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Index Notation and Its Use PDF

This document introduces Einstein's index notation, which is a compact notation used in vector and tensor analysis. It simplifies the presentation of vector operations and derivatives. Some key points: - Repeated indices in an expression imply summation over all values of that index. - The Kronecker delta (δij) is used to represent orthogonality relationships between basis vectors. - Vector operations like the dot product, gradient, divergence, and curl can be written concisely using index notation. - The permutation symbol (εijk) allows writing the cross product in index notation in a way that matches the determinant form. - Several vector identities can be proven easily using index notation by applying

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249 views5 pages

Index Notation and Its Use PDF

This document introduces Einstein's index notation, which is a compact notation used in vector and tensor analysis. It simplifies the presentation of vector operations and derivatives. Some key points: - Repeated indices in an expression imply summation over all values of that index. - The Kronecker delta (δij) is used to represent orthogonality relationships between basis vectors. - Vector operations like the dot product, gradient, divergence, and curl can be written concisely using index notation. - The permutation symbol (εijk) allows writing the cross product in index notation in a way that matches the determinant form. - Several vector identities can be proven easily using index notation by applying

Uploaded by

chetan
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
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Index Notation in Vector and Tensor analysis

1. Einsteins index notation:


It is a compact notation. It simplifies presentation of vector operations and
derivations. This convention use following abbreviation for indicating a sum
ai bi ai bi
i

Whenever an index i repeats, it implies summation over all values of i . This notation is
also called index notation.
2. Examples:
vi v1 v2 v3

xi x1 x2 x3

(a)

(b)

pk

vi
v
v
v
p1 i p2 i p3 i
xk
x1
x2
x3

Repeated index is called dummy index. The letter used for the index can be changed
without changing the meaning. Thus
pk

vi
v
pj i
xk
x j

On the other hand, in the aforementioned summation, i is not a summation index. Hence
it cannot be altered.
(c) Consider the equation
qi pk

vi
xk

This is a set of three equations

q1 p1

v1
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
v
p2 1 p3 1 , q2 p1 2 p2 2 p3 2 , q3 p1 3 p2 3 p3 3
x1
x2
x3
x1
x1
x2
x2
x3
x3

Note that although index i appears twice, it is not a summation index since it does not
occurs twice in the same term.
(d) Consider the following statement

ui vi (no summation intended on i )


This statement implies that the repeated index is not meant to represent summation.
(e) The term ui vi wi is erroneous according to the index notation, since the index i is
repeated more than twice in a single term.
1

(f) A vector can be represented in terms of its components in Cartesian frame as

v vi e i
3. Kronecker delta:
It is denoted by ij ( i , j 1,2,3 ) and has the following properties
0 i j
1i j

ij

From this, we see that 11 22 33 1 and 12 21 13 31 23 32 0 . Also


note that e i e j ij .
4. Dot product operation:
We can perform dot product of two vectors using Einstein convention as follows

u v ui e i u j e j ui v j e i e j ui v j ij u j v j

Note that we have used two different dummy indices to represent the two vectors. In the
last step, we note that ui ij represents sum over i . There are three terms. Only one term in
which i = j survives. Hence ui ij u j .
5. Gradient operator:
In index notation, we represent gradient operator as follows

e i
xi

where () is field on which the operation is to be conducted. Thus gradient of a scalar


field f is given by

f
f
e i
xi

Gradient of a vector field v is represented as


v
v j
v
e i
e j e i
xi
xi
It is a tensor field. The right hand side is a double summation. It has nine terms.
6. Divergence operator:
In index notation, we represent divergence operator as follows
div

ei
xi

where () is vector or tensor field on which the divergence operation is to be conducted.


Thus gradient of a vector field v is given by

v j
v j
v
v
divv v
ei
e j ei
ij j
xi
xi
xi
x j
Divergence of a gradient of a scalar field f is given by


f
f
f
e i
xi
xi x j

2
2

e j e i f ij f

xi x j
xi xi

2
is the Laplace operator.
xi xi

7. Permutation symbol:
It is denoted by eijk and has the following properties

1 for even permutaionof 1,2,3

eijk 1 for odd permutaionof 1,2,3

0 otherwise

There are total of 27 different symbols. Out of these e123 e231 e312 1 ,

e213 e321 e132 1 . Remaining symbols are zero. In general, if any index is repeated,
the symbol assumes zero value.
8. Some properties of the permutation symbol:
(a) eijk e jik eikj ekji . Thus the sign of the permutation symbol changes when two
indices are interchanged. This is true since by interchanging the indices we are altering
the permutation.
(b) eijk emnk im jn in jm
(c) eijk eijk 2 ii 6
(d) eijk eljk 2 il
Proofs of the last three properties are left as exercise.
9. Cross Product in index notation:
In index notation, we can write cross product as follows

u ^ v eijk ui v j e k
On expansion we see that
3


u ^ v e1 jk u1v j e k e2 jk u2v j e k e3 jk u3v j e k
e12 k u1v2e k e13k u1v3e k e21k u2v1e k e23k u2v3e k e31k u3v1e k e32 k u3v2e k
e123u1v2e 3 e132u1v3e 2 e213u2v1e 3 e231u2v3e1 e312u3v1e 2 e321u3v2e1
Substituting the appropriate values of the permutation symbols, we obtain

u ^ v u1v2e 3 u1v3e 2 u2v1e 3 u2v3e1 u3v1e 2 u3v2e1
u2v3 u3v2 e1 u1v3 u3v1 e 2 u1v2 u2v1 e 3

This expansion matches with that of the determinant form


10. Curl in index notation:
We can represent curl of a vector in index notation as follows.

^ v eijk
v j e k
xi

We can prove that this definition matches with that in determinant form. We can also
prove that CurlGradf 0



f j e k eijk f
^ f eijk
xi
xi x j

e k eijk f e k

xi x j

We note that if we interchange i and j in the expression below, we get

eijk

2 f
2 f
e jik
xi x j
x j xi

Since i and j are dummy indices such interchange does not change the meaning of the
expression. However, we note from section 32 that eijk e jik . Hence

eijk

2 f
2 f
eijk
xi x j
x j xi

The equation above implies that each term is zero. Since this is true for all k , we get

^ f 0
11. Proofs of vector identities
There are several vector identities, which can be easily proved using the index
notation. We will derive only one here and rest are left as exercises.

Prove: a ^ b ^ c a c b b c a

a ^ b ^ c eijk aib j ek ^ c elmn eijl aib j cme n

We make use of the identity: eijk emnk im jn in jm and write


4

elmn eijl ai b j cme n emnl eijl ai b j cme n mi nj mj ni ai b j cme n

using the properties of Kronecker delta we get



a ^ b ^ c mi nj mj ni ai b j cme n


ai b j ci e j ai b j c j e i ai ci b j e j b j c j ai e i a c b b c a

12 Exercise
Prove the following vector identities using index notation


1. u 2 u u

2. u I u

3. 2u 2 u

4. 2 u 4u

5. u 0

6. u v v u u v u v v u

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