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The itensor package can perform operations on totally antisymmetric
covariant tensor fields. A totally antisymmetric tensor field of rank
(0,L) corresponds with a differential L-form. On these objects, a
multiplication operation known as the exterior product, or wedge product,
is defined.
Unfortunately, not all authors agree on the definition of the wedge product. Some authors prefer a definition that corresponds with the notion of antisymmetrization: in these works, the wedge product of two vector fields, for instance, would be defined as
a a - a a
i j j i
a /\ a = -----------
i j 2
More generally, the product of a p-form and a q-form would be defined as
1 k1..kp l1..lq A /\ B = ------ D A B i1..ip j1..jq (p+q)! i1..ip j1..jq k1..kp l1..lq
where D stands for the Kronecker-delta.
Other authors, however, prefer a “geometric” definition that corresponds with the notion of the volume element:
a /\ a = a a - a a i j i j j i
and, in the general case
1 k1..kp l1..lq A /\ B = ----- D A B i1..ip j1..jq p! q! i1..ip j1..jq k1..kp l1..lq
Since itensor is a tensor algebra package, the first of these two
definitions appears to be the more natural one. Many applications, however,
utilize the second definition. To resolve this dilemma, a flag has been
implemented that controls the behavior of the wedge product: if
igeowedge_flag is false (the default), the first, "tensorial"
definition is used, otherwise the second, "geometric" definition will
be applied.
The wedge product operator is denoted by the tilde ~. This is
a binary operator. Its arguments should be expressions involving scalars,
covariant tensors of rank one, or covariant tensors of rank l that
have been declared antisymmetric in all covariant indices.
The behavior of the wedge product operator is controlled by the
igeowedge_flag flag, as in the following example:
(%i1) load("itensor");
(%o1) /share/tensor/itensor.lisp
(%i2) ishow(a([i])~b([j]))$
a b - b a
i j i j
(%t2) -------------
2
(%i3) decsym(a,2,0,[anti(all)],[]);
(%o3) done
(%i4) ishow(a([i,j])~b([k]))$
a b + b a - a b
i j k i j k i k j
(%t4) ---------------------------
3
(%i5) igeowedge_flag:true;
(%o5) true
(%i6) ishow(a([i])~b([j]))$
(%t6) a b - b a
i j i j
(%i7) ishow(a([i,j])~b([k]))$
(%t7) a b + b a - a b
i j k i j k i k j
The vertical bar | denotes the "contraction with a vector" binary
operation. When a totally antisymmetric covariant tensor is contracted
with a contravariant vector, the result is the same regardless which index
was used for the contraction. Thus, it is possible to define the
contraction operation in an index-free manner.
In the itensor package, contraction with a vector is always carried out
with respect to the first index in the literal sorting order. This ensures
better simplification of expressions involving the | operator. For instance:
(%i1) load("itensor");
(%o1) /share/tensor/itensor.lisp
(%i2) decsym(a,2,0,[anti(all)],[]);
(%o2) done
(%i3) ishow(a([i,j],[])|v)$
%1
(%t3) v a
%1 j
(%i4) ishow(a([j,i],[])|v)$
%1
(%t4) - v a
%1 j
Note that it is essential that the tensors used with the | operator be
declared totally antisymmetric in their covariant indices. Otherwise,
the results will be incorrect.
Computes the exterior derivative of expr with respect to the index
i. The exterior derivative is formally defined as the wedge
product of the partial derivative operator and a differential form. As
such, this operation is also controlled by the setting of igeowedge_flag.
For instance:
(%i1) load("itensor");
(%o1) /share/tensor/itensor.lisp
(%i2) ishow(extdiff(v([i]),j))$
v - v
j,i i,j
(%t2) -----------
2
(%i3) decsym(a,2,0,[anti(all)],[]);
(%o3) done
(%i4) ishow(extdiff(a([i,j]),k))$
a - a + a
j k,i i k,j i j,k
(%t4) ------------------------
3
(%i5) igeowedge_flag:true;
(%o5) true
(%i6) ishow(extdiff(v([i]),j))$
(%t6) v - v
j,i i,j
(%i7) ishow(extdiff(a([i,j]),k))$
(%t7) - (a - a + a )
k j,i k i,j j i,k
Compute the Hodge-dual of expr. For instance:
(%i1) load("itensor");
(%o1) /share/tensor/itensor.lisp
(%i2) imetric(g);
(%o2) done
(%i3) idim(4);
(%o3) done
(%i4) icounter:100;
(%o4) 100
(%i5) decsym(A,3,0,[anti(all)],[])$
(%i6) ishow(A([i,j,k],[]))$
(%t6) A
i j k
(%i7) ishow(canform(hodge(%)))$
%1 %2 %3 %4
levi_civita g A
%1 %102 %2 %3 %4
(%t7) -----------------------------------------
6
(%i8) ishow(canform(hodge(%)))$
%1 %2 %3 %8 %4 %5 %6 %7
(%t8) levi_civita levi_civita g
%1 %106
g g g A /6
%2 %107 %3 %108 %4 %8 %5 %6 %7
(%i9) lc2kdt(%)$
(%i10) %,kdelta$
(%i11) ishow(canform(contract(expand(%))))$
(%t11) - A
%106 %107 %108
Default value: false
Controls the behavior of the wedge product and exterior derivative. When
set to false (the default), the notion of differential forms will
correspond with that of a totally antisymmetric covariant tensor field.
When set to true, differential forms will agree with the notion
of the volume element.
Nächste: Exportiere als TeX, Vorige: Torsion und Nichtmetrizität, Nach oben: Funktionen und Variablen für ITENSOR [Inhalt][Index]