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Index Notation

This document introduces index notation and the summation convention as useful shorthand for writing vector, matrix, and tensor equations concisely. It provides examples of how common operations like dot products, cross products, matrix multiplication, and derivatives can be written succinctly using this notation. It also defines the Kronecker delta and Levi-Civita symbols that are used, and provides exercises for practicing applying index notation.

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Shanza Rehman
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32 views

Index Notation

This document introduces index notation and the summation convention as useful shorthand for writing vector, matrix, and tensor equations concisely. It provides examples of how common operations like dot products, cross products, matrix multiplication, and derivatives can be written succinctly using this notation. It also defines the Kronecker delta and Levi-Civita symbols that are used, and provides exercises for practicing applying index notation.

Uploaded by

Shanza Rehman
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Index notation

T. J. Crawford, J. Goedecke, P. Haas, E. Lauga, J. Munro, J. M. F. Tsang

July 15, 2016

1 Relevant courses
The relevant Cambridge undergraduate courses are IA Vectors and Matrices and IA Vector Calculus.

2 Books
• K. F. Riley, M. P. Hobson and S. J. Bence Mathematical Methods for Physics and Engineering. Cambridge
University Press 2002.

3 Notes
Index notation and the summation convention are very useful shorthands for writing otherwise long vector
equations. Whenever a quantity is summed over an index which appears exactly twice in each term in the sum,
we leave out the summation sign.
Simple example: The vector x = (x1 , x2 , x3 ) can be written as
3
X
x = x1 e1 + x2 e2 + x3 e3 = xi ei .
i=1

Under the summation convention, we simply write this as

x = xi ei .

Most vector, matrix and tensor expressions that occur in practice can be written very succinctly using this
notation:
• Dot products: u · v = ui vi
• Cross products: (u × v)i = ijk uj vk (see below)
• Matrix multiplication: (A · v)i = Aij vj
• Trace of a matrix: tr(A) = Aii
• Tensor contraction: ∆ = 2µe : e = 2µeij eij
∂ ui
• Divergence: ∇ · u =
∂xi
∂2f
• Laplacian: ∇2 f = (but beware—the vector Laplacian ∇2 A = ∇(∇ · A) − ∇ × (∇ × A) is given by
∂x2i
∂ 2 Aj
only when we work in Cartesian coordinates)
∂x2i
An index that appears exactly twice in a term is implicitly summed over; such an index is called a dummy index.
The letter used for a dummy index is not important. An index that appears only once is called a free index.
No index may appear three times or more in an expression.
P3 For example, the expression ui vi wi is illegal in
summation convention. If you do need the expression i=1 ui vi wi , write out the summation sign. Likewise,

1
you can write ‘no sum’ after an expression such as ui vi to indicate that i should be understood as a free index.
These situations are fairly rare.
There are two special symbols in summation convention. The Kronecker delta δij is defined by
(
1 i=j
δij = (1)
0 i 6= j.

The identity matrix is therefore (I)ij = δij . The Levi-Civita symbol ijk is defined by

123 = 231 = 312 = +1 (2)


132 = 213 = 321 = −1 (3)
ijk = 0 otherwise. (4)

That is, ijk is given by the parity of the permutation (1, 2, 3) → (i, j, k).
It can be shown that
ijk ilm = δjl δkm − δjm δkl . (5)
The proof is long and tedious, but simply involves writing out all the terms and collecting them together
carefully.

4 Exercises
Show that the above shorthands do give the expressions that they claim to.
What is the norm-squared of a vector, |u|2 , in index notation?
What is the curl of a vector field, ∇ × F , in index notation?
Show that the divergence theorem can be written as
ZZ ZZZ
∂ Fj
Fj nj dS = dV.
∂V V ∂xj

How can Stokes’ theorem be written?


Use the identity (5) to show that
a × (b × c) = (a · c)b − (a · b)c.

Show that the advective derivative can be written as


 
1 2
(u · ∇)u = ∇ u − u × (∇ × u).
2

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