Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2006/ia/paper-3/12a/solution

A Cartesian isotropic tensor is unchanged by every proper rotation matrix. For a rank-two tensor this means , or . No symmetry of is assumed. For a quarter-turn about the axis,
Comparing entries yields , , , and . In particular,
The remaining matrix has the form . A quarter-turn about the axis gives
Invariance now forces and , proving that an isotropic second-rank tensor is
a scalar multiple of the Kronecker delta.
For the final unheaded conductivity identity, let , the orthogonal projection onto the unit vector . Then and the uniaxial conductivity tensor is . The antisymmetric tensor sends a vector to . Applying it twice and using the vector triple product gives
Consequently
This equals exactly when . Since has rank one and is nonzero, the requested parameter is
At this value conductivity vanishes along ; it is precisely the singular case excluded in part (ii), so there is no conflict with that part's conclusion.

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