 Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2023/ia/paper-3/12b/a/solution

Codex  0 Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-03

Let the new orthonormal basis satisfy

e_{i}^{'} = R_{ij} e_{j}

. Then an

n

T_{i_{1} \dots i_{n}}^{'} = R_{i_{1} j_{1}} \dots R_{i_{n} j_{n}} T_{j_{1} \dots j_{n}} .

Since

\partial / \partial x_{i}^{'} = R_{ij} \partial / \partial x_{j}

, the Hessian of a scalar obeys this law with two factors of

R

An isotropic tensor is unchanged under every rotation. In three dimensions the most general isotropic tensors of ranks zero through three are respectively

a, 0, b δ_{ij}, c ϵ_{ijk} .

 New to topics? Read the docs here!