Scribd
Upload
286 views4 pages

Continuum Mechanics HW On Index Notation

This document contains 6 homework problems regarding tensor calculus and linear algebra concepts such as change of basis, tensor components, linear independence of vectors, decomposition of linear transformations, and the correspondence between vectors and skew-symmetric tensors. The problems involve calculating tensor components under different bases, properties of determinants, constructing orthonormal bases, and relating vectors to skew-symmetric tensors.

Uploaded by

Ilbey Karakurt
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
286 views4 pages

Continuum Mechanics HW On Index Notation

This document contains 6 homework problems regarding tensor calculus and linear algebra concepts such as change of basis, tensor components, linear independence of vectors, decomposition of linear transformations, and the correspondence between vectors and skew-symmetric tensors. The problems involve calculating tensor components under different bases, properties of determinants, constructing orthonormal bases, and relating vectors to skew-symmetric tensors.

Uploaded by

Ilbey Karakurt
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 4

University of California, Berkeley

Department of Mechanical Engineering


ME185, Fall 2015
Homework 3 (due in class 29 Sep 2015)
Problem 1
Consider the particular change of basis
1 = cos e1 + sin e2 ,
e
2 = sin e1 + cos e2 ,
e
3 = e3 .
e
j .
Let Zij = ei e
(a) Verify that the orthogonality relations
Zki Zkj =

ij ,

Zik Zjk =

ij

are satisfied.
(b) If a tensor T has components
0

1
T11 T12 0
(Tij ) = @ T12 T22 0 A
0
0 T33

in the original system, calculate its components in the barred system (i.e. Tij ).
(c) Compare the quantities Tii and Tii .
Problem 2
Recall that the components of the change of orthonormal basis tensor Z 2 Orth are
j ,
Zij = ei e
where the new basis is given by
j = Zej .
e
Any tensor A can be expressed in both bases as
m e
n .
A = Aij ei ej = Amn e
(a) Show that

Aij = Zim Zjn Amn .


1

(b) Hence, deduce that

(c) Hence, show that

Aij = Zmi Znj Amn .

Aii = Aii .

Problem 3
Suppose that the components of a tensor A are given on an orthonormal basis {ei ej } by
0
1
3 0 2
(A) = @ 0 4 6 A .
0 4
1
Let w1 = e1 + e2 , w2 = 3e2 , and w3 = e1

e3 .

(a) Show that {w1 , w2 , w3 } is a linearly independent set of three vectors, and is therefore a
basis for the Euclidean vector space V.
(b) Find the components Aij of A on the basis {w1 , w2 , w3 }.
(c) Verify that tr Aij wi wj = tr (Aij ei ej ).
(d) Verify that det Aij wi wj = det (Aij ei ej ).
Problem 4
Recall that for any vectors a, b, c, the determinant function det A, A 2 Lin, satisfies
[Aa, Ab, Ac] = detA [a, b, c] .
(a) Deduce that
det(BA) = (detB)(detA),

8A, B 2 Lin.

(b) Show that


det(QAQT ) = detA
for all A 2 Lin and for all Q 2 Orth. Thus, det is an isotropic scalar-valued function of A.
(c) Let
A = 2e1 e1 + e2 e2 + 2e3 e3 + e1 e3 + 2e3 e1 .
Calculate the volume of the parallelepiped into which A maps the unit cube formed by
e1 , e2 , e3 .
2

Problem 5
Recall that every linear transformation A can be uniquely expressed as
A = Asym + Askw .
This means that the space of Lin all linear transformations can be decomposed as
Sym Skw = Lin ,
Sym \ Skw = {0} ,
where Sym and Skw are themselves vector spaces (subspaces of Lin).
(a) Show that the bun products {ei ej } form an orthonormal basis for Lin.
(b) Show that the six linear transformations
{e1 e1 , e2 e2 , e3 e3 ,
1
1
1
p (e1 e2 + e2 e1 ) , p (e1 e3 + e3 e1 ) , p (e2 e3 + e3 e2 )
2
2
2
form an orthonormal basis for Sym. Thus, Sym is a six-dimensional Euclidean space.
(c) Show that the three tensors

1
1
p (e1 e2 e2 e1 ) , p (e1 e3
2
2

1
e3 e1 ) , p (e2 e3
2

e3 e 2 )

form an orthonormal basis for Skw. Thus, Skw is a three-dimensional Euclidean space.
(d) Show that every tensor in Sym is orthogonal to every tensor in Skw.
Problem 6
Let b be an arbitrary vector, and introduce a tensor B through the expression
Bij =

eijk bk ,

(1)

where the components in Equation (1) are taken relative to a fixed orthonormal basis {ei },
and eijk is the alternator. Observe that Bij is skew-symmetric.
(a) Deduce from Equation (1) that

bi =

1
eijk Bjk .
2
3

(b) Prove that


Bu = b u,
for all u.
(c) For an arbitrary tensor with components Aij , consider the vector defined by

ai =

1
eijk Ajk .
2

(2)

Can Equation (2) be solved for Ajk ?


(d) On the basis of the previous observations, justify the following statement: There is a
one-to-one correspondence between vectors and skew-symmetric tensors.

You might also like