‫مجلس طالب الفرع الثالث – كلية الهندسة‬

Chapter 1: Mathematical Foundations

1.1- Tensors and Continuum Mechanics:
Continuum mechanics is the mathematical description of deformation and related stress where we
assume that the materials are homogenous isotropic, continuous and independent of any particular
coordinate system. But the physical quantities of the materials are often specified by referring to an
appropriate system of coordinates. Mathematically such quantities are represented by Tensors.1

A tensor is a generalization of scalars, vectors and matrices and defined as n-dimensional array.
A Tensor may be classified in a particular coordinate system by a certain set of quantities, known as
its components. However, specified the components of a tensor in one coordinates system
determines the components in any other coordinates using the law of transformation.

Now why we use tensors, suppose we have a parallelepiped, where we have a force acting on the
center of gravity, this force have 3 components, x, y and z, then we cut the parallelepiped in the 3
dimensions (along xy, xz, yz) on each face of the cut we made, we have 3 faces, 2 which are shear
force (trying to tear the face) and 1 compression or tension.

On the left image you can see the cut, and on the right image you can see the forces acting on each
face, now we have a matrix of forces instead of vector, since these forces on each face have a
different effect on the object deformation. 2

1.2- General Tensors, Cartesian Tensors and Tensor Rank:

1.2.1- General Tensors:
In the case of general coordinate transformations between arbitrary curvilinear coordinate system,
the tensors defined are known as general tensors

1.2.2- Cartesian Tensors:

when the transformations occur from one homogenous coordinate system to another, the tensor in
valued are known as cartesian tensors. since most of the theory of continuum mechanics may be
developed in terms of cartesian tensors, the word tensor in our study, means cartesian tensor.

The cartesian tensor uses the orthonormal system to be represented, otherwise it is general.

1
online reference of this information
2
a video to get the intuition of tensors

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1.2.3- Tensor Rank:

Tensors are actually classified by rank or order. according to the particular form of transformation
law. It depends on the number of components in the tensor. Thus, in a 3 dimensional space, the
number of components of a tensor is 3𝑁 , where 𝑁 is the order (or rank) of the tensor.

Therefore:

• tensors of zero order are specified by one component only and are called scalers (30 = 1)
• tensors of order one have 3 components and known as vectors (31 = 3)
𝑣1
⃗𝑉 = 𝑣1 𝑖 + 𝑣2 𝑗 + 𝑣3 𝑘⃗ , 𝑉
⃗ [𝑣2 ]
𝑣3
σ11 σ12 σ13
• 2
tensors of order 2 have 9 components (3 = 9) such as 3 × 3 matrix σ = [ 21 σ22 σ23 ]
σ
σ31 σ32 σ33
Tensors of order two (second order tensors), and higher order tensors are usually used in continuum
mechanics with the number of components is 3𝑁 in 2 (or 3) dimensional system (xoy system/ oxyz
system)

You can think of the rank as the number of basis vector needed to fully specify a component of the
tensor, for example a scaler which is represented by a tensor of rank 0, we need 0 basis vectors, also
a 3d vector is represented by a 3 basis vector, thus a tensor of rank 1.

The rank is defined by 3𝑛 , where n is the actual rank, and the number of basis vectors needed (if we
have 27 component, the rank of the tensor needed is thus 3 -since 27 = 33 , the tensor is not a
matrix.3

1.3- Indicial Notation: (The ideas below are not related to the definition of
tensor; the indicial notation is also called Einstein notation)
The components of a tensor of any order may be simplified and represented by the use of indicial
notation. meaning that the orthonormal base unit vectors {𝑖, 𝑗, 𝑘⃗ } are given in the form {𝑥
⃗⃗⃗⃗1 , ⃗⃗⃗⃗ 𝑥3 }
𝑥2 , ⃗⃗⃗⃗

In this notation, letter indices: may be used as subscripts (𝑥 ⃗⃗⃗𝑖 ). Typical examples
⃗⃗⃗𝑖 ), or superscripts (𝑥

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are: 𝑎𝑖 , 𝑇𝑖𝑗 , ∈𝑖𝑗𝑘 , 𝑏 𝑖 , 𝑅 𝑝𝑞 , with 𝑖, 𝑗, 𝑘, 𝑝, 𝑞 = 1, 2, 3 (1 for scalars, {1, 2} for 2 dimentional systems, {1,
2, 3} for 3 dimentional system)

The general idea of indicing is to shorthand long equations for example 𝑎11 + 𝑎22 + 𝑎33 may be
written 𝑎𝑖𝑖

1.3.1- Type of Indices:

The letter index may occur once or twice in a given tensor

i. Free Indices:
When an index occures unrepeated in a tensor, (appears only once), that index takes the
values of 1, 2, 3, … N (N range of index).
These indices are known as free indices
example:
𝑣1
⃗ |𝑣2 , 𝑣𝑖 represents one of these components
𝑉
𝑣3
• 𝑎𝑖 + 𝑏𝑖 represents one of the follwing 3 qunatities 𝑎1 + 𝑏1  𝑜𝑟 𝑎2 + 𝑏2  𝑜𝑟 𝑎3 + 𝑏3
• 𝑎𝑖𝑗 represents one of the follwing 9 terms
𝑎11 , 𝑎12, 𝑎13, 𝑎21, 𝑎22, 𝑎23, 𝑎31, 𝑎32, 𝑎33
The tensorial rank (order) of a give term is equal to the number of free indices appearing in
that term

A term is defined as a group of multiplied elements like a or ab, even if both can be assigned
different superscripts or subscripts. As long as the index is used once per term it is
considered a free index.4 The free index represents one value of a set of possible values (like
given in the example above).5

ii. Dummy Indices:

when an index appears twice in a term, that index takes the values of its range 1, 2, 3, … N
(N range of index), and the resuting terms are summed. These indices are known as Dummy
Indices. The replacement of that index by any other letter (not appearing as a free index)
does not change the meaning of that term.
example:
𝑎𝑖𝑖 = 𝑎11 + 𝑎22 + 𝑎33 = ∑3𝑖=1 𝑎𝑖𝑖  or 𝑎𝑗𝑗 = 𝑎11 + 𝑎22 + 𝑎33 = ∑3𝑖=1 𝑎𝑗𝑗 (𝑁 = 1,2,3)
𝑈𝑖 . 𝑉𝑖 = 𝑈1 . 𝑉1 + 𝑈2 . 𝑉2 + 𝑈3 . 𝑉3 𝑁 = 3, scalar zero order tensor
𝑎𝑖𝑗 𝑏𝑗 = 𝑎𝑖1 𝑏1 + 𝑎𝑖2 𝑏2 + 𝑎𝑖3 𝑏3 𝑁 = 3, first order tensor
The dummy index obviously appears more than once in a given term, and indicate the
summation over the set of it’s possible values (like the first example given above). In the
other two examples they are considered dummy since U.V is a single term and so is ab.

1.3.2- Rules of Indices:

An “n” index can not be at the same time free and dummy index, because it is not possible to
represent simultaneously one term of the 3 values 1, 2, and 3 and at the same time the sum
obtained by 11, 22, 33.

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the first page of this document
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a video on index notation

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Example:
𝑎1
• 𝑎𝑖 + 𝑏𝑖𝑖 = (𝑎2 ) + (𝑏11 + 𝑏22 + 𝑏33 )
𝑎3 ↓
𝑠𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑎𝑟
𝑣𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟
• 𝑎𝑖 . 𝑏𝑖𝑖
↓ ↓
𝑅 𝐷

It is possible to represent the dummy index by any letter and this will not change the value of the
tensor so we can write: 𝑎𝑖𝑖 = 𝑎𝑗𝑗 = 𝑎𝑘𝑘 where 𝑖 = 1 → 3
𝑗=1→3
𝑘=1→3
• 𝑥𝑖 = 𝐶𝑖  𝑗 . 𝑍𝑗
↓ ↓ ↓ ↓
𝐹 𝐹𝐷 𝐷
𝑥1 = 𝑐11 𝑧1 + 𝑐12 𝑧2 + 𝑐13 𝑧3 𝑥1 𝑐11 𝑐12 𝑐13 𝑧1
𝑥2 = 𝑐21 𝑧1 + 𝑐22 𝑧2 + 𝑐23 𝑧3 (𝑥2 ) = (𝑐21 𝑐22 𝑐23 ) (𝑧2 )
𝑥3 = 𝑐31 𝑧1 + 𝑐32 𝑧2 + 𝑐33 𝑧3 𝑥3 𝑐31 𝑐32 𝑐33 𝑧3
• 𝐴 𝑖  𝑗 = 𝐵i  𝑝 𝐶𝑖  𝑗 . 𝑍pq 𝑖, 𝑗 = 1,2
↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓
𝐹𝐹 𝐷 𝐹𝐷 𝑝, 𝑞
𝐴11 = 𝐵11 𝐶11 𝐷11 + 𝐵11 𝐶12 𝐷12 + 𝐵12 𝐶11 𝐷21 + 𝐵12 𝐶12 𝐷22
𝐴12 = 𝐵11 𝐶21 𝐷11 + 𝐵11 𝐶22 𝐷12 + 𝐵12 𝐶21 𝐷21 + 𝐵12 𝐶22 𝐷22
𝐴21 =
𝐴21 =
(The last two values are left empty by the doctor)

1.4- symbol on Kronecker Delta 𝛅𝒊𝒋

1 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑖 = 𝑗
By convention δ𝑖𝑗 = {
0 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑖 ≠ 𝑗
This means: δ11 = δ22 = δ33 = 1 and δ𝑖𝑖 = 3 (δ𝑖𝑖 = δ11 + δ22 + δ33 ) and δ12 = δ13 = δ23 = ⋯ =
0
1 0 0
Thus, δ𝑖𝑗 is a second order tensor δ𝑖𝑗 = (0 1 0)
0 0 1
It is useful when we want to eliminate diagonal elements

𝛅𝒊𝒋 examples:

• 𝑎𝑖 𝛿𝑖𝑗 = 𝑎1 𝛿1𝑗 + 𝑎2 𝛿2𝑗 + 𝑎3 𝛿3𝑗 = 𝑎1 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑗 = 1 = 𝑎𝑗 ⇒ 𝑎𝑖 𝛿𝑖𝑗 = 𝑎𝑗

= 𝑎2 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑗 = 2
= 𝑎3 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑗 = 3
𝑎11 δ11 +𝑎12 δ12 +𝑎13 δ13
• 𝑎𝑖𝑗 δ𝑖𝑗 = +𝑎21 δ21 +𝑎22 δ22 +𝑎23 δ23 = 𝑎11 + 𝑎22 + 𝑎33 = 𝑎𝑖𝑖 = 𝑠𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑎𝑟
+𝑎31 δ31 +𝑎32 δ32 +𝑎33 δ33

1.5- Vector Cross Product, Permutation Symbol, Dual Vectors:

In order to express the cross product 𝑎 ∧ 𝑏⃗ in the indicial notation, the third order tensor ϵ𝑖𝑗𝑘 known
as the permutation symbol or alternating tensor, must be introduced. It is defined by:

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1 if the values of i, j, k are on even permutation of 1, 2, 3

  (i.e. if they appear in sequence 1 2 3 1 2
−1 if the values of i, j, k are odd permutation of 1, 2, 3
ϵ𝑖𝑗𝑘 =
  (i.e. if they appaer in sequence 3 2 1 3 2
0 if the values of i, j, k are not a permutation of 1, 2, 3
{   (i.e. if two or more indices have the value)
It is a tensor of 3rd order and has 27 terms (33)

• The cross product 𝑎 ∧ 𝑏⃗ = 𝑐

Written in indicial notation as: 𝜖𝑖𝑗𝑘 𝑎𝑗 𝑏𝑘 = 𝐶𝑖 (𝑖 is a free index, 𝑗, 𝑘 are dummy indices)
o 𝐶1 = 𝜖111 𝑎1 𝑏1 +𝜖112 𝑎1 𝑏2 +𝜖113 𝑎1 𝑏3
+𝜖121 𝑎2 𝑏1 +𝜖122 𝑎2 𝑏2 +𝜖123 𝑎2 𝑏3
+𝜖131 𝑎3 𝑏1 +𝜖132 𝑎3 𝑏2 +𝜖133 𝑎3𝑏3

= 𝜖111 𝑎1 𝑏1 +𝜖112 𝑎1 𝑏2 +𝜖113 𝑎1 𝑏3 = 𝑎2 𝑏3 − 𝑎3 𝑏2

+𝜖121 𝑎2 𝑏1 +𝜖122 𝑎2 𝑏2 +𝜖123 𝑎2 𝑏3
+𝜖131 𝑎3 𝑏1 +𝜖132 𝑎3 𝑏2 +𝜖133 𝑎3𝑏3

o 𝐶2 = 𝑎3 𝑏1 − 𝑎1 𝑏3
o 𝐶3 = 𝑎1 𝑏2 − 𝑎2 𝑏1
𝑖 𝑗 𝑘⃗
also 𝑎 ∧ 𝑏 = |𝑎1 𝑎2 𝑎3 | = (𝑎2 𝑏3 − 𝑎3 𝑏2 )𝑖 − (𝑎1 𝑏3 − 𝑎3 𝑏1 )𝑗 + (𝑎1 𝑏2 − 𝑎2 𝑏1 )𝑘⃗
⃗
𝑏1 𝑏2 𝑏3
• The box product 𝑎 ∧ 𝑏⃗. 𝑐 may be writer as:
𝑎 ∧ 𝑏⃗. 𝑐 = λ ⇒ ϵ𝑖𝑗𝑘 𝑎𝑖 𝑏𝑗 𝑐𝑘 = λ i, j, k= 1, 2, 3
𝑎1 𝑎2 𝑎3
⃗
𝑎 ∧ 𝑏. 𝑐 = |𝑏1 𝑏2 𝑏3 | = 𝑎1 (𝑏2 𝑐3 − 𝑐2 𝑏3 )
𝑐1 𝑐2 𝑐3
• The dual vector of an arbitrary second order tensor 𝑇𝑖𝑗 is defined by:
o 𝑣𝑖 = ϵ𝑖𝑗𝑘 𝑇𝑗𝑘
o 𝑣1 = 𝜖111 𝑇11 + 𝜖112 𝑇12 + 𝜖113 𝑇13 + 𝜖121 𝑇21 + 𝜖122 𝑇22 + 𝜖123 𝑇23 + 𝜖131 𝑇31 +
𝜖132 𝑇32 + 𝜖133 𝑇33 = 𝑇23 − 𝑇32
o 𝑣2 =
o 𝑣3 =
(the last two elements were left blank by the doctor)

1.6- Partial Derivatives:

Let the function 𝑓(𝑥𝑖 , 𝑡) = 𝑓(𝑥1 , 𝑥2 , 𝑥3 , 𝑡)

Suppose for this explanation that 𝑓(𝑥1 , 𝑥2 , 𝑥3 ) = (𝑓1 (𝑥1 , 𝑥2 , 𝑥3 ), 𝑓2 (𝑥1 , 𝑥2 , 𝑥3 )), in this case “f” is a
vector-valued function 𝐑𝟑 → 𝐑𝟐

In the subscript of a function “f” (the place of 2 in 𝜕2 for example), we can introduce the comma “,”
where numbers before it represent the specific sub-function (for this example it is 𝑓1 & 𝑓2, and the
number after it represent the variable, we are deriving with respect to (in this example we have
𝑥1 , 𝑥2 , 𝑥3 ), if we put 2 numbers (as you will see in doctor’s examples) after the comma, then we have
double derivatives with respect to the variables indicated by the numbers (if you see the examples it
will be clear)

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∂𝑓 ∂𝑓 ∂𝑓
→ = 𝑓,1 , = 𝑓,2 , … , = 𝑓,𝑖
∂𝑥1 ∂𝑥2 ∂𝑥𝑖
∂𝑓 ∂𝑓 ∂𝑓
→ 2 = 𝑓,11 , 2 = 𝑓,22 , … , 2 = 𝑓,𝑖𝑖
∂𝑥1 ∂𝑥1 ∂𝑥𝑖
∂𝑓
→ = 𝑓,𝑖𝑗
∂𝑥𝑖 𝑦𝑗
∂𝑓𝑖 ∂𝑓𝑖
→ = 𝑓𝑖,𝑗 , = 𝑓𝑖,𝑖
∂𝑥𝑗 ∂𝑥𝑖

1.7- Vectorial Calculations:

⃗ = 𝑉𝑖 ⃗𝑒⃗𝑖
𝑉
⃗ = 𝑉1 ⃗⃗⃗
i.e., 𝑉 𝑒1 + 𝑉2 ⃗⃗⃗
𝑒2 + 𝑉3 ⃗⃗⃗
𝑒3

⃗ in the base ⃗𝑒⃗𝑖

where 𝑉1 , 𝑉2 and 𝑉3 are the rectangular cartesian components of 𝑉

𝑖 is a dummy index (also, known as summation index)

since “𝑖” is found two times in the same term it is a dummy index, thus it represents a summation
rather than selection

1.7.1- Definitions: below you will find representation of some formulas using index notation
i. Divergence:
𝜕 𝜕 𝜕
⃗ ) = ∇. 𝑉(𝑥, 𝑦, 𝑧) =
𝑑𝑖𝑣(𝑉 (𝑉𝑥 ) + (𝑉𝑦 ) + (𝑉𝑧 )
𝜕𝑥 𝜕𝑦 𝜕𝑧
this the divergence formula you saw in Analysis II
∂𝑉
𝑑𝑖𝑣(𝑉⃗ ) = 𝑖 = 𝑉𝑖,𝑖
∂𝑥𝑖
∂𝑉1 ∂𝑉2 ∂𝑉3 ⃗
∂𝑉 ∂𝑉⃗ ⃗
∂𝑉
⃗)=
𝑑𝑖𝑣(𝑉 + + = ⃗⃗⃗
𝑉,𝑖 . ⃗𝑒⃗𝑖 = . 𝑒⃗⃗⃗1 + . 𝑒⃗⃗⃗2 + . 𝑒⃗⃗⃗
∂𝑥1 ∂𝑥2 ∂𝑥3 ∂𝑥1 ∂𝑥2 ∂𝑥3 3
where the dummy index 𝑖 = 1,2,3

ii. Gradient:
𝜕𝑓
‫ۊ 𝑥𝜕ۇ‬
𝜕𝑓
⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗ (𝑓(𝑥, 𝑦, 𝑧)) = ‫ۋ ۈ‬
𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑑 ‫ۋ𝑦𝜕ۈ‬
‫ۋ ۈ‬
𝜕𝑓
‫ی 𝑧𝜕ۉ‬
this the gradient formula you saw in Analysis II

𝜕𝑓 𝜕𝑓 𝜕𝑓
⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗
𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑓 = 𝑓,𝑖 ⃗𝑒⃗𝑖 = 𝑒⃗⃗⃗1 + 𝑒⃗⃗⃗2 + 𝑒⃗⃗⃗
𝜕𝑥1 𝜕𝑥2 𝜕𝑥3 3
iii. Rotation of ⃗𝑽:
∂
⃗)=∇
𝑅𝑜𝑡(𝑉 ⃗ ∧𝑉
⃗ ⃗ = ⃗𝑒⃗𝑖
where ∇ = ⃗𝑒⃗𝑖 ∂𝑖
∂𝑥𝑖
⃗
∂𝑉
= ⃗𝑒⃗𝑖 ∧ = ⃗𝑒⃗𝑖 ∧ ⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗
𝑉,𝑖
∂𝑥𝑖

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‫⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗ ∧ ‪= 𝑒⃗⃗⃗1‬‬
‫⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗ ∧ ‪𝑉,1 + 𝑒⃗⃗⃗2‬‬
‫⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗ ∧ ‪𝑉,2 + 𝑒⃗⃗⃗3‬‬
‫‪𝑉,3‬‬
‫𝑖‬ ‫𝑗‬ ‫⃗‬
‫𝑘‬ ‫⃗𝑘‬ ‫𝑖‬ ‫𝑖‬ ‫𝑗‬ ‫⃗𝑘‬
‫𝑗‬
‫⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗ ∧ 𝑖⃗𝑒⃗‬
‫| = 𝑖‪𝑉,‬‬ ‫‪1‬‬ ‫‪0‬‬ ‫‪0‬‬ ‫‪0 |+| 0‬‬
‫|‪|+‬‬ ‫‪0‬‬ ‫‪0‬‬ ‫| ‪1‬‬
‫‪1‬‬
‫‪∂𝑉1 ∂𝑉2 ∂𝑉3‬‬ ‫‪∂𝑉3‬‬ ‫‪∂𝑉1‬‬ ‫‪∂𝑉2‬‬
‫‪∂𝑉1 ∂𝑉2 ∂𝑉3‬‬
‫‪∂𝑥1 ∂𝑥1 ∂𝑥1‬‬ ‫‪∂𝑥2‬‬ ‫‪∂𝑥2‬‬ ‫‪∂𝑥2‬‬
‫‪∂𝑥3 ∂𝑥3 ∂𝑥3‬‬
‫‪𝜕𝑉3 𝜕𝑉2‬‬
‫‪0‬‬ ‫‪𝜕𝑉3‬‬ ‫‪𝜕𝑉2‬‬ ‫‪−‬‬
‫‪𝜕𝑉3‬‬ ‫‪−‬‬ ‫ۇ‬‫ۊ ‪𝜕𝑥2 𝜕𝑥3‬‬
‫‪−‬ۇ‬ ‫ۊ ‪ 𝜕𝑥3‬ۇ ۊ ‪ 𝜕𝑥2‬ۇ ۊ‬ ‫ۋ ‪𝜕𝑉3 𝜕𝑉3‬‬
‫ۈ = ۋ ‪ 𝜕𝑉3‬ۈ ‪ +‬ۋ ‪ 0‬ۈ ‪ +‬ۋ ‪ 𝜕𝑥1‬ۈ =‬‫ۋ 𝑥𝜕 ‪𝜕𝑥 −‬ۈ‬
‫‪𝜕𝑉2‬‬ ‫‪𝜕𝑉2‬‬ ‫‪𝜕𝑥1‬‬ ‫‪ 1‬ۈ‬ ‫ۋ‪1‬‬
‫‪−‬‬ ‫‪𝜕𝑉2 𝜕𝑉2‬‬
‫ی ‪ 0‬ۉ ی ‪ 𝜕𝑥1‬ۉ ی ‪ 𝜕𝑥1‬ۉ‬ ‫‪−‬‬
‫ی ‪𝜕𝑥1 𝜕𝑥1‬ۉ‬
‫‪Or:‬‬
‫‪𝜕𝑉3 𝜕𝑉2‬‬
‫‪−‬‬
‫𝑖‬ ‫𝑗‬ ‫⃗𝑘‬ ‫ۊ ‪𝜕𝑥2 𝜕𝑥3‬ۇ‬
‫∂‬ ‫ۋ ‪𝜕𝑉3 𝜕𝑉3‬ۈ | ∂‬
‫𝑖⃗𝑒⃗‬ ‫∂ || = ⃗‬
‫𝑉∧‬
‫∂‬
‫ۈ=|‬ ‫‪−‬‬
‫𝑖𝑥∂‬ ‫ۋ‬
‫‪∂𝑥1 ∂𝑥2 ∂𝑥3‬‬ ‫ۋ ‪𝜕𝑥1 𝜕𝑥1‬ۈ‬
‫‪V_1 V_2 𝑉_3‬‬ ‫‪𝜕𝑉2 𝜕𝑉2‬‬
‫‪−‬‬
‫ی ‪𝜕𝑥1 𝜕𝑥1‬ۉ‬
‫𝑉∂‬
‫𝑉 ∧ ∇⃗ = ) ⃗‬
‫𝑉(‪i.e., Rot‬‬ ‫⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗ ∧ 𝑖⃗𝑒⃗ = ⃗‬
‫𝑗‪𝑉,𝑖 = ⃗𝑒⃗𝑖 ∂𝑖 ∧ 𝑣 = ϵ𝑖𝑗𝑘 ∂𝑗 𝑣𝑘 = ϵ𝑖𝑗𝑘 ∂𝑥𝑘 = ϵ𝑖𝑗𝑘 𝑉𝑘,‬‬
‫𝑖‬

‫‪1‬‬
‫𝑖⃗𝑒⃗ ∧ 𝑖⃗⃗𝑒) 𝑗‪= (𝑉𝑗,𝑖 − 𝑉𝑖,‬‬
‫‪2‬‬

‫‪iv.‬‬ ‫‪Stoke’s Theorem:‬‬

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In a given region of space, the vector function of position 𝐹 = 𝐹(𝑥) is defined at every
point on the smooth curve C. If the differential tangent vector to the curve at an arbitrary
⃗⃗⃗⃗ , the integral:
point P is 𝑑𝑥
𝑥𝑏
∫𝐹 . ⃗⃗⃗⃗
𝑑𝑥 = ∫ 𝐹 . ⃗⃗⃗⃗
𝑑𝑥
𝑐 𝑥𝑎

Taken along the curve from a to B is known as the line

integral of 𝐹 along the curve C, In indicial notation:
𝑥𝑏
∫𝐹𝑖 𝑑𝑥𝑖 = ∫ 𝐹𝑖 𝑑𝑥𝑖
𝑐 𝑥𝑎

Stoke’s theorem states that the line integral of 𝐹 taken

along a closed curve 𝐶, may be expressed in terms of
an integral over surface 𝑆 which has 𝐶 as its boundary
i.e.:

∫ 𝐹 . ⃗⃗⃗⃗ ⃗⃗⃗⃗ = ∫𝑛⃗ . ⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗

⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗ (𝐹 )𝑑𝑆
𝑑𝑥 = ∫𝑅𝑜𝑡 𝑅𝑜𝑡(𝐹 )𝑑𝑆
𝐶 𝑆 𝑆

Where 𝑛⃗ is the outward unit normal on the position side of S, and dS is the differential
element of the surface S

In indicial form

∫ 𝐹𝑖 𝑑𝑥𝑖 =∈𝑆 𝑛𝑖 ϵ𝑖𝑗𝑘 𝑘𝑘,𝑗 𝑑𝑆

𝐶

i.e., the circulation of the vector 𝐹 along the curve C is equal to the rotational of 𝐹 over the
whole surface S limited by the curve C.

This relation permits the transformation of surface integral to curvilinear integral

Example:

𝐹1 (𝑥1 , 𝑥) 𝑑𝑥1 0
The vector 𝐹 = |𝐹2 (𝑥1 , 𝑥2 ) ⃗⃗⃗⃗
𝑑𝑥 |𝑑𝑥2  𝑛⃗ |0
𝐹3 (𝑥1 , 𝑥2 ) ⏟ 0 1
The surface S is in the plane xoy

𝐹 . ⃗⃗⃗⃗
𝑑𝑥 = 𝐹1 𝑑𝑥1 + 𝐹2 𝑑𝑥2 + 𝐹3 𝑑𝑥3 = 𝐹1 𝑑𝑥1 + 𝐹2 𝑑𝑥2

𝜕𝑉3 𝜕𝑉2
−
‫𝑥𝜕ۇ‬2 𝜕𝑥3 ‫ۊ‬
𝜕𝑉 𝜕𝑉
⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗ (𝐹 ) = ‫ ۈ‬3 − 3 ‫ۋ‬
𝑅𝑜𝑡 ‫𝑥𝜕ۈ‬ ‫ۋ‬
‫ ۈ‬1 𝜕𝑥1 ‫ۋ‬
𝜕𝑉2 𝜕𝑉2
−
‫𝑥𝜕ۉ‬1 𝜕𝑥1 ‫ی‬
Applying Stoke’s theorem:

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∂𝑓2 ∂𝑓1
∫ (𝐹1 𝑑𝑥1 + 𝐹2 𝑑𝑥2 ) = ∫ ( − ) 𝑑𝑥1 𝑑𝑥2
𝐶 𝑆 ∂𝑥1 ∂𝑥2

v. The Divergence Theorem of Gauss:

The divergence theorem of gauss relates a volume integral to a surface integral. For a vector
⃗ =𝑉
field 𝑉 ⃗ (𝑥), continuous and differentiable:
⃗ )𝑑𝑉 = ∫𝑛⃗ . 𝑉
∫ 𝑑𝑖𝑣(𝑉 ⃗ (𝑥) 𝑑𝑆
𝑉 ↓ 𝑆 ↓
surface
volume
Where 𝑛⃗ is the outward unit normal to the bounding surface S, of the volume V in which the
⃗ is defined in indicial form:
vector field 𝑉
∫ 𝑉𝑖,𝑖 𝑑𝑉 = ∫𝑉𝑖 𝑛𝑖 𝑑𝑆
𝑉 𝑆
where𝑉𝑖,𝑖 → 𝑉𝑖 𝑛𝑖
The Gauss theorem may be generalized to incorporate a tensor field of an order 𝑇𝑖𝑗𝑘… i.e.,
∫ 𝑇𝑖𝑘𝑗,𝑝 𝑑𝑉 = ∫𝑇𝑖𝑗𝑘 𝑛𝑝 𝑑𝑆
𝑉 𝑆
This notation allows to transform the surface integral to volume integral and vice-versa

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