6 Surfaces Embedded in R3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
Exercises 8.3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154

9 Continuum Mechanics 161

9.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
9.2 Convected Coordinates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
9.3 Time-Derivative . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
9.4 Transformation to Fixed-Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
Exercises 9.1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
9.5 ‘Flowing’ Coordinates – Total Derivative . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
9.5.1 Tensor Properties of Total Derivative . . . . . . . . . . . 170
Exercises 9.2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
9.6 Spatial Motion Following the Particle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
9.6.1 Equation of Continuity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
9.6.2 Equations of Motion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
9.7 Instantaneous Motion – Deformation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
9.8 Convected Motion - Deformation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
 Tensors_cjc CONTENTS v

9.9 Translated Fixed-Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180

9.9.1 Convected Time Integrals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
Exercises 9.3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
9.10 Commutative Properties of Derivatives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
9.11 Physical Components of Derivatives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
9.12 Physical Translated Fixed-Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
Exercises 9.4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
9.13 Constitutive Equations of State . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
9.14 Generalized Equations of State . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196
Exercises 9.5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199

A Rheology – An Overview 201

A.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
A.2 Rheological Study Cycle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
A.3 Idealized Materials with Simple Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . 202
A.3.1 Liquids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202
A.3.2 Solids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
A.4 Materials with Complicated Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
A.4.1 Elastico-Viscous Liquids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
A.4.2 Visco-Elastic Solids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207

References 209

Answers and Notes 213

Index 225
vi CONTENTS Tensors_cjc
Preface

This book is based on a course of lectures given by the author at the University
of Malta, and its main objective is to present an introductory course in tensor
methods adapted to the needs of students in the physical and engineering sci-
ences or in applied mathematics. The classical, component, local approach1 is
employed and the organization of the book is intended to firstly familiarize the
student with index operations, through the use of the summation convention
and the permutation symbols, and then to use these methods in the algebra
and calculus of tensors which are defined in terms of appropriate transforma-
tion rules for their components denoted by indexed systems. Application to
geometry and mechanics is made by including related exercises throughout
the text, particularly in the last two chapters where tensors are applied to
differential geometry and mechanics of continuous material.
Prerequisites include an elementary knowledge of the calculus of ordinary
functions of several variables including the chain rule for partial differentiation,
and a basic knowledge of vector algebra such as that found in the author’s book
on vector analysis [1] to which the present work is a follow up.
The emphasis of this book is on analytical techniques as revealed by the
large number of exercises it contains. These exercises are to be taken as an
integral part of the text as suggested by their positioning within the chap-
ters. Those of the problem-type are supplied with answers and should provide
practice in manipulation, the rest are meant to encourage the student to de-
rive some of the important standard results for himself, as extensions of the
preceding sections, which are often required and quoted later. At times these
are accompanied by instructive remarks.
The outstanding difficulty in introducing tensor notation is the amount of
indices involved and Chapter 1 may appear to be unnecessarily detailed and
possibly overwhelming for first-time readers. However, it is my experience
1
It is felt that students will have deeper understanding of the modern, noncomponent,
global treatment of the subject after mastering the component approach; after all in solving
real physical or engineering problems calculations are carried out on components.

vii
viii Tensors_cjc

that the student who takes the challenge of working through the exercises for
himself right at the beginning of the course, will soon realize how much easier
it is to write tensor notation than to read it and will appreciate the advantages
it offers in writing complex expressions compactly. Moreover, it is hoped that
the student also appreciates the simplification offered by the index notation if
it supplants the traditional notation of vector analysis and matrix theory.
The treatment of vectors in terms of basis along rectilinear coordinates in
Chapter 2 provides a gentle introduction of the Riemannian metric 3-space via
local basis along curvilinear coordinate directions considered in Chapter 3.
In Chapter 4 tensors are introduced in the Cartesian framework to be de-
veloped more generally in the next two chapters. This may appear to involve
duplication, but in my opinion this is offset by a definite pedagogical value.
Physics and engineering students will welcome this lucid introduction of ten-
sors to what may normally be considered a complex aspect of mathematics.
The two middle chapters make up the heart of the book. Chapter 5 deals
with the algebra of absolute and relative (weighted) tensors; considers how
these are related and how associated tensors are related, addressing the im-
portance of the lateral position of the indices unless the tensor is symmetric.
Chapter 6 deals with the calculus of tensors in Riemannian 3-space where the
metric is a function of position but not of time. It considers curvature and the
condition for Euclidean 3-space.
Physical components of vectors and tensors referred to local curvilinear
coordinate directions are shown to represent quantities having the physical
dimensions of the field and therefore capable of immediate physical interpre-
tation. In the case of orthogonal curvilinear coordinates, general formulae
are derived in Chapter 7 for the physical components of tensors including the
intrinsic and covariant derivatives.
Chapter 8 provides a brief introduction to local differential geometry of
curves and surfaces in Riemannian 3-space. Again the student is encouraged to
obtain most of the standard results for himself by applying the basic methods
and concepts of tensors. This chapter may be read immediately after Chapter 6
or it may be omitted completely.
An introduction to the theory of deformation and flow of homogeneous
continuous material – a subject otherwise known as ‘rheology’ – is given in
Chapter 9 as a natural application of tensor methods. The method of keep-
ing the material element ‘fixed’ by introducing a convected coordinate system
(drawn in the material and deforming continuously with it) is discussed, lead-
ing to Oldroyd’s material and convected time derivatives and the Lie deriva-
tive.
 Tensors_cjc ix

General formulae2 for the physical components of these derived tensors referred
to local orthogonal curvilinear coordinate directions are established which for-
mulae should prove to be invaluable for research scientists. This chapter is
supplemented by an overview of rheology in Appendix A.
I have tried to provide as complete an index as possible and in some cases
the number of pages indicated is rather large. An underlined page number
indicates the most important reference to whatever is being indexed, its defi-
nition or its first appearance in the text shown in bold type.
I am thankful to my colleagues for their support and encouragement, par-
ticularly Dr D. Buhagiar who read the first draft and Dr J. Muscat who
scrutinized the first and final drafts, made valid criticisms and suggestions,
and many encouraging remarks.
I would also like to express my gratitude to the students who suffered
through the many versions of the classroom editions of the text and for their
help in checking the exercises.
Last but certainly not least, I wish to thank my wife for her unlimited
patience, tolerance and continuous encouragement.
The book’s faults, errors, and other imperfections are entirely my own
particularly since I have typed the text and typeset it myself using LaTEX.

C J Camilleri

Department of Mathematics
University of Malta
July, 2004.

2
The novel notation used enhances compactness and eliminates the necessity to introduce
left and right physical components in the case of non-orthogonal coordinates as suggested
by Truesdell [10].
 Published by C J Camilleri

CONTENTS
This book provides a concise but
complete treatment of tensor analysis. Preface
It should meet the needs of most
1. Notation and Definitions
undergraduate students in the physical
and engineering sciences or in applied 2. Rectilinear Coordinates Systems
mathematics. 3. Curvilinear Coordinate Systems
The classical, component, local approach 4. Cartesian Tensors
is employed and the organization of the
5. General Tensors
book is intended to firstly familiarize
the student with index operations, 6. Differential Tensor Calculus
through the use of the summation 7. Orthogonal Curvilinear Coordinates
convention and the permutation 8. Differential Geometry
symbols, and then to use these methods
9. Continuum Mechanics
in the algebra and calculus of tensors.
The emphasis of this book is on APPENDICES
analytical techniques as revealed by the A. Rheology – An Overview
large number of exercises it contains.
An introduction to the theory of B. References
deformation and flow of homogeneous Answers and Notes
continuous material is given as a natural
application of tensor methods. The Index
method of keeping the material element
‘fixed’ by introducing a convected
coordinate system (drawn in the
material and deforming continuously
with it) is discussed, leading to
Oldroyd’s material and convected time
derivatives and the Lie derivative.
General formulæ for the physical
components of these derived tensors
referred to local orthogonal curvilinear
THE AUTHOR
coordinate directions are established
which formulæ should prove to be C J CAMILLERI is professor emeritus
invaluable for research scientists. This in the Department of Mathematics
is supplemented by an overview of at the University of Malta.
rheology.