Mathematics Review

Polymer Rheology

4. Differential Operations with Vectors, Tensors

Scalars, vectors, and tensors are differentiated to determine rates of change (with respect to time, position)
To carryout the differentiation with respect to a single variable, differentiate each coefficient individually. There is no change in order (vectors remain vectors, scalars remain scalars, etc.

w1 t w2 w = t t w3 t

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B11 t B21 B = t t B31 t

B21 t B22 t B32 t

B31 t B23 t B33 t

123

Faith A. Morrison, Michigan Tech U.

Mathematics Review
4. Differential Operations with Vectors, Tensors (continued)

Polymer Rheology

To carryout the differentiation with respect to 3D spatial variation, use the del (nabla) operator. This is a vector operator Del may be applied in three different ways Del may operate on scalars, vectors, or tensors This is written in Cartesian coordinates

Del Operator

x1 e +e +e = 1 2 3 x1 x2 x3 x2 x3 = e =e p p x xp p =1 p
3

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Einstein notation for del

Faith A. Morrison, Michigan Tech U.

Mathematics Review
4. Differential Operations with Vectors, Tensors (continued)

Polymer Rheology

A. Scalars - gradient
Gibbs notation

x1 +e +e = e 1 2 3 x1 x2 x3 x2 x3

This is written in Cartesian coordinates

Gradient of a = e p xp scalar field

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The gradient of a scalar field is a vector

gradient operation increases the order of the entity operated upon

The gradient operation captures the total spatial variation of a scalar, vector, or tensor field.

Faith A. Morrison, Michigan Tech U.

Mathematics Review
4. Differential Operations with Vectors, Tensors (continued)

Polymer Rheology

B. Vectors - gradient

w e 1
The basis vectors can move out of the derivatives because they are constant (do not change with position)

w+e w+e w 2 3 x1 x2 x3 (w1e 1 + w2 e 2 + w3e 3 ) x1 +e 2 +e 3 (w1e 1 + w2 e 2 + w3e 3 ) x2 (w1e 1 + w2 e 2 + w3e 3 ) x3

=e 1

This is all written in Cartesian coordinates (basis vectors are constant)

=e 1e 1

w1 w w w +e 1e 2 2 + e 1e 3 3 + e 2 e 1 1 + x1 x1 x1 x2 w w w2 w w +e 2 e 3 3 + e 3e 1 1 + e 3e 2 2 + e 3e 3 3 x 2 x2 x3 x3 x3
Faith A. Morrison, Michigan Tech U.

e 2 e 2

Mathematics Review
4. Differential Operations with Vectors, Tensors (continued)

Polymer Rheology

B. Vectors - gradient (continued)

Gradient of a vector field

constants may appear on either side of the differential operator

j =1 k =1

e je k

wk w w =e je k k = k e je k x j x j x j
Einstein notation for gradient of a vector

The gradient of a vector field is a tensor

Faith A. Morrison, Michigan Tech U.

Mathematics Review
4. Differential Operations with Vectors, Tensors (continued)

Polymer Rheology

C. Vectors - divergence
Divergence of a vector field

w e 1

+e +e w1e 2 3 1 + w2e 2 + w3e 3 x1 x 2 x 3 w w w = 1+ 2+ 3 x1 x2 x3 The Divergence 3 w of a vector field w i = = i is a scalar xi i =1 xi

Einstein notation for gradient of a vector

Faith A. Morrison, Michigan Tech U.

Mathematics Review
4. Differential Operations with Vectors, Tensors (continued)

Polymer Rheology

C. Vectors - divergence (continued)

constants may appear on either side of the differential operator This is all written in Cartesian coordinates (basis vectors are constant)

Using Einstein notation

w e m

w j w j w je e mj j = m e j = xm xm xm w j = x j

divergence operation decreases the order of the entity operated upon

Faith A. Morrison, Michigan Tech U.

Mathematics Review
4. Differential Operations with Vectors, Tensors (continued)

Polymer Rheology

D. Vectors - Laplacian Using Einstein notation:

w e m

e w je wj e p j = m e p e j xm xp xm xp w j mp e = j xm xp The Laplacian = wj e of a vector field j xp xp is a vector

( )

2w1 2w1 2w1 + + x1 x2 x3 2w2 2w2 2w2 = + + x1 x2 x3 2 2 w3 w3 2w3 + + x1 x2 x3

Laplacian operation does not change the order of the entity operated upon

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Faith A. Morrison, Michigan Tech U.

Mathematics Review
4. Differential Operations with Vectors, Tensors (continued)

Polymer Rheology

E. Scalar - divergence F. Scalar - Laplacian G. Tensor - gradient

(impossible; cannot decrease order of a scalar)

H. Tensor - divergence A I. Tensor - Laplacian

Faith A. Morrison, Michigan Tech U.