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Next: Functions and Variables for itensor, Previous: Package itensor, Up: Package itensor [Contents][Index]
Maxima implements symbolic tensor manipulation of two distinct types:
component tensor manipulation (package ctensor) and indicial tensor
manipulation (package itensor).
Nota bene: Please see the note on ’new tensor notation’ below.
Component tensor manipulation means that geometrical tensor
objects are represented as arrays or matrices. Tensor operations such
as contraction or covariant differentiation are carried out by
actually summing over repeated (dummy) indices with do statements.
That is, one explicitly performs operations on the appropriate tensor
components stored in an array or matrix.
Indicial tensor manipulation is implemented by representing tensors as functions of their covariant, contravariant and derivative indices. Tensor operations such as contraction or covariant differentiation are performed by manipulating the indices themselves rather than the components to which they correspond.
These two approaches to the treatment of differential, algebraic and analytic processes in the context of Riemannian geometry have various advantages and disadvantages which reveal themselves only through the particular nature and difficulty of the user’s problem. However, one should keep in mind the following characteristics of the two implementations:
The representation of tensors and tensor operations explicitly in
terms of their components makes ctensor easy to use. Specification of
the metric and the computation of the induced tensors and invariants
is straightforward. Although all of Maxima’s powerful simplification
capacity is at hand, a complex metric with intricate functional and
coordinate dependencies can easily lead to expressions whose size is
excessive and whose structure is hidden. In addition, many calculations
involve intermediate expressions which swell causing programs to
terminate before completion. Through experience, a user can avoid
many of these difficulties.
Because of the special way in which tensors and tensor operations
are represented in terms of symbolic operations on their indices,
expressions which in the component representation would be
unmanageable can sometimes be greatly simplified by using the special
routines for symmetrical objects in itensor. In this way the structure
of a large expression may be more transparent. On the other hand, because
of the special indicial representation in itensor, in some cases the
user may find difficulty with the specification of the metric, function
definition, and the evaluation of differentiated "indexed" objects.
The itensor package can carry out differentiation with respect to an indexed
variable, which allows one to use the package when dealing with Lagrangian
and Hamiltonian formalisms. As it is possible to differentiate a field
Lagrangian with respect to an (indexed) field variable, one can use Maxima
to derive the corresponding Euler-Lagrange equations in indicial form. These
equations can be translated into component tensor (ctensor) programs using
the ic_convert function, allowing us to solve the field equations in a
particular coordinate representation, or to recast the equations of motion
in Hamiltonian form. See einhil.dem and bradic.dem for two comprehensive
examples. The first, einhil.dem, uses the Einstein-Hilbert action to derive
the Einstein field tensor in the homogeneous and isotropic case (Friedmann
equations) and the spherically symmetric, static case (Schwarzschild
solution.) The second, bradic.dem, demonstrates how to compute the Friedmann
equations from the action of Brans-Dicke gravity theory, and also derives
the Hamiltonian associated with the theory’s scalar field.
Earlier versions of the itensor package in Maxima used a notation that sometimes
led to incorrect index ordering. Consider the following, for instance:
(%i2) imetric(g);
(%o2) done
(%i3) ishow(g([],[j,k])*g([],[i,l])*a([i,j],[]))$
i l j k
(%t3) g g a
i j
(%i4) ishow(contract(%))$
k l
(%t4) a
This result is incorrect unless a happens to be a symmetric tensor.
The reason why this happens is that although itensor correctly maintains
the order within the set of covariant and contravariant indices, once an
index is raised or lowered, its position relative to the other set of
indices is lost.
To avoid this problem, a new notation has been developed that remains fully
compatible with the existing notation and can be used interchangeably. In
this notation, contravariant indices are inserted in the appropriate
positions in the covariant index list, but with a minus sign prepended.
Functions like contract_Itensor and ishow are now aware of this
new index notation and can process tensors appropriately.
In this new notation, the previous example yields a correct result:
(%i5) ishow(g([-j,-k],[])*g([-i,-l],[])*a([i,j],[]))$
i l j k
(%t5) g a g
i j
(%i6) ishow(contract(%))$
l k
(%t6) a
Presently, the only code that makes use of this notation is the lc2kdt
function. Through this notation, it achieves consistent results as it
applies the metric tensor to resolve Levi-Civita symbols without resorting
to numeric indices.
Since this code is brand new, it probably contains bugs. While it has been tested to make sure that it doesn’t break anything using the "old" tensor notation, there is a considerable chance that "new" tensors will fail to interoperate with certain functions or features. These bugs will be fixed as they are encountered... until then, caveat emptor!
The indicial tensor manipulation package may be loaded by
load("itensor"). Demos are also available: try demo("tensor").
In itensor a tensor is represented as an "indexed object" . This is a
function of 3 groups of indices which represent the covariant,
contravariant and derivative indices. The covariant indices are
specified by a list as the first argument to the indexed object, and
the contravariant indices by a list as the second argument. If the
indexed object lacks either of these groups of indices then the empty
list [] is given as the corresponding argument. Thus, g([a,b],[c])
represents an indexed object called g which has two covariant indices
(a,b), one contravariant index (c) and no derivative indices.
The derivative indices, if they are present, are appended as
additional arguments to the symbolic function representing the tensor.
They can be explicitly specified by the user or be created in the
process of differentiation with respect to some coordinate variable.
Since ordinary differentiation is commutative, the derivative indices
are sorted alphanumerically, unless iframe_flag is set to true,
indicating that a frame metric is being used. This canonical ordering makes it
possible for Maxima to recognize that, for example, t([a],[b],i,j) is
the same as t([a],[b],j,i). Differentiation of an indexed object with
respect to some coordinate whose index does not appear as an argument
to the indexed object would normally yield zero. This is because
Maxima would not know that the tensor represented by the indexed
object might depend implicitly on the corresponding coordinate. By
modifying the existing Maxima function diff in itensor, Maxima now
assumes that all indexed objects depend on any variable of
differentiation unless otherwise stated. This makes it possible for
the summation convention to be extended to derivative indices. It
should be noted that itensor does not possess the capabilities of
raising derivative indices, and so they are always treated as
covariant.
The following functions are available in the tensor package for
manipulating indexed objects. At present, with respect to the
simplification routines, it is assumed that indexed objects do not
by default possess symmetry properties. This can be overridden by
setting the variable allsym[false] to true, which will
result in treating all indexed objects completely symmetric in their
lists of covariant indices and symmetric in their lists of
contravariant indices.
The itensor package generally treats tensors as opaque objects. Tensorial
equations are manipulated based on algebraic rules, specifically symmetry
and contraction rules. In addition, the itensor package understands
covariant differentiation, curvature, and torsion. Calculations can be
performed relative to a metric of moving frame, depending on the setting
of the iframe_flag variable.
A sample session below demonstrates how to load the itensor package,
specify the name of the metric, and perform some simple calculations.
(%i1) load("itensor");
(%o1) /share/tensor/itensor.lisp
(%i2) imetric(g);
(%o2) done
(%i3) components(g([i,j],[]),p([i,j],[])*e([],[]))$
(%i4) ishow(g([k,l],[]))$
(%t4) e p
k l
(%i5) ishow(diff(v([i],[]),t))$
(%t5) 0
(%i6) depends(v,t);
(%o6) [v(t)]
(%i7) ishow(diff(v([i],[]),t))$
d
(%t7) -- (v )
dt i
(%i8) ishow(idiff(v([i],[]),j))$
(%t8) v
i,j
(%i9) ishow(extdiff(v([i],[]),j))$
(%t9) v - v
j,i i,j
-----------
2
(%i10) ishow(liediff(v,w([i],[])))$
%3 %3
(%t10) v w + v w
i,%3 ,i %3
(%i11) ishow(covdiff(v([i],[]),j))$
%4
(%t11) v - v ichr2
i,j %4 i j
(%i12) ishow(ev(%,ichr2))$
%4 %5
(%t12) v - (g v (e p + e p - e p - e p
i,j %4 j %5,i ,i j %5 i j,%5 ,%5 i j
+ e p + e p ))/2
i %5,j ,j i %5
(%i13) iframe_flag:true;
(%o13) true
(%i14) ishow(covdiff(v([i],[]),j))$
%6
(%t14) v - v icc2
i,j %6 i j
(%i15) ishow(ev(%,icc2))$
%6
(%t15) v - v ifc2
i,j %6 i j
(%i16) ishow(radcan(ev(%,ifc2,ifc1)))$
%6 %7 %6 %7
(%t16) - (ifg v ifb + ifg v ifb - 2 v
%6 j %7 i %6 i j %7 i,j
%6 %7
- ifg v ifb )/2
%6 %7 i j
(%i17) ishow(canform(s([i,j],[])-s([j,i])))$
(%t17) s - s
i j j i
(%i18) decsym(s,2,0,[sym(all)],[]);
(%o18) done
(%i19) ishow(canform(s([i,j],[])-s([j,i])))$
(%t19) 0
(%i20) ishow(canform(a([i,j],[])+a([j,i])))$
(%t20) a + a
j i i j
(%i21) decsym(a,2,0,[anti(all)],[]);
(%o21) done
(%i22) ishow(canform(a([i,j],[])+a([j,i])))$
(%t22) 0
Previous: Introduction to itensor, Up: Package itensor [Contents][Index]
Displays the contraction properties of its arguments as were given to
defcon. dispcon (all) displays all the contraction properties
which were defined.
is a function which, by prompting, allows one to create an indexed
object called name with any number of tensorial and derivative
indices. Either a single index or a list of indices (which may be
null) is acceptable input (see the example under covdiff).
will change the name of all indexed objects called old to new
in expr. old may be either a symbol or a list of the form
[name, m, n] in which case only those indexed objects called
name with m covariant and n contravariant indices will be
renamed to new.
Lists all tensors in a tensorial expression, complete with their indices. E.g.,
(%i6) ishow(a([i,j],[k])*b([u],[],v)+c([x,y],[])*d([],[])*e)$
k
(%t6) d e c + a b
x y i j u,v
(%i7) ishow(listoftens(%))$
k
(%t7) [a , b , c , d]
i j u,v x y
displays expr with the indexed objects in it shown having their covariant indices as subscripts and contravariant indices as superscripts. The derivative indices are displayed as subscripts, separated from the covariant indices by a comma (see the examples throughout this document).
Returns a list of two elements. The first is a list of the free indices in expr (those that occur only once). The second is the list of the dummy indices in expr (those that occur exactly twice) as the following example demonstrates.
(%i1) load("itensor");
(%o1) /share/tensor/itensor.lisp
(%i2) ishow(a([i,j],[k,l],m,n)*b([k,o],[j,m,p],q,r))$
k l j m p
(%t2) a b
i j,m n k o,q r
(%i3) indices(%);
(%o3) [[l, p, i, n, o, q, r], [k, j, m]]
A tensor product containing the same index more than twice is syntactically
illegal. indices attempts to deal with these expressions in a
reasonable manner; however, when it is called to operate upon such an
illegal expression, its behavior should be considered undefined.
Returns an expression equivalent to expr but with the dummy indices
in each term chosen from the set [%1, %2,...], if the optional second
argument is omitted. Otherwise, the dummy indices are indexed
beginning at the value of count. Each dummy index in a product
will be different. For a sum, rename will operate upon each term in
the sum resetting the counter with each term. In this way rename can
serve as a tensorial simplifier. In addition, the indices will be
sorted alphanumerically (if allsym is true) with respect to
covariant or contravariant indices depending upon the value of flipflag.
If flipflag is false then the indices will be renamed according
to the order of the contravariant indices. If flipflag is true
the renaming will occur according to the order of the covariant
indices. It often happens that the combined effect of the two renamings will
reduce an expression more than either one by itself.
(%i1) load("itensor");
(%o1) /share/tensor/itensor.lisp
(%i2) allsym:true;
(%o2) true
(%i3) g([],[%4,%5])*g([],[%6,%7])*ichr2([%1,%4],[%3])*
ichr2([%2,%3],[u])*ichr2([%5,%6],[%1])*ichr2([%7,r],[%2])-
g([],[%4,%5])*g([],[%6,%7])*ichr2([%1,%2],[u])*
ichr2([%3,%5],[%1])*ichr2([%4,%6],[%3])*ichr2([%7,r],[%2]),noeval$
(%i4) expr:ishow(%)$
%4 %5 %6 %7 %3 u %1 %2
(%t4) g g ichr2 ichr2 ichr2 ichr2
%1 %4 %2 %3 %5 %6 %7 r
%4 %5 %6 %7 u %1 %3 %2
- g g ichr2 ichr2 ichr2 ichr2
%1 %2 %3 %5 %4 %6 %7 r
(%i5) flipflag:true;
(%o5) true
(%i6) ishow(rename(expr))$
%2 %5 %6 %7 %4 u %1 %3
(%t6) g g ichr2 ichr2 ichr2 ichr2
%1 %2 %3 %4 %5 %6 %7 r
%4 %5 %6 %7 u %1 %3 %2
- g g ichr2 ichr2 ichr2 ichr2
%1 %2 %3 %4 %5 %6 %7 r
(%i7) flipflag:false;
(%o7) false
(%i8) rename(%th(2));
(%o8) 0
(%i9) ishow(rename(expr))$
%1 %2 %3 %4 %5 %6 %7 u
(%t9) g g ichr2 ichr2 ichr2 ichr2
%1 %6 %2 %3 %4 r %5 %7
%1 %2 %3 %4 %6 %5 %7 u
- g g ichr2 ichr2 ichr2 ichr2
%1 %3 %2 %6 %4 r %5 %7
Default value: false
If false then the indices will be
renamed according to the order of the contravariant indices,
otherwise according to the order of the covariant indices.
If flipflag is false then rename forms a list
of the contravariant indices as they are encountered from left to right
(if true then of the covariant indices). The first dummy
index in the list is renamed to %1, the next to %2, etc.
Then sorting occurs after the rename-ing (see the example
under rename).
gives tensor_1 the property that the
contraction of a product of tensor_1 and tensor_2 results in tensor_3
with the appropriate indices. If only one argument, tensor_1, is
given, then the contraction of the product of tensor_1 with any indexed
object having the appropriate indices (say my_tensor) will yield an
indexed object with that name, i.e. my_tensor, and with a new set of
indices reflecting the contractions performed.
For example, if imetric:g, then defcon(g) will implement the
raising and lowering of indices through contraction with the metric
tensor.
More than one defcon can be given for the same indexed object; the
latest one given which applies in a particular contraction will be
used.
contractions is a list of those indexed objects which have been given
contraction properties with defcon.
Removes all the contraction properties
from the (tensor_1, ..., tensor_n). remcon(all) removes all contraction
properties from all indexed objects.
Carries out the tensorial contractions in expr which may be any
combination of sums and products. This function uses the information
given to the defcon function. For best results, expr
should be fully expanded. ratexpand is the fastest way to expand
products and powers of sums if there are no variables in the denominators
of the terms. The gcd switch should be false if GCD
cancellations are unnecessary.
Must be executed before assigning components to a tensor for which
a built in value already exists as with ichr1, ichr2,
icurvature. See the example under icurvature.
permits one to assign an indicial value to an expression
expr giving the values of the components of tensor. These
are automatically substituted for the tensor whenever it occurs with
all of its indices. The tensor must be of the form t([...],[...])
where either list may be empty. expr can be any indexed expression
involving other objects with the same free indices as tensor. When
used to assign values to the metric tensor wherein the components
contain dummy indices one must be careful to define these indices to
avoid the generation of multiple dummy indices. Removal of this
assignment is given to the function remcomps.
It is important to keep in mind that components cares only about
the valence of a tensor, not about any particular index ordering. Thus
assigning components to, say, x([i,-j],[]), x([-j,i],[]), or
x([i],[j]) all produce the same result, namely components being
assigned to a tensor named x with valence (1,1).
Components can be assigned to an indexed expression in four ways, two
of which involve the use of the components command:
1) As an indexed expression. For instance:
(%i2) components(g([],[i,j]),e([],[i])*p([],[j]))$
(%i3) ishow(g([],[i,j]))$
i j
(%t3) e p
2) As a matrix:
(%i5) lg:-ident(4)$lg[1,1]:1$lg;
[ 1 0 0 0 ]
[ ]
[ 0 - 1 0 0 ]
(%o5) [ ]
[ 0 0 - 1 0 ]
[ ]
[ 0 0 0 - 1 ]
(%i6) components(g([i,j],[]),lg);
(%o6) done
(%i7) ishow(g([i,j],[]))$
(%t7) g
i j
(%i8) g([1,1],[]);
(%o8) 1
(%i9) g([4,4],[]);
(%o9) - 1
3) As a function. You can use a Maxima function to specify the
components of a tensor based on its indices. For instance, the following
code assigns kdelta to h if h has the same number
of covariant and contravariant indices and no derivative indices, and
g otherwise:
(%i4) h(l1,l2,[l3]):=if length(l1)=length(l2) and length(l3)=0
then kdelta(l1,l2) else apply(g,append([l1,l2], l3))$
(%i5) ishow(h([i],[j]))$
j
(%t5) kdelta
i
(%i6) ishow(h([i,j],[k],l))$
k
(%t6) g
i j,l
4) Using Maxima’s pattern matching capabilities, specifically the
defrule and applyb1 commands:
(%i1) load("itensor");
(%o1) /share/tensor/itensor.lisp
(%i2) matchdeclare(l1,listp);
(%o2) done
(%i3) defrule(r1,m(l1,[]),(i1:idummy(),
g([l1[1],l1[2]],[])*q([i1],[])*e([],[i1])))$
(%i4) defrule(r2,m([],l1),(i1:idummy(),
w([],[l1[1],l1[2]])*e([i1],[])*q([],[i1])))$
(%i5) ishow(m([i,n],[])*m([],[i,m]))$
i m
(%t5) m m
i n
(%i6) ishow(rename(applyb1(%,r1,r2)))$
%1 %2 %3 m
(%t6) e q w q e g
%1 %2 %3 n
Unbinds all values from tensor which were assigned with the
components function.
Shows component assignments of a tensor, as made using the components
command. This function can be particularly useful when a matrix is assigned
to an indicial tensor using components, as demonstrated by the
following example:
(%i1) load("ctensor");
(%o1) /share/tensor/ctensor.mac
(%i2) load("itensor");
(%o2) /share/tensor/itensor.lisp
(%i3) lg:matrix([sqrt(r/(r-2*m)),0,0,0],[0,r,0,0],
[0,0,sin(theta)*r,0],[0,0,0,sqrt((r-2*m)/r)]);
[ r ]
[ sqrt(-------) 0 0 0 ]
[ r - 2 m ]
[ ]
[ 0 r 0 0 ]
(%o3) [ ]
[ 0 0 r sin(theta) 0 ]
[ ]
[ r - 2 m ]
[ 0 0 0 sqrt(-------) ]
[ r ]
(%i4) components(g([i,j],[]),lg);
(%o4) done
(%i5) showcomps(g([i,j],[]));
[ r ]
[ sqrt(-------) 0 0 0 ]
[ r - 2 m ]
[ ]
[ 0 r 0 0 ]
(%t5) g = [ ]
i j [ 0 0 r sin(theta) 0 ]
[ ]
[ r - 2 m ]
[ 0 0 0 sqrt(-------) ]
[ r ]
(%o5) false
The showcomps command can also display components of a tensor of
rank higher than 2.
Increments icounter and returns as its value an index of the form
%n where n is a positive integer. This guarantees that dummy indices
which are needed in forming expressions will not conflict with indices
already in use (see the example under indices).
Default value: %
Is the prefix for dummy indices (see the example under indices).
Default value: 1
Determines the numerical suffix to be used in
generating the next dummy index in the tensor package. The prefix is
determined by the option idummy (default: %).
is the generalized Kronecker delta function defined in
the itensor package with L1 the list of covariant indices and L2
the list of contravariant indices. kdelta([i],[j]) returns the ordinary
Kronecker delta. The command ev(expr,kdelta) causes the evaluation of
an expression containing kdelta([],[]) to the dimension of the
manifold.
In what amounts to an abuse of this notation, itensor also allows
kdelta to have 2 covariant and no contravariant, or 2 contravariant
and no covariant indices, in effect providing a co(ntra)variant "unit matrix"
capability. This is strictly considered a programming aid and not meant to
imply that kdelta([i,j],[]) is a valid tensorial object.
Symmetrized Kronecker delta, used in some calculations. For instance:
(%i1) load("itensor");
(%o1) /share/tensor/itensor.lisp
(%i2) kdelta([1,2],[2,1]);
(%o2) - 1
(%i3) kdels([1,2],[2,1]);
(%o3) 1
(%i4) ishow(kdelta([a,b],[c,d]))$
c d d c
(%t4) kdelta kdelta - kdelta kdelta
a b a b
(%i4) ishow(kdels([a,b],[c,d]))$
c d d c
(%t4) kdelta kdelta + kdelta kdelta
a b a b
is the permutation (or Levi-Civita) tensor which yields 1 if the list L consists of an even permutation of integers, -1 if it consists of an odd permutation, and 0 if some indices in L are repeated.
Simplifies expressions containing the Levi-Civita symbol, converting these
to Kronecker-delta expressions when possible. The main difference between
this function and simply evaluating the Levi-Civita symbol is that direct
evaluation often results in Kronecker expressions containing numerical
indices. This is often undesirable as it prevents further simplification.
The lc2kdt function avoids this problem, yielding expressions that
are more easily simplified with rename or contract.
(%i1) load("itensor");
(%o1) /share/tensor/itensor.lisp
(%i2) expr:ishow('levi_civita([],[i,j])
*'levi_civita([k,l],[])*a([j],[k]))$
i j k
(%t2) levi_civita a levi_civita
j k l
(%i3) ishow(ev(expr,levi_civita))$
i j k 1 2
(%t3) kdelta a kdelta
1 2 j k l
(%i4) ishow(ev(%,kdelta))$
i j j i k
(%t4) (kdelta kdelta - kdelta kdelta ) a
1 2 1 2 j
1 2 2 1
(kdelta kdelta - kdelta kdelta )
k l k l
(%i5) ishow(lc2kdt(expr))$
k i j k j i
(%t5) a kdelta kdelta - a kdelta kdelta
j k l j k l
(%i6) ishow(contract(expand(%)))$
i i
(%t6) a - a kdelta
l l
The lc2kdt function sometimes makes use of the metric tensor.
If the metric tensor was not defined previously with imetric,
this results in an error.
(%i7) expr:ishow('levi_civita([],[i,j])
*'levi_civita([],[k,l])*a([j,k],[]))$
i j k l
(%t7) levi_civita levi_civita a
j k
(%i8) ishow(lc2kdt(expr))$
Maxima encountered a Lisp error:
Error in $IMETRIC [or a callee]:
$IMETRIC [or a callee] requires less than two arguments.
Automatically continuing.
To re-enable the Lisp debugger set *debugger-hook* to nil.
(%i9) imetric(g);
(%o9) done
(%i10) ishow(lc2kdt(expr))$
%3 i k %4 j l %3 i l %4 j
(%t10) (g kdelta g kdelta - g kdelta g
%3 %4 %3
k
kdelta ) a
%4 j k
(%i11) ishow(contract(expand(%)))$
l i l i j
(%t11) a - g a
j
Simplification rule used for expressions containing the unevaluated Levi-Civita
symbol (levi_civita). Along with lc_u, it can be used to simplify
many expressions more efficiently than the evaluation of levi_civita.
For example:
(%i1) load("itensor");
(%o1) /share/tensor/itensor.lisp
(%i2) el1:ishow('levi_civita([i,j,k],[])*a([],[i])*a([],[j]))$
i j
(%t2) a a levi_civita
i j k
(%i3) el2:ishow('levi_civita([],[i,j,k])*a([i])*a([j]))$
i j k
(%t3) levi_civita a a
i j
(%i4) canform(contract(expand(applyb1(el1,lc_l,lc_u))));
(%t4) 0
(%i5) canform(contract(expand(applyb1(el2,lc_l,lc_u))));
(%t5) 0
Simplification rule used for expressions containing the unevaluated Levi-Civita
symbol (levi_civita). Along with lc_u, it can be used to simplify
many expressions more efficiently than the evaluation of levi_civita.
For details, see lc_l.
Simplifies expr by renaming (see rename)
and permuting dummy indices. rename is restricted to sums of tensor
products in which no derivatives are present. As such it is limited
and should only be used if canform is not capable of carrying out the
required simplification.
The canten function returns a mathematically correct result only
if its argument is an expression that is fully symmetric in its indices.
For this reason, canten returns an error if allsym is not
set to true.
Similar to canten but also performs index contraction.
Default value: false
If true then all indexed objects
are assumed symmetric in all of their covariant and contravariant
indices. If false then no symmetries of any kind are assumed
in these indices. Derivative indices are always taken to be symmetric
unless iframe_flag is set to true.
Declares symmetry properties for tensor of m covariant and
n contravariant indices. The cov_i and contr_i are
pseudofunctions expressing symmetry relations among the covariant and
contravariant indices respectively. These are of the form
symoper(index_1, index_2,...) where symoper is one of
sym, anti or cyc and the index_i are integers
indicating the position of the index in the tensor. This will
declare tensor to be symmetric, antisymmetric or cyclic respectively
in the index_i. symoper(all) is also an allowable form which
indicates all indices obey the symmetry condition. For example, given an
object b with 5 covariant indices,
decsym(b,5,3,[sym(1,2),anti(3,4)],[cyc(all)]) declares b
symmetric in its first and second and antisymmetric in its third and
fourth covariant indices, and cyclic in all of its contravariant indices.
Either list of symmetry declarations may be null. The function which
performs the simplifications is canform as the example below
illustrates.
(%i1) load("itensor");
(%o1) /share/tensor/itensor.lisp
(%i2) expr:contract( expand( a([i1, j1, k1], [])
*kdels([i, j, k], [i1, j1, k1])))$
(%i3) ishow(expr)$
(%t3) a + a + a + a + a + a
k j i k i j j k i j i k i k j i j k
(%i4) decsym(a,3,0,[sym(all)],[]);
(%o4) done
(%i5) ishow(canform(expr))$
(%t5) 6 a
i j k
(%i6) remsym(a,3,0);
(%o6) done
(%i7) decsym(a,3,0,[anti(all)],[]);
(%o7) done
(%i8) ishow(canform(expr))$
(%t8) 0
(%i9) remsym(a,3,0);
(%o9) done
(%i10) decsym(a,3,0,[cyc(all)],[]);
(%o10) done
(%i11) ishow(canform(expr))$
(%t11) 3 a + 3 a
i k j i j k
(%i12) dispsym(a,3,0);
(%o12) [[cyc, [[1, 2, 3]], []]]
Removes all symmetry properties from tensor which has m covariant indices and n contravariant indices.
Displays all of the defined symmetries from tensor which has m
covariant indices and n contravariant indices. See decsym
for an example.
Simplifies expr by renaming dummy
indices and reordering all indices as dictated by symmetry conditions
imposed on them. If allsym is true then all indices are assumed
symmetric, otherwise symmetry information provided by decsym
declarations will be used. The dummy indices are renamed in the same
manner as in the rename function. When canform is applied to a large
expression the calculation may take a considerable amount of time.
This time can be shortened by calling rename on the expression first.
Also see the example under decsym. Note: canform may not be able to
reduce an expression completely to its simplest form although it will
always return a mathematically correct result.
The optional second parameter rename, if set to false, suppresses renaming.
is the usual Maxima differentiation function which has been expanded
in its abilities for itensor. It takes the derivative of expr with
respect to v_1 n_1 times, with respect to v_2 n_2
times, etc. For the tensor package, the function has been modified so
that the v_i may be integers from 1 up to the value of the variable
dim. This will cause the differentiation to be carried out with
respect to the v_ith member of the list vect_coords. If
vect_coords is bound to an atomic variable, then that variable
subscripted by v_i will be used for the variable of
differentiation. This permits an array of coordinate names or
subscripted names like x[1], x[2], ... to be used.
A further extension adds the ability to diff to compute derivatives
with respect to an indexed variable. In particular, the tensor package knows
how to differentiate expressions containing combinations of the metric tensor
and its derivatives with respect to the metric tensor and its first and
second derivatives. This capability is particularly useful when considering
Lagrangian formulations of a gravitational theory, allowing one to derive
the Einstein tensor and field equations from the action principle.
Indicial differentiation. Unlike diff, which differentiates
with respect to an independent variable, idiff) can be used
to differentiate with respect to a coordinate. For an indexed object,
this amounts to appending the v_i as derivative indices.
Subsequently, derivative indices will be sorted, unless iframe_flag
is set to true.
idiff can also differentiate the determinant of the metric
tensor. Thus, if imetric has been bound to G then
idiff(determinant(g),k) will return
2 * determinant(g) * ichr2([%i,k],[%i]) where the dummy index %i
is chosen appropriately.
Computes the Lie-derivative of the tensorial expression ten with respect to the vector field v. ten should be any indexed tensor expression; v should be the name (without indices) of a vector field. For example:
(%i1) load("itensor");
(%o1) /share/tensor/itensor.lisp
(%i2) ishow(liediff(v,a([i,j],[])*b([],[k],l)))$
k %2 %2 %2
(%t2) b (v a + v a + v a )
,l i j,%2 ,j i %2 ,i %2 j
%1 k %1 k %1 k
+ (v b - b v + v b ) a
,%1 l ,l ,%1 ,l ,%1 i j
Evaluates all occurrences of the idiff command in the tensorial
expression ten.
Returns an expression equivalent to expr but with all derivatives
of indexed objects replaced by the noun form of the idiff function. Its
arguments would yield that indexed object if the differentiation were
carried out. This is useful when it is desired to replace a
differentiated indexed object with some function definition resulting
in expr and then carry out the differentiation by saying
ev(expr, idiff).
Equivalent to the execution of undiff, followed by ev and
rediff.
The point of this operation is to easily evaluate expressions that cannot be directly evaluated in derivative form. For instance, the following causes an error:
(%i1) load("itensor");
(%o1) /share/tensor/itensor.lisp
(%i2) icurvature([i,j,k],[l],m);
Maxima encountered a Lisp error:
Error in $ICURVATURE [or a callee]:
$ICURVATURE [or a callee] requires less than three arguments.
Automatically continuing.
To re-enable the Lisp debugger set *debugger-hook* to nil.
However, if icurvature is entered in noun form, it can be evaluated
using evundiff:
(%i3) ishow('icurvature([i,j,k],[l],m))$
l
(%t3) icurvature
i j k,m
(%i4) ishow(evundiff(%))$
l l %1 l %1
(%t4) - ichr2 - ichr2 ichr2 - ichr2 ichr2
i k,j m %1 j i k,m %1 j,m i k
l l %1 l %1
+ ichr2 + ichr2 ichr2 + ichr2 ichr2
i j,k m %1 k i j,m %1 k,m i j
Note: In earlier versions of Maxima, derivative forms of the
Christoffel-symbols also could not be evaluated. This has been fixed now,
so evundiff is no longer necessary for expressions like this:
(%i5) imetric(g);
(%o5) done
(%i6) ishow(ichr2([i,j],[k],l))$
k %3
g (g - g + g )
j %3,i l i j,%3 l i %3,j l
(%t6) -----------------------------------------
2
k %3
g (g - g + g )
,l j %3,i i j,%3 i %3,j
+ -----------------------------------
2
Set to zero, in expr, all occurrences of the tensor_i that have no derivative indices.
Set to zero, in expr, all occurrences of the tensor_i that have derivative indices.
Set to zero, in expr, all occurrences of the differentiated object tensor that have n or more derivative indices as the following example demonstrates.
(%i1) load("itensor");
(%o1) /share/tensor/itensor.lisp
(%i2) ishow(a([i],[J,r],k,r)+a([i],[j,r,s],k,r,s))$
J r j r s
(%t2) a + a
i,k r i,k r s
(%i3) ishow(flushnd(%,a,3))$
J r
(%t3) a
i,k r
Gives tensor_i the coordinate differentiation property that the
derivative of contravariant vector whose name is one of the
tensor_i yields a Kronecker delta. For example, if coord(x) has
been done then idiff(x([],[i]),j) gives kdelta([i],[j]).
coord is a list of all indexed objects having this property.
Removes the coordinate differentiation property from the tensor_i
that was established by the function coord. remcoord(all)
removes this property from all indexed objects.
Display expr using the metric g such that
any tensor d’Alembertian occurring in expr will be indicated using the
symbol []. For example, []p([m],[n]) represents
g([],[i,j])*p([m],[n],i,j).
Simplifies expressions containing ordinary derivatives of
both covariant and contravariant forms of the metric tensor (the
current restriction). For example, conmetderiv can relate the
derivative of the contravariant metric tensor with the Christoffel
symbols as seen from the following:
(%i1) load("itensor");
(%o1) /share/tensor/itensor.lisp
(%i2) ishow(g([],[a,b],c))$
a b
(%t2) g
,c
(%i3) ishow(conmetderiv(%,g))$
%1 b a %1 a b
(%t3) - g ichr2 - g ichr2
%1 c %1 c
Simplifies expressions containing products of the derivatives of the
metric tensor. Specifically, simpmetderiv recognizes two identities:
ab ab ab a g g + g g = (g g ) = (kdelta ) = 0 ,d bc bc,d bc ,d c ,d
hence
ab ab g g = - g g ,d bc bc,d
and
ab ab g g = g g ,j ab,i ,i ab,j
which follows from the symmetries of the Christoffel symbols.
The simpmetderiv function takes one optional parameter which, when
present, causes the function to stop after the first successful
substitution in a product expression. The simpmetderiv function
also makes use of the global variable flipflag which determines
how to apply a “canonical” ordering to the product indices.
Put together, these capabilities can be used to achieve powerful
simplifications that are difficult or impossible to accomplish otherwise.
This is demonstrated through the following example that explicitly uses the
partial simplification features of simpmetderiv to obtain a
contractible expression:
(%i1) load("itensor");
(%o1) /share/tensor/itensor.lisp
(%i2) imetric(g);
(%o2) done
(%i3) ishow(g([],[a,b])*g([],[b,c])*g([a,b],[],d)*g([b,c],[],e))$
a b b c
(%t3) g g g g
a b,d b c,e
(%i4) ishow(canform(%))$
errexp1 has improper indices
-- an error. Quitting. To debug this try debugmode(true);
(%i5) ishow(simpmetderiv(%))$
a b b c
(%t5) g g g g
a b,d b c,e
(%i6) flipflag:not flipflag;
(%o6) true
(%i7) ishow(simpmetderiv(%th(2)))$
a b b c
(%t7) g g g g
,d ,e a b b c
(%i8) flipflag:not flipflag;
(%o8) false
(%i9) ishow(simpmetderiv(%th(2),stop))$
a b b c
(%t9) - g g g g
,e a b,d b c
(%i10) ishow(contract(%))$
b c
(%t10) - g g
,e c b,d
See also weyl.dem for an example that uses simpmetderiv
and conmetderiv together to simplify contractions of the Weyl tensor.
Set to zero, in expr, all occurrences of tensor that have
exactly one derivative index.
Specifies the metric by assigning the variable imetric:g in
addition, the contraction properties of the metric g are set up by
executing the commands defcon(g), defcon(g, g, kdelta).
The variable imetric (unbound by default), is bound to the metric, assigned by
the imetric(g) command.
Sets the dimensions of the metric. Also initializes the antisymmetry properties of the Levi-Civita symbols for the given dimension.
Yields the Christoffel symbol of the first kind via the definition
(g + g - g )/2 .
ik,j jk,i ij,k
To evaluate the Christoffel symbols for a particular metric, the
variable imetric must be assigned a name as in the example under chr2.
Yields the Christoffel symbol of the second kind defined by the relation
ks
ichr2([i,j],[k]) = g (g + g - g )/2
is,j js,i ij,s
Yields the Riemann
curvature tensor in terms of the Christoffel symbols of the second
kind (ichr2). The following notation is used:
h h h %1 h
icurvature = - ichr2 - ichr2 ichr2 + ichr2
i j k i k,j %1 j i k i j,k
h %1
+ ichr2 ichr2
%1 k i j
Yields the covariant derivative of expr with
respect to the variables v_i in terms of the Christoffel symbols of the
second kind (ichr2). In order to evaluate these, one should use
ev(expr,ichr2).
(%i1) load("itensor");
(%o1) /share/tensor/itensor.lisp
(%i2) entertensor()$
Enter tensor name: a;
Enter a list of the covariant indices: [i,j];
Enter a list of the contravariant indices: [k];
Enter a list of the derivative indices: [];
k
(%t2) a
i j
(%i3) ishow(covdiff(%,s))$
k %1 k %1 k
(%t3) - a ichr2 - a ichr2 + a
i %1 j s %1 j i s i j,s
k %1
+ ichr2 a
%1 s i j
(%i4) imetric:g;
(%o4) g
(%i5) ishow(ev(%th(2),ichr2))$
%1 %4 k
g a (g - g + g )
i %1 s %4,j j s,%4 j %4,s
(%t5) - ------------------------------------------
2
%1 %3 k
g a (g - g + g )
%1 j s %3,i i s,%3 i %3,s
- ------------------------------------------
2
k %2 %1
g a (g - g + g )
i j s %2,%1 %1 s,%2 %1 %2,s k
+ ------------------------------------------- + a
2 i j,s
(%i6)
Imposes the Lorentz condition by substituting 0 for all indexed objects in expr that have a derivative index identical to a contravariant index.
Causes undifferentiated Christoffel symbols and
first derivatives of the metric tensor vanish in expr. The name
in the igeodesic_coords function refers to the metric name
(if it appears in expr) while the connection coefficients must be
called with the names ichr1 and/or ichr2. The following example
demonstrates the verification of the cyclic identity satisfied by the Riemann
curvature tensor using the igeodesic_coords function.
(%i1) load("itensor");
(%o1) /share/tensor/itensor.lisp
(%i2) ishow(icurvature([r,s,t],[u]))$
u u %1 u
(%t2) - ichr2 - ichr2 ichr2 + ichr2
r t,s %1 s r t r s,t
u %1
+ ichr2 ichr2
%1 t r s
(%i3) ishow(igeodesic_coords(%,ichr2))$
u u
(%t3) ichr2 - ichr2
r s,t r t,s
(%i4) ishow(igeodesic_coords(icurvature([r,s,t],[u]),ichr2)+
igeodesic_coords(icurvature([s,t,r],[u]),ichr2)+
igeodesic_coords(icurvature([t,r,s],[u]),ichr2))$
u u u u
(%t4) - ichr2 + ichr2 + ichr2 - ichr2
t s,r t r,s s t,r s r,t
u u
- ichr2 + ichr2
r t,s r s,t
(%i5) canform(%);
(%o5) 0
Maxima now has the ability to perform calculations using moving frames. These can be orthonormal frames (tetrads, vielbeins) or an arbitrary frame.
To use frames, you must first set iframe_flag to true. This
causes the Christoffel-symbols, ichr1 and ichr2, to be replaced
by the more general frame connection coefficients icc1 and icc2
in calculations. Specifically, the behavior of covdiff and
icurvature is changed.
The frame is defined by two tensors: the inverse frame field (ifri,
the dual basis tetrad),
and the frame metric ifg. The frame metric is the identity matrix for
orthonormal frames, or the Lorentz metric for orthonormal frames in Minkowski
spacetime. The inverse frame field defines the frame base (unit vectors).
Contraction properties are defined for the frame field and the frame metric.
When iframe_flag is true, many itensor expressions use the frame
metric ifg instead of the metric defined by imetric for
raising and lowerind indices.
IMPORTANT: Setting the variable iframe_flag to true does NOT
undefine the contraction properties of a metric defined by a call to
defcon or imetric. If a frame field is used, it is best to
define the metric by assigning its name to the variable imetric
and NOT invoke the imetric function.
Maxima uses these two tensors to define the frame coefficients (ifc1
and ifc2) which form part of the connection coefficients (icc1
and icc2), as the following example demonstrates:
(%i1) load("itensor");
(%o1) /share/tensor/itensor.lisp
(%i2) iframe_flag:true;
(%o2) true
(%i3) ishow(covdiff(v([],[i]),j))$
i i %1
(%t3) v + icc2 v
,j %1 j
(%i4) ishow(ev(%,icc2))$
%1 i i
(%t4) v ifc2 + v
%1 j ,j
(%i5) ishow(ev(%,ifc2))$
%1 i %2 i
(%t5) v ifg ifc1 + v
%1 j %2 ,j
(%i6) ishow(ev(%,ifc1))$
%1 i %2
v ifg (ifb - ifb + ifb )
j %2 %1 %2 %1 j %1 j %2 i
(%t6) -------------------------------------------------- + v
2 ,j
(%i7) ishow(ifb([a,b,c]))$
%3 %4
(%t7) (ifri - ifri ) ifr ifr
a %3,%4 a %4,%3 b c
An alternate method is used to compute the frame bracket (ifb) if
the iframe_bracket_form flag is set to false:
(%i8) block([iframe_bracket_form:false],ishow(ifb([a,b,c])))$
%6 %5 %5 %6
(%t8) ifri (ifr ifr - ifr ifr )
a %5 b c,%6 b,%6 c
Since in this version of Maxima, contraction identities for ifr and
ifri are always defined, as is the frame bracket (ifb), this
function does nothing.
The frame bracket. The contribution of the frame metric to the connection coefficients is expressed using the frame bracket:
- ifb + ifb + ifb
c a b b c a a b c
ifc1 = --------------------------------
abc 2
The frame bracket itself is defined in terms of the frame field and frame
metric. Two alternate methods of computation are used depending on the
value of frame_bracket_form. If true (the default) or if the
itorsion_flag is true:
d e f
ifb = ifr ifr (ifri - ifri - ifri itr )
abc b c a d,e a e,d a f d e
Otherwise:
e d d e
ifb = (ifr ifr - ifr ifr ) ifri
abc b c,e b,e c a d
Connection coefficients of the first kind. In itensor, defined as
icc1 = ichr1 - ikt1 - inmc1
abc abc abc abc
In this expression, if iframe_flag is true, the Christoffel-symbol
ichr1 is replaced with the frame connection coefficient ifc1.
If itorsion_flag is false, ikt1
will be omitted. It is also omitted if a frame base is used, as the
torsion is already calculated as part of the frame bracket.
Lastly, of inonmet_flag is false,
inmc1 will not be present.
Connection coefficients of the second kind. In itensor, defined as
c c c c
icc2 = ichr2 - ikt2 - inmc2
ab ab ab ab
In this expression, if iframe_flag is true, the Christoffel-symbol
ichr2 is replaced with the frame connection coefficient ifc2.
If itorsion_flag is false, ikt2
will be omitted. It is also omitted if a frame base is used, as the
torsion is already calculated as part of the frame bracket.
Lastly, of inonmet_flag is false,
inmc2 will not be present.
Frame coefficient of the first kind (also known as Ricci-rotation coefficients.) This tensor represents the contribution of the frame metric to the connection coefficient of the first kind. Defined as:
- ifb + ifb + ifb
c a b b c a a b c
ifc1 = --------------------------------
abc 2
Frame coefficient of the second kind. This tensor represents the contribution
of the frame metric to the connection coefficient of the second kind. Defined
as a permutation of the frame bracket (ifb) with the appropriate
indices raised and lowered as necessary:
c cd
ifc2 = ifg ifc1
ab abd
The frame field. Contracts with the inverse frame field (ifri) to
form the frame metric (ifg).
The inverse frame field. Specifies the frame base (dual basis vectors). Along with the frame metric, it forms the basis of all calculations based on frames.
The frame metric. Defaults to kdelta, but can be changed using
components.
The inverse frame metric. Contracts with the frame metric (ifg)
to kdelta.
Default value: true
Specifies how the frame bracket (ifb) is computed.
Maxima can now take into account torsion and nonmetricity. When the flag
itorsion_flag is set to true, the contribution of torsion
is added to the connection coefficients. Similarly, when the flag
inonmet_flag is true, nonmetricity components are included.
The nonmetricity vector. Conformal nonmetricity is defined through the
covariant derivative of the metric tensor. Normally zero, the metric
tensor’s covariant derivative will evaluate to the following when
inonmet_flag is set to true:
g =- g inm ij;k ij k
Covariant permutation of the nonmetricity vector components. Defined as
g inm - inm g - g inm
ab c a bc ac b
inmc1 = ------------------------------
abc 2
(Substitute ifg in place of g if a frame metric is used.)
Contravariant permutation of the nonmetricity vector components. Used
in the connection coefficients if inonmet_flag is true. Defined
as:
c c cd
-inm kdelta - kdelta inm + g inm g
c a b a b d ab
inmc2 = -------------------------------------------
ab 2
(Substitute ifg in place of g if a frame metric is used.)
Covariant permutation of the torsion tensor (also known as contorsion). Defined as:
d d d
-g itr - g itr - itr g
ad cb bd ca ab cd
ikt1 = ----------------------------------
abc 2
(Substitute ifg in place of g if a frame metric is used.)
Contravariant permutation of the torsion tensor (also known as contorsion). Defined as:
c cd
ikt2 = g ikt1
ab abd
(Substitute ifg in place of g if a frame metric is used.)
The torsion tensor. For a metric with torsion, repeated covariant differentiation on a scalar function will not commute, as demonstrated by the following example:
(%i1) load("itensor");
(%o1) /share/tensor/itensor.lisp
(%i2) imetric:g;
(%o2) g
(%i3) covdiff( covdiff( f( [], []), i), j)
- covdiff( covdiff( f( [], []), j), i)$
(%i4) ishow(%)$
%4 %2
(%t4) f ichr2 - f ichr2
,%4 j i ,%2 i j
(%i5) canform(%);
(%o5) 0
(%i6) itorsion_flag:true;
(%o6) true
(%i7) covdiff( covdiff( f( [], []), i), j)
- covdiff( covdiff( f( [], []), j), i)$
(%i8) ishow(%)$
%8 %6
(%t8) f icc2 - f icc2 - f + f
,%8 j i ,%6 i j ,j i ,i j
(%i9) ishow(canform(%))$
%1 %1
(%t9) f icc2 - f icc2
,%1 j i ,%1 i j
(%i10) ishow(canform(ev(%,icc2)))$
%1 %1
(%t10) f ikt2 - f ikt2
,%1 i j ,%1 j i
(%i11) ishow(canform(ev(%,ikt2)))$
%2 %1 %2 %1
(%t11) f g ikt1 - f g ikt1
,%2 i j %1 ,%2 j i %1
(%i12) ishow(factor(canform(rename(expand(ev(%,ikt1))))))$
%3 %2 %1 %1
f g g (itr - itr )
,%3 %2 %1 j i i j
(%t12) ------------------------------------
2
(%i13) decsym(itr,2,1,[anti(all)],[]);
(%o13) done
(%i14) defcon(g,g,kdelta);
(%o14) done
(%i15) subst(g,nounify(g),%th(3))$
(%i16) ishow(canform(contract(%)))$
%1
(%t16) - f itr
,%1 i j
The itensor package can perform operations on totally antisymmetric
covariant tensor fields. A totally antisymmetric tensor field of rank
(0,L) corresponds with a differential L-form. On these objects, a
multiplication operation known as the exterior product, or wedge product,
is defined.
Unfortunately, not all authors agree on the definition of the wedge product. Some authors prefer a definition that corresponds with the notion of antisymmetrization: in these works, the wedge product of two vector fields, for instance, would be defined as
a a - a a
i j j i
a /\ a = -----------
i j 2
More generally, the product of a p-form and a q-form would be defined as
1 k1..kp l1..lq A /\ B = ------ D A B i1..ip j1..jq (p+q)! i1..ip j1..jq k1..kp l1..lq
where D stands for the Kronecker-delta.
Other authors, however, prefer a “geometric” definition that corresponds with the notion of the volume element:
a /\ a = a a - a a i j i j j i
and, in the general case
1 k1..kp l1..lq A /\ B = ----- D A B i1..ip j1..jq p! q! i1..ip j1..jq k1..kp l1..lq
Since itensor is a tensor algebra package, the first of these two
definitions appears to be the more natural one. Many applications, however,
utilize the second definition. To resolve this dilemma, a flag has been
implemented that controls the behavior of the wedge product: if
igeowedge_flag is false (the default), the first, "tensorial"
definition is used, otherwise the second, "geometric" definition will
be applied.
The wedge product operator is denoted by the tilde ~. This is
a binary operator. Its arguments should be expressions involving scalars,
covariant tensors of rank one, or covariant tensors of rank l that
have been declared antisymmetric in all covariant indices.
The behavior of the wedge product operator is controlled by the
igeowedge_flag flag, as in the following example:
(%i1) load("itensor");
(%o1) /share/tensor/itensor.lisp
(%i2) ishow(a([i])~b([j]))$
a b - b a
i j i j
(%t2) -------------
2
(%i3) decsym(a,2,0,[anti(all)],[]);
(%o3) done
(%i4) ishow(a([i,j])~b([k]))$
a b + b a - a b
i j k i j k i k j
(%t4) ---------------------------
3
(%i5) igeowedge_flag:true;
(%o5) true
(%i6) ishow(a([i])~b([j]))$
(%t6) a b - b a
i j i j
(%i7) ishow(a([i,j])~b([k]))$
(%t7) a b + b a - a b
i j k i j k i k j
The vertical bar | denotes the "contraction with a vector" binary
operation. When a totally antisymmetric covariant tensor is contracted
with a contravariant vector, the result is the same regardless which index
was used for the contraction. Thus, it is possible to define the
contraction operation in an index-free manner.
In the itensor package, contraction with a vector is always carried out
with respect to the first index in the literal sorting order. This ensures
better simplification of expressions involving the | operator. For instance:
(%i1) load("itensor");
(%o1) /share/tensor/itensor.lisp
(%i2) decsym(a,2,0,[anti(all)],[]);
(%o2) done
(%i3) ishow(a([i,j],[])|v)$
%1
(%t3) v a
%1 j
(%i4) ishow(a([j,i],[])|v)$
%1
(%t4) - v a
%1 j
Note that it is essential that the tensors used with the | operator be
declared totally antisymmetric in their covariant indices. Otherwise,
the results will be incorrect.
Computes the exterior derivative of expr with respect to the index
i. The exterior derivative is formally defined as the wedge
product of the partial derivative operator and a differential form. As
such, this operation is also controlled by the setting of igeowedge_flag.
For instance:
(%i1) load("itensor");
(%o1) /share/tensor/itensor.lisp
(%i2) ishow(extdiff(v([i]),j))$
v - v
j,i i,j
(%t2) -----------
2
(%i3) decsym(a,2,0,[anti(all)],[]);
(%o3) done
(%i4) ishow(extdiff(a([i,j]),k))$
a - a + a
j k,i i k,j i j,k
(%t4) ------------------------
3
(%i5) igeowedge_flag:true;
(%o5) true
(%i6) ishow(extdiff(v([i]),j))$
(%t6) v - v
j,i i,j
(%i7) ishow(extdiff(a([i,j]),k))$
(%t7) - (a - a + a )
k j,i k i,j j i,k
Compute the Hodge-dual of expr. For instance:
(%i1) load("itensor");
(%o1) /share/tensor/itensor.lisp
(%i2) imetric(g);
(%o2) done
(%i3) idim(4);
(%o3) done
(%i4) icounter:100;
(%o4) 100
(%i5) decsym(A,3,0,[anti(all)],[])$
(%i6) ishow(A([i,j,k],[]))$
(%t6) A
i j k
(%i7) ishow(canform(hodge(%)))$
%1 %2 %3 %4
levi_civita g A
%1 %102 %2 %3 %4
(%t7) -----------------------------------------
6
(%i8) ishow(canform(hodge(%)))$
%1 %2 %3 %8 %4 %5 %6 %7
(%t8) levi_civita levi_civita g
%1 %106
g g g A /6
%2 %107 %3 %108 %4 %8 %5 %6 %7
(%i9) lc2kdt(%)$
(%i10) %,kdelta$
(%i11) ishow(canform(contract(expand(%))))$
(%t11) - A
%106 %107 %108
Default value: false
Controls the behavior of the wedge product and exterior derivative. When
set to false (the default), the notion of differential forms will
correspond with that of a totally antisymmetric covariant tensor field.
When set to true, differential forms will agree with the notion
of the volume element.
The itensor package provides limited support for exporting tensor
expressions to TeX. Since itensor expressions appear as function calls,
the regular Maxima tex command will not produce the expected
output. You can try instead the tentex command, which attempts
to translate tensor expressions into appropriately indexed TeX objects.
To use the tentex function, you must first load tentex,
as in the following example:
(%i1) load("itensor");
(%o1) /share/tensor/itensor.lisp
(%i2) load("tentex");
(%o2) /share/tensor/tentex.lisp
(%i3) idummyx:m;
(%o3) m
(%i4) ishow(icurvature([j,k,l],[i]))$
m1 i m1 i i
(%t4) ichr2 ichr2 - ichr2 ichr2 - ichr2
j k m1 l j l m1 k j l,k
i
+ ichr2
j k,l
(%i5) tentex(%)$
$$\Gamma_{j\,k}^{m_1}\,\Gamma_{l\,m_1}^{i}-\Gamma_{j\,l}^{m_1}\,
\Gamma_{k\,m_1}^{i}-\Gamma_{j\,l,k}^{i}+\Gamma_{j\,k,l}^{i}$$
Note the use of the idummyx assignment, to avoid the appearance
of the percent sign in the TeX expression, which may lead to compile errors.
NB: This version of the tentex function is somewhat experimental.
The itensor package has the ability to generate Maxima code that can
then be executed in the context of the ctensor package. The function that performs
this task is ic_convert.
Converts the itensor equation eqn to a ctensor assignment statement.
Implied sums over dummy indices are made explicit while indexed
objects are transformed into arrays (the array subscripts are in the
order of covariant followed by contravariant indices of the indexed
objects). The derivative of an indexed object will be replaced by the
noun form of diff taken with respect to ct_coords subscripted
by the derivative index. The Christoffel symbols ichr1 and ichr2
will be translated to lcs and mcs, respectively and if
metricconvert is true then all occurrences of the metric
with two covariant (contravariant) indices will be renamed to lg
(ug). In addition, do loops will be introduced summing over
all free indices so that the
transformed assignment statement can be evaluated by just doing
ev. The following examples demonstrate the features of this
function.
(%i1) load("itensor");
(%o1) /share/tensor/itensor.lisp
(%i2) eqn:ishow(t([i,j],[k])=f([],[])*g([l,m],[])*a([],[m],j)
*b([i],[l,k]))$
k m l k
(%t2) t = f a b g
i j ,j i l m
(%i3) ic_convert(eqn);
(%o3) for i thru dim do (for j thru dim do (
for k thru dim do
t : f sum(sum(diff(a , ct_coords ) b
i, j, k m j i, l, k
g , l, 1, dim), m, 1, dim)))
l, m
(%i4) imetric(g);
(%o4) done
(%i5) metricconvert:true;
(%o5) true
(%i6) ic_convert(eqn);
(%o6) for i thru dim do (for j thru dim do (
for k thru dim do
t : f sum(sum(diff(a , ct_coords ) b
i, j, k m j i, l, k
lg , l, 1, dim), m, 1, dim)))
l, m
The following Maxima words are used by the itensor package internally and
should not be redefined:
Keyword Comments ------------------------------------------ indices2() Internal version of indices() conti Lists contravariant indices covi Lists covariant indices of an indexed object deri Lists derivative indices of an indexed object name Returns the name of an indexed object concan irpmon lc0 _lc2kdt0 _lcprod _extlc
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