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Covariance And Contravariance Of Vectors
In physics, especially in multilinear algebra and tensor analysis, covariance and contravariance describe how the quantitative description of certain geometric or physical entities changes with a change of basis. In modern mathematical notation, the role is sometimes swapped. In physics, a basis is sometimes thought of as a set of reference axes. A change of scale on the reference axes corresponds to a change of units in the problem. For instance, by changing scale from meters to centimeters (that is, ''dividing'' the scale of the reference axes by 100), the components of a measured velocity vector are ''multiplied'' by 100. A vector changes scale ''inversely'' to changes in scale to the reference axes, and consequently is called ''contravariant''. As a result, a vector often has units of distance or distance with other units (as, for example, velocity has units of distance divided by time). In contrast, a covector, also called a ''dual vector'', typically has units of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vector 1-form
Vector most often refers to: *Euclidean vector, a quantity with a magnitude and a direction *Vector (epidemiology), an agent that carries and transmits an infectious pathogen into another living organism Vector may also refer to: Mathematics and physics *Vector (mathematics and physics) **Row and column vectors, single row or column matrices **Vector space **Vector field, a vector for each point Molecular biology *Vector (molecular biology), a DNA molecule used as a vehicle to artificially carry foreign genetic material into another cell **Cloning vector, a small piece of DNA into which a foreign DNA fragment can be inserted for cloning purposes **Shuttle vector, a plasmid constructed so that it can propagate in two different host species **Viral vector, a tool commonly used by molecular biologists to deliver genetic materials into cells Computer science *Vector, a one-dimensional array data structure **Distance-vector routing protocol, a class of routing protocols **Dope v ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Einstein Notation
In mathematics, especially the usage of linear algebra in Mathematical physics, Einstein notation (also known as the Einstein summation convention or Einstein summation notation) is a notational convention that implies summation over a set of indexed terms in a formula, thus achieving brevity. As part of mathematics it is a notational subset of Ricci calculus; however, it is often used in physics applications that do not distinguish between tangent and cotangent spaces. It was introduced to physics by Albert Einstein in 1916. Introduction Statement of convention According to this convention, when an index variable appears twice in a single term and is not otherwise defined (see Free and bound variables), it implies summation of that term over all the values of the index. So where the indices can range over the set , : y = \sum_^3 c_i x^i = c_1 x^1 + c_2 x^2 + c_3 x^3 is simplified by the convention to: : y = c_i x^i The upper indices are not exponents but are indices ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Coordinate System
In geometry, a coordinate system is a system that uses one or more numbers, or coordinates, to uniquely determine the position of the points or other geometric elements on a manifold such as Euclidean space. The order of the coordinates is significant, and they are sometimes identified by their position in an ordered tuple and sometimes by a letter, as in "the ''x''-coordinate". The coordinates are taken to be real numbers in elementary mathematics, but may be complex numbers or elements of a more abstract system such as a commutative ring. The use of a coordinate system allows problems in geometry to be translated into problems about numbers and ''vice versa''; this is the basis of analytic geometry. Common coordinate systems Number line The simplest example of a coordinate system is the identification of points on a line with real numbers using the '' number line''. In this system, an arbitrary point ''O'' (the ''origin'') is chosen on a given line. The coordinate of a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tuple
In mathematics, a tuple is a finite ordered list (sequence) of elements. An -tuple is a sequence (or ordered list) of elements, where is a non-negative integer. There is only one 0-tuple, referred to as ''the empty tuple''. An -tuple is defined inductively using the construction of an ordered pair. Mathematicians usually write tuples by listing the elements within parentheses "" and separated by a comma and a space; for example, denotes a 5-tuple. Sometimes other symbols are used to surround the elements, such as square brackets "nbsp; or angle brackets "⟨ ⟩". Braces "" are used to specify arrays in some programming languages but not in mathematical expressions, as they are the standard notation for sets. The term ''tuple'' can often occur when discussing other mathematical objects, such as vectors. In computer science, tuples come in many forms. Most typed functional programming languages implement tuples directly as product types, tightly associated with alge ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pushforward (differential)
In differential geometry, pushforward is a linear approximation of smooth maps on tangent spaces. Suppose that is a smooth map between smooth manifolds; then the differential of ''φ, d\varphi_x,'' at a point ''x'' is, in some sense, the best linear approximation of ''φ'' near ''x''. It can be viewed as a generalization of the total derivative of ordinary calculus. Explicitly, the differential is a linear map from the tangent space of ''M'' at ''x'' to the tangent space of ''N'' at ''φ''(''x''), d\varphi_x: T_xM \to T_N. Hence it can be used to ''push'' tangent vectors on ''M'' ''forward'' to tangent vectors on ''N''. The differential of a map ''φ'' is also called, by various authors, the derivative or total derivative of ''φ''. Motivation Let \varphi: U \to V be a smooth map from an open subset U of \R^m to an open subset V of \R^n. For any point x in U, the Jacobian of \varphi at x (with respect to the standard coordinates) is the matrix representation of the tot ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pullback (differential Geometry)
Suppose that is a smooth map between smooth manifolds ''M'' and ''N''. Then there is an associated linear map from the space of 1-forms on ''N'' (the linear space of sections of the cotangent bundle) to the space of 1-forms on ''M''. This linear map is known as the pullback (by ''φ''), and is frequently denoted by ''φ''∗. More generally, any covariant tensor field – in particular any differential form – on ''N'' may be pulled back to ''M'' using ''φ''. When the map ''φ'' is a diffeomorphism, then the pullback, together with the pushforward, can be used to transform any tensor field from ''N'' to ''M'' or vice versa. In particular, if ''φ'' is a diffeomorphism between open subsets of R''n'' and R''n'', viewed as a change of coordinates (perhaps between different charts on a manifold ''M''), then the pullback and pushforward describe the transformation properties of covariant and contravariant tensors used in more traditional (coordinate dependent) approa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Functor
In mathematics, specifically category theory, a functor is a mapping between categories. Functors were first considered in algebraic topology, where algebraic objects (such as the fundamental group) are associated to topological spaces, and maps between these algebraic objects are associated to continuous maps between spaces. Nowadays, functors are used throughout modern mathematics to relate various categories. Thus, functors are important in all areas within mathematics to which category theory is applied. The words ''category'' and ''functor'' were borrowed by mathematicians from the philosophers Aristotle and Rudolf Carnap, respectively. The latter used ''functor'' in a linguistic context; see function word. Definition Let ''C'' and ''D'' be categories. A functor ''F'' from ''C'' to ''D'' is a mapping that * associates each object X in ''C'' to an object F(X) in ''D'', * associates each morphism f \colon X \to Y in ''C'' to a morphism F(f) \colon F(X) \to F(Y) in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Covariance And Contravariance Of Functors
In mathematics, specifically category theory, a functor is a mapping between categories. Functors were first considered in algebraic topology, where algebraic objects (such as the fundamental group) are associated to topological spaces, and maps between these algebraic objects are associated to continuous maps between spaces. Nowadays, functors are used throughout modern mathematics to relate various categories. Thus, functors are important in all areas within mathematics to which category theory is applied. The words ''category'' and ''functor'' were borrowed by mathematicians from the philosophers Aristotle and Rudolf Carnap, respectively. The latter used ''functor'' in a linguistic context; see function word. Definition Let ''C'' and ''D'' be categories. A functor ''F'' from ''C'' to ''D'' is a mapping that * associates each object X in ''C'' to an object F(X) in ''D'', * associates each morphism f \colon X \to Y in ''C'' to a morphism F(f) \colon F(X) \to F(Y) in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Category Theory
Category theory is a general theory of mathematical structures and their relations that was introduced by Samuel Eilenberg and Saunders Mac Lane in the middle of the 20th century in their foundational work on algebraic topology. Nowadays, category theory is used in almost all areas of mathematics, and in some areas of computer science. In particular, many constructions of new mathematical objects from previous ones, that appear similarly in several contexts are conveniently expressed and unified in terms of categories. Examples include quotient spaces, direct products, completion, and duality. A category is formed by two sorts of objects: the objects of the category, and the morphisms, which relate two objects called the ''source'' and the ''target'' of the morphism. One often says that a morphism is an ''arrow'' that ''maps'' its source to its target. Morphisms can be ''composed'' if the target of the first morphism equals the source of the second one, and morphism com ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tensor
In mathematics, a tensor is an algebraic object that describes a multilinear relationship between sets of algebraic objects related to a vector space. Tensors may map between different objects such as vectors, scalars, and even other tensors. There are many types of tensors, including scalars and vectors (which are the simplest tensors), dual vectors, multilinear maps between vector spaces, and even some operations such as the dot product. Tensors are defined independent of any basis, although they are often referred to by their components in a basis related to a particular coordinate system. Tensors have become important in physics because they provide a concise mathematical framework for formulating and solving physics problems in areas such as mechanics ( stress, elasticity, fluid mechanics, moment of inertia, ...), electrodynamics (electromagnetic tensor, Maxwell tensor, permittivity, magnetic susceptibility, ...), general relativity (stress–energy tensor, c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
James Joseph Sylvester
James Joseph Sylvester (3 September 1814 – 15 March 1897) was an English mathematician. He made fundamental contributions to matrix theory, invariant theory, number theory, partition theory, and combinatorics. He played a leadership role in American mathematics in the later half of the 19th century as a professor at the Johns Hopkins University and as founder of the '' American Journal of Mathematics''. At his death, he was a professor at Oxford University. Biography James Joseph was born in London on 3 September 1814, the son of Abraham Joseph, a Jewish merchant. James later adopted the surname Sylvester when his older brother did so upon emigration to the United States—a country which at that time required all immigrants to have a given name, a middle name, and a surname. At the age of 14, Sylvester was a student of Augustus de Morgan at the University of London. His family withdrew him from the University after he was accused of stabbing a fellow student wi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spherical Coordinates
In mathematics, a spherical coordinate system is a coordinate system for three-dimensional space where the position of a point is specified by three numbers: the ''radial distance'' of that point from a fixed origin, its ''polar angle'' measured from a fixed zenith direction, and the ''azimuthal angle'' of its orthogonal projection on a reference plane that passes through the origin and is orthogonal to the zenith, measured from a fixed reference direction on that plane. It can be seen as the three-dimensional version of the polar coordinate system. The radial distance is also called the ''radius'' or ''radial coordinate''. The polar angle may be called '' colatitude'', '' zenith angle'', '' normal angle'', or ''inclination angle''. When radius is fixed, the two angular coordinates make a coordinate system on the sphere sometimes called spherical polar coordinates. The use of symbols and the order of the coordinates differs among sources and disciplines. This article wi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
