Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2002 ia Paper 3 5E Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
Using Einstein summation convention and the contraction of two Levi-Civita symbols,This proves the vector triple product identity directly from the Levi-Civita symbol and Kronecker delta.
Define the scalar triple product by . Its expression is unchanged by cyclically relabeling the three indices: a three-cycle has positive sign. ThusIn particular, let . Since the three vectors form a basis, their determinant is nonzero, so their reciprocal basis vectors are well defined. Cyclic invariance and vanishing of a scalar triple product with repeated vectors giveTo calculate the new scalar triple product explicitly, apply the already proved vector triple product identity with :Consequentlyso the reciprocal vectors also form a basis. Taking the reciprocal basis of that basis now givesThe same cyclic calculation gives and , proving reciprocal basis involution.
Finally, write . Taking a dot product with isolates . Applying the same argument to the reciprocal basis, whose reciprocal is the original basis, gives the two sets of coordinates:No orthonormality assumption is needed; the reciprocal basis is what makes these coordinate-extraction formulas work.