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Codifferential
In mathematics, the Hodge star operator or Hodge star is a linear map defined on the exterior algebra of a finite-dimensional oriented vector space endowed with a nondegenerate symmetric bilinear form. Applying the operator to an element of the algebra produces the Hodge dual of the element. This map was introduced by W. V. D. Hodge. For example, in an oriented 3-dimensional Euclidean space, an oriented plane can be represented by the exterior product of two basis vectors, and its Hodge dual is the normal vector given by their cross product; conversely, any vector is dual to the oriented plane perpendicular to it, endowed with a suitable bivector. Generalizing this to an -dimensional vector space, the Hodge star is a one-to-one mapping of -vectors to -vectors; the dimensions of these spaces are the binomial coefficients \tbinom nk = \tbinom. The naturalness of the star operator means it can play a role in differential geometry when applied to the cotangent bundle of a pseudo- ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Divergence
In vector calculus, divergence is a vector operator that operates on a vector field, producing a scalar field giving the rate that the vector field alters the volume in an infinitesimal neighborhood of each point. (In 2D this "volume" refers to area.) More precisely, the divergence at a point is the rate that the flow of the vector field modifies a volume about the point ''in the limit'', as a small volume shrinks down to the point. As an example, consider air as it is heated or cooled. The velocity of the air at each point defines a vector field. While air is heated in a region, it expands in all directions, and thus the velocity field points outward from that region. The divergence of the velocity field in that region would thus have a positive value. While the air is cooled and thus contracting, the divergence of the velocity has a negative value. Physical interpretation of divergence In physical terms, the divergence of a vector field is the extent to which the vector fi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Laplace–Beltrami Operator
In differential geometry, the Laplace–Beltrami operator is a generalization of the Laplace operator to functions defined on submanifolds in Euclidean space and, even more generally, on Riemannian and pseudo-Riemannian manifolds. It is named after Pierre-Simon Laplace and Eugenio Beltrami. For any twice-differentiable real-valued function ''f'' defined on Euclidean space R''n'', the Laplace operator (also known as the ''Laplacian'') takes ''f'' to the divergence of its gradient vector field, which is the sum of the ''n'' pure second derivatives of ''f'' with respect to each vector of an orthonormal basis for R''n''. Like the Laplacian, the Laplace–Beltrami operator is defined as the divergence of the gradient, and is a linear operator taking functions into functions. The operator can be extended to operate on tensors as the divergence of the covariant derivative. Alternatively, the operator can be generalized to operate on differential forms using the divergence and exterior d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Laplace Operator
In mathematics, the Laplace operator or Laplacian is a differential operator given by the divergence of the gradient of a Scalar field, scalar function on Euclidean space. It is usually denoted by the symbols \nabla\cdot\nabla, \nabla^2 (where \nabla is the Del, nabla operator), or \Delta. In a Cartesian coordinate system, the Laplacian is given by the sum of second partial derivatives of the function with respect to each independent variable. In other coordinate systems, such as cylindrical coordinates, cylindrical and spherical coordinates, the Laplacian also has a useful form. Informally, the Laplacian of a function at a point measures by how much the average value of over small spheres or balls centered at deviates from . The Laplace operator is named after the French mathematician Pierre-Simon de Laplace (1749–1827), who first applied the operator to the study of celestial mechanics: the Laplacian of the gravitational potential due to a given mass density distributio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Differential Form
In mathematics, differential forms provide a unified approach to define integrands over curves, surfaces, solids, and higher-dimensional manifolds. The modern notion of differential forms was pioneered by Élie Cartan. It has many applications, especially in geometry, topology and physics. For instance, the expression f(x) \, dx is an example of a -form, and can be integrated over an interval ,b/math> contained in the domain of f: \int_a^b f(x)\,dx. Similarly, the expression f(x,y,z) \, dx \wedge dy + g(x,y,z) \, dz \wedge dx + h(x,y,z) \, dy \wedge dz is a -form that can be integrated over a surface S: \int_S \left(f(x,y,z) \, dx \wedge dy + g(x,y,z) \, dz \wedge dx + h(x,y,z) \, dy \wedge dz\right). The symbol \wedge denotes the exterior product, sometimes called the ''wedge product'', of two differential forms. Likewise, a -form f(x,y,z) \, dx \wedge dy \wedge dz represents a volume element that can be integrated over a region of space. In general, a -form is an object ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mathematics
Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many areas of mathematics, which include number theory (the study of numbers), algebra (the study of formulas and related structures), geometry (the study of shapes and spaces that contain them), Mathematical analysis, analysis (the study of continuous changes), and set theory (presently used as a foundation for all mathematics). Mathematics involves the description and manipulation of mathematical object, abstract objects that consist of either abstraction (mathematics), abstractions from nature orin modern mathematicspurely abstract entities that are stipulated to have certain properties, called axioms. Mathematics uses pure reason to proof (mathematics), prove properties of objects, a ''proof'' consisting of a succession of applications of in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Volume Form
In mathematics, a volume form or top-dimensional form is a differential form of degree equal to the differentiable manifold dimension. Thus on a manifold M of dimension n, a volume form is an n-form. It is an element of the space of sections of the line bundle \textstyle^n(T^*M), denoted as \Omega^n(M). A manifold admits a nowhere-vanishing volume form if and only if it is orientable. An orientable manifold has infinitely many volume forms, since multiplying a volume form by a nowhere-vanishing real valued function yields another volume form. On non-orientable manifolds, one may instead define the weaker notion of a density. A volume form provides a means to define the integral of a function on a differentiable manifold. In other words, a volume form gives rise to a measure with respect to which functions can be integrated by the appropriate Lebesgue integral. The absolute value of a volume form is a volume element, which is also known variously as a ''twisted volume form' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Orthonormal Basis
In mathematics, particularly linear algebra, an orthonormal basis for an inner product space V with finite Dimension (linear algebra), dimension is a Basis (linear algebra), basis for V whose vectors are orthonormal, that is, they are all unit vectors and Orthogonality_(mathematics), orthogonal to each other. For example, the standard basis for a Euclidean space \R^n is an orthonormal basis, where the relevant inner product is the dot product of vectors. The Image (mathematics), image of the standard basis under a Rotation (mathematics), rotation or Reflection (mathematics), reflection (or any orthogonal transformation) is also orthonormal, and every orthonormal basis for \R^n arises in this fashion. An orthonormal basis can be derived from an orthogonal basis via Normalize (linear algebra), normalization. The choice of an origin (mathematics), origin and an orthonormal basis forms a coordinate frame known as an ''orthonormal frame''. For a general inner product space V, an orthono ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Academic Press
Academic Press (AP) is an academic book publisher founded in 1941. It launched a British division in the 1950s. Academic Press was acquired by Harcourt, Brace & World in 1969. Reed Elsevier said in 2000 it would buy Harcourt, a deal completed the next year, after a regulatory review. Thus, Academic Press is now an imprint of Elsevier. Academic Press publishes reference books, serials and online products in the subject areas of: * Communications engineering * Economics * Environmental science * Finance * Food science and nutrition * Geophysics * Life sciences * Mathematics and statistics * Neuroscience * Physical sciences * Psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ... Well-known products include the '' Methods in Enzymology'' series and encyclopedias such ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harley Flanders
Harley M. Flanders (September 13, 1925 – July 26, 2013) was an American mathematician, known for several textbooks and contributions to his fields: algebra and algebraic number theory, linear algebra, electrical networks, scientific computing. Life Flanders was a sophomore calculus student of Lester R. Ford at the Illinois Institute of Technology and asked for more challenging reading. Ford recommended ''A Course in Mathematical Analysis'' by Édouard Goursat, translated by Earle Hedrick, which included challenging exercises. Flanders recalled in 2001 that the final exercise required a proof of a formula for the derivatives of a composite function, generalizing the chain rule, in a form now called the Faa di Bruno formula.H. Flanders (2001) "From Ford to Faa", American Mathematical Monthly 108(6): 558–61 Flanders received his bachelors (1946), masters (1947) and PhD (1949) at the University of Chicago on the dissertation ''Unification of class field theory'' advised by O ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gram Determinant
In linear algebra, the Gram matrix (or Gramian matrix, Gramian) of a set of vectors v_1,\dots, v_n in an inner product space is the Hermitian matrix of inner products, whose entries are given by the inner product G_ = \left\langle v_i, v_j \right\rangle., p.441, Theorem 7.2.10 If the vectors v_1,\dots, v_n are the columns of matrix X then the Gram matrix is X^\dagger X in the general case that the vector coordinates are complex numbers, which simplifies to X^\top X for the case that the vector coordinates are real numbers. An important application is to compute linear independence: a set of vectors are linearly independent if and only if the #Gram determinant, Gram determinant (the determinant of the Gram matrix) is non-zero. It is named after Jørgen Pedersen Gram. Examples For finite-dimensional real vectors in \mathbb^n with the usual Euclidean dot product, the Gram matrix is G = V^\top V, where V is a matrix whose columns are the vectors v_k and V^\top is its transpose whose r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Multivector
In multilinear algebra, a multivector, sometimes called Clifford number or multor, is an element of the exterior algebra of a vector space . This algebra is graded, associative and alternating, and consists of linear combinations of simple -vectors (also known as decomposable -vectors or -blades) of the form : v_1\wedge\cdots\wedge v_k, where v_1, \ldots, v_k are in . A -vector is such a linear combination that is ''homogeneous'' of degree (all terms are -blades for the same ). Depending on the authors, a "multivector" may be either a -vector or any element of the exterior algebra (any linear combination of -blades with potentially differing values of ). In differential geometry, a -vector is usually a vector in the exterior algebra of the tangent vector space of a smooth manifold; that is, it is an antisymmetric tensor obtained by taking linear combinations of the exterior product of tangent vectors, for some integer . A differential -form is a -vector in the exterior al ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Exterior Algebra
In mathematics, the exterior algebra or Grassmann algebra of a vector space V is an associative algebra that contains V, which has a product, called exterior product or wedge product and denoted with \wedge, such that v\wedge v=0 for every vector v in V. The exterior algebra is named after Hermann Grassmann, and the names of the product come from the "wedge" symbol \wedge and the fact that the product of two elements of V is "outside" V. The wedge product of k vectors v_1 \wedge v_2 \wedge \dots \wedge v_k is called a ''blade (geometry), blade of degree k'' or ''k-blade''. The wedge product was introduced originally as an algebraic construction used in geometry to study areas, volumes, and their higher-dimensional analogues: the magnitude (mathematics), magnitude of a bivector, -blade v\wedge w is the area of the parallelogram defined by v and w, and, more generally, the magnitude of a k-blade is the (hyper)volume of the Parallelepiped#Parallelotope, parallelotope defined by the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
