 Axisymmetric symmetric rank-two tensor

A symmetric tensor invariant under rotations about a fixed nonzero vector $y$ has the form $\alpha I+\beta y{y}^T$. Choose the third coordinate axis parallel to $y$: rotation by a half-turn makes the mixed axial-transverse entries vanish, and all transverse rotations make the transverse block a scalar multiple of the identity. Its two transverse eigenvalues are $\alpha$ and its axial eigenvalue is $\alpha +\beta |y{|}^2$. The trace and the quadratic contraction $y^{T}Ty$ determine these two coefficients. Full isotropy holds exactly when $\beta =0$.