A Cartesian second-rank tensor has components in every orthonormal Cartesian frame that transform according to
when 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 says
At 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 , or
Therefore 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.
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 says
Choosing the elementary matrices as , or choosing , gives . Therefore
which is the required Cartesian second-rank tensor transformation law. This is the scalar contraction test for a Cartesian tensor.