Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2015/ia/paper-3/12a/c/ii/solution

False. Tests against symmetric second-rank tensors see only the symmetric part , because the Frobenius inner product of a symmetric matrix and an antisymmetric matrix is zero:
An arbitrary basis-dependent antisymmetric part is invisible to these tests. For example, prescribe
in one basis, and in another rotated basis, choosing antisymmetric arrays in every remaining basis. Every contraction with any symmetric second-rank tensor is the invariant scalar zero. But an invertible rotation cannot transform this nonzero matrix to zero, so the array is not a Cartesian second-rank tensor. This is the blindness of symmetric contraction tests to antisymmetric arrays.

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