Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 ia Paper 3 12A c ii Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-06
The antisymmetric part need not be a tensor. Its contraction with every symmetric test is zero, so the premise imposes no transformation law on it. This is the blindness of symmetric contraction tests to antisymmetric arrays, now with a third free index.
For a concrete example, prescribe the same numerical array in every orthonormal frame, with onlynonzero, and take . Every contraction vanishes, and the zero result is a genuine vector in every frame. But under the rank-three tensor transformation law would send the component to , whereas our framewise prescription leaves it equal to . Thus the array is not a tensor despite satisfying every stipulated contraction test. An antisymmetric part could be a tensor if an additional transformation law were supplied; it is simply not forced to be one.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2015 ia Paper 3 12A c iii Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-06
False. The counterexample just given is antisymmetric in every basis and has zero contraction with every symmetric second-rank tensor. It still fails the Cartesian second-rank tensor transformation law, because its value is nonzero in one basis and zero in another. Thus antisymmetry alone, together with symmetric tests, proves no tensor transformation law. The same blindness of symmetric contraction tests to antisymmetric arrays applies even when the array is assumed antisymmetric.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2015 ia Paper 3 12A c ii Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-06
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, prescribein 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.
If contraction of an array with every symmetric second-rank tensor is a vector in every orthonormal frame, its part symmetric in the contracted slots obeys the rank-three tensor transformation law. The difference between its proposed transformation and actual components is symmetric and contracts to zero against every symmetric matrix, so it vanishes. The antisymmetric part is invisible, by the blindness of symmetric contraction tests to antisymmetric arrays, and need not be tensorial.