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Second Covariant Derivative
In the math branches of differential geometry and vector calculus, the second covariant derivative, or the second order covariant derivative, of a vector field is the derivative of its derivative with respect to another two tangent vector fields. Definition Formally, given a (pseudo)-Riemannian manifold (''M'', ''g'') associated with a vector bundle ''E'' → ''M'', let ∇ denote the Levi-Civita connection given by the metric ''g'', and denote by Γ(''E'') the space of the smooth sections of the total space ''E''. Denote by ''T*M'' the cotangent bundle of ''M''. Then the second covariant derivative can be defined as the composition of the two ∇s as follows: :\Gamma(E) \stackrel \Gamma(T^*M \otimes E) \stackrel \Gamma(T^*M \otimes T^*M \otimes E). For example, given vector fields ''u'', ''v'', ''w'', a second covariant derivative can be written as :(\nabla^2_ w)^a = u^c v^b \nabla_c \nabla_b w^a by using abstract index notation. It is also straightforward to verify that :(\nabl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Differential Geometry
Differential geometry is a Mathematics, mathematical discipline that studies the geometry of smooth shapes and smooth spaces, otherwise known as smooth manifolds. It uses the techniques of Calculus, single variable calculus, vector calculus, linear algebra and multilinear algebra. The field has its origins in the study of spherical geometry as far back as classical antiquity, antiquity. It also relates to astronomy, the geodesy of the Earth, and later the study of hyperbolic geometry by Nikolai Lobachevsky, Lobachevsky. The simplest examples of smooth spaces are the Differential geometry of curves, plane and space curves and Differential geometry of surfaces, surfaces in the three-dimensional Euclidean space, and the study of these shapes formed the basis for development of modern differential geometry during the 18th and 19th centuries. Since the late 19th century, differential geometry has grown into a field concerned more generally with geometric structures on differentiable ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vector Calculus
Vector calculus or vector analysis is a branch of mathematics concerned with the differentiation and integration of vector fields, primarily in three-dimensional Euclidean space, \mathbb^3. The term ''vector calculus'' is sometimes used as a synonym for the broader subject of multivariable calculus, which spans vector calculus as well as partial differentiation and multiple integration. Vector calculus plays an important role in differential geometry and in the study of partial differential equations. It is used extensively in physics and engineering, especially in the description of electromagnetic fields, gravitational fields, and fluid flow. Vector calculus was developed from the theory of quaternions by J. Willard Gibbs and Oliver Heaviside near the end of the 19th century, and most of the notation and terminology was established by Gibbs and Edwin Bidwell Wilson in their 1901 book, '' Vector Analysis'', though earlier mathematicians such as Isaac Newton pioneered ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Covariant Derivative
In mathematics and physics, covariance is a measure of how much two variables change together, and may refer to: Statistics * Covariance matrix, a matrix of covariances between a number of variables * Covariance or cross-covariance between two random variables or data sets * Autocovariance, the covariance of a signal with a time-shifted version of itself * Covariance function, a function giving the covariance of a random field with itself at two locations Algebra and geometry * A covariant (invariant theory) is a bihomogeneous polynomial in and the coefficients of some homogeneous form in that is invariant under some group of linear transformations. * Covariance and contravariance of vectors, properties of how vector coordinates change under a change of basis ** Covariant transformation, a rule that describes how certain physical entities change under a change of coordinate system * Covariance and contravariance of functors, properties of functors * General covariance ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tangent Vector
In mathematics, a tangent vector is a vector that is tangent to a curve or surface at a given point. Tangent vectors are described in the differential geometry of curves in the context of curves in R''n''. More generally, tangent vectors are elements of a '' tangent space'' of a differentiable manifold. Tangent vectors can also be described in terms of germs. Formally, a tangent vector at the point x is a linear derivation of the algebra defined by the set of germs at x. Motivation Before proceeding to a general definition of the tangent vector, we discuss its use in calculus and its tensor In mathematics, a tensor is an algebraic object that describes a multilinear relationship between sets of algebraic objects associated with a vector space. Tensors may map between different objects such as vectors, scalars, and even other ... properties. Calculus Let \mathbf(t) be a parametric smooth curve. The tangent vector is given by \mathbf'(t) provided it exists and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Manifold
In mathematics, a manifold is a topological space that locally resembles Euclidean space near each point. More precisely, an n-dimensional manifold, or ''n-manifold'' for short, is a topological space with the property that each point has a Neighbourhood (mathematics), neighborhood that is homeomorphic to an open (topology), open subset of n-dimensional Euclidean space. One-dimensional manifolds include Line (geometry), lines and circles, but not Lemniscate, self-crossing curves such as a figure 8. Two-dimensional manifolds are also called Surface (topology), surfaces. Examples include the Plane (geometry), plane, the sphere, and the torus, and also the Klein bottle and real projective plane. The concept of a manifold is central to many parts of geometry and modern mathematical physics because it allows complicated structures to be described in terms of well-understood topological properties of simpler spaces. Manifolds naturally arise as solution sets of systems of equations ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vector Bundle
In mathematics, a vector bundle is a topological construction that makes precise the idea of a family of vector spaces parameterized by another space X (for example X could be a topological space, a manifold, or an algebraic variety): to every point x of the space X we associate (or "attach") a vector space V(x) in such a way that these vector spaces fit together to form another space of the same kind as X (e.g. a topological space, manifold, or algebraic variety), which is then called a vector bundle over X. The simplest example is the case that the family of vector spaces is constant, i.e., there is a fixed vector space V such that V(x)=V for all x in X: in this case there is a copy of V for each x in X and these copies fit together to form the vector bundle X\times V over X. Such vector bundles are said to be ''trivial''. A more complicated (and prototypical) class of examples are the tangent bundles of smooth (or differentiable) manifolds: to every point of such a mani ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Levi-Civita Connection
In Riemannian or pseudo-Riemannian geometry (in particular the Lorentzian geometry of general relativity), the Levi-Civita connection is the unique affine connection on the tangent bundle of a manifold that preserves the ( pseudo-) Riemannian metric and is torsion-free. The fundamental theorem of Riemannian geometry states that there is a unique connection that satisfies these properties. In the theory of Riemannian and pseudo-Riemannian manifolds the term covariant derivative is often used for the Levi-Civita connection. The components (structure coefficients) of this connection with respect to a system of local coordinates are called Christoffel symbols. History The Levi-Civita connection is named after Tullio Levi-Civita, although originally "discovered" by Elwin Bruno Christoffel. Levi-Civita, along with Gregorio Ricci-Curbastro, used Christoffel's symbols to define the notion of parallel transport and explore the relationship of parallel transport with the c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Smoothness
In mathematical analysis, the smoothness of a function is a property measured by the number of continuous derivatives (''differentiability class)'' it has over its domain. A function of class C^k is a function of smoothness at least ; that is, a function of class C^k is a function that has a th derivative that is continuous in its domain. A function of class C^\infty or C^\infty-function (pronounced C-infinity function) is an infinitely differentiable function, that is, a function that has derivatives of all orders (this implies that all these derivatives are continuous). Generally, the term smooth function refers to a C^-function. However, it may also mean "sufficiently differentiable" for the problem under consideration. Differentiability classes Differentiability class is a classification of functions according to the properties of their derivatives. It is a measure of the highest order of derivative that exists and is continuous for a function. Consider an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Section (fiber Bundle)
In the mathematical field of topology, a section (or cross section) of a fiber bundle E is a continuous right inverse of the projection function \pi. In other words, if E is a fiber bundle over a base space, B: : \pi \colon E \to B then a section of that fiber bundle is a continuous map, : \sigma \colon B \to E such that : \pi(\sigma(x)) = x for all x \in B . A section is an abstract characterization of what it means to be a graph. The graph of a function g\colon B \to Y can be identified with a function taking its values in the Cartesian product E = B \times Y , of B and Y : :\sigma\colon B\to E, \quad \sigma(x) = (x,g(x)) \in E. Let \pi\colon E \to B be the projection onto the first factor: \pi(x,y) = x . Then a graph is any function \sigma for which \pi(\sigma(x)) = x . The language of fibre bundles allows this notion of a section to be generalized to the case when E is not necessarily a Cartesian product. If \pi\colon E \to B is a fibre bundle ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cotangent Bundle
In mathematics, especially differential geometry, the cotangent bundle of a smooth manifold is the vector bundle of all the cotangent spaces at every point in the manifold. It may be described also as the dual bundle to the tangent bundle. This may be generalized to categories with more structure than smooth manifolds, such as complex manifolds, or (in the form of cotangent sheaf) algebraic varieties or schemes. In the smooth case, any Riemannian metric or symplectic form gives an isomorphism between the cotangent bundle and the tangent bundle, but they are not in general isomorphic in other categories. Formal definition via diagonal morphism There are several equivalent ways to define the cotangent bundle. One way is through a diagonal mapping Δ and germs. Let ''M'' be a smooth manifold and let ''M''×''M'' be the Cartesian product of ''M'' with itself. The diagonal mapping Δ sends a point ''p'' in ''M'' to the point (''p'',''p'') of ''M''×''M'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Function Composition
In mathematics, the composition operator \circ takes two function (mathematics), functions, f and g, and returns a new function h(x) := (g \circ f) (x) = g(f(x)). Thus, the function is function application, applied after applying to . (g \circ f) is pronounced "the composition of and ". Reverse composition, sometimes denoted f \mapsto g , applies the operation in the opposite order, applying f first and g second. Intuitively, reverse composition is a chaining process in which the output of function feeds the input of function . The composition of functions is a special case of the composition of relations, sometimes also denoted by \circ. As a result, all properties of composition of relations are true of composition of functions, such as #Properties, associativity. Examples * Composition of functions on a finite set (mathematics), set: If , and , then , as shown in the figure. * Composition of functions on an infinite set: If (where is the set of all real numbers) is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Abstract Index Notation
Abstract index notation (also referred to as slot-naming index notation) is a mathematical notation for tensors and spinors that uses indices to indicate their types, rather than their components in a particular basis. The indices are mere placeholders, not related to any basis and, in particular, are non-numerical. Thus it should not be confused with the Ricci calculus. The notation was introduced by Roger Penrose as a way to use the formal aspects of the Einstein summation convention to compensate for the difficulty in describing tensor contraction, contractions and covariant derivative, covariant differentiation in modern abstract tensor notation, while preserving the explicit Covariance and contravariance of vectors, covariance of the expressions involved. Let V be a vector space, and V^* its dual space. Consider, for example, an order-2 Covariance and contravariance of vectors, covariant tensor h \in V^*\otimes V^*. Then h can be identified with a bilinear form on V. In ot ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
