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 $A_s=(A+A^T)/2$, 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 $A^{\prime }=0$ 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.