Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2010 ia Paper 3 9C a Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
A Cartesian second-rank tensor has components in every orthonormal Cartesian frame that transform according towhen vector components transform as for an orthogonal matrix . Repeated indices are summed. If in one frame, their transformed difference is , so their equality holds in every such frame, at the same physical point.
Now impose the scalar contraction hypothesis on . For every tensor , invariance in the two frames saysAt a fixed point, choose the components of to be each matrix unit in turn; each is an admissible tensor once its components in other frames are transformed. Thus every coefficient of agrees, yielding , orTherefore is necessarily a Cartesian second-rank tensor. This is the scalar contraction test for a Cartesian tensor. Testing all tensors, rather than only symmetric tensors, is essential to the proof.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2015 ia Paper 3 12A c i Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-06
True. In all four tests, an array is understood to have components specified in each rotated orthonormal basis; being a scalar means that the contraction is invariant under those changes. Write the Frobenius inner product as . Every test Cartesian second-rank tensor obeys . The assumption saysChoosing the elementary matrices as , or choosing , gives . Thereforewhich is the required Cartesian second-rank tensor transformation law. This is the scalar contraction test for a Cartesian tensor.