Advanced Search
All Posts : Applications, Examples and Libraries
 

Automatic handling of collision of tensor indices in products

 

 

The design of products of tensorial expressions that have contracted indices got enhanced. The idea: repeated indices in certain subexpressions are actually dummies. So suppose T[a, b] and B[b] are tensors, then in T[trace] = T[a, `~a`], a is just a dummy, therefore T[a, `~a`]*B[a] = T[b, `~b`]*B[a] is a well defined object. The new design automatically maps input like T[a, `~a`]*B[a] into T[b, `~b`]*B[a]. This significantly simplifies the manipulation of indices when working with products of tensorial expressions: each tensorial expression being multiplied has its repeated indices automatically transformed into different ones when they would collide with the free or repeated indices of the other expressions being multiplied.

 

This functionality is available within the Physics update distributed at the Maplesoft R&D Physics webpage (but for what you see under Preview that makes use of a new kernel feature of the Maple version under development).

 

> 

restart

> 

with(Physics); Setup(spacetimeindices = lowercaselatin, quiet)

[spacetimeindices = lowercaselatin]

(1)
> 

Define(T[a, b], B[b])

`Defined objects with tensor properties`

 

{B[b], Physics:-Dgamma[a], Physics:-Psigma[a], T[a, b], Physics:-d_[a], Physics:-g_[a, b], Physics:-KroneckerDelta[a, b], Physics:-LeviCivita[a, b, c, d]}

(2)

This shows the automatic handling of collision of indices

> 

T[a, a]*B[a]

T[b, `~b`]*B[a]

(3)
> 

T[a, a]^2

T[a, `~a`]*T[b, `~b`]

(4)
> 

``

Preview only in the upcomming version under development

 

Consider now the case of three tensors

> 

Define(A[a], C[a])

`Defined objects with tensor properties`

 

{A[a], B[b], C[a], Physics:-Dgamma[a], Physics:-Psigma[a], T[a, b], Physics:-d_[a], Physics:-g_[a, b], Physics:-KroneckerDelta[a, b], Physics:-LeviCivita[a, b, c, d]}

(5)
> 

A[a]*B[a]*C[a]

A[a]*B[a]*C[a]

(6)

The product above has indeed the index a repeated more than once, therefore none of its occurrences got automatically transformed into contravariant in the output, and Check  detects the problem interrupting with an error  message

> 

Check(A[a]*B[a]*C[a])

Error, (in Physics:-Check) wrong use of the summation rule for repeated indices: `a repeated 3 times`, in A[a]*B[a]*C[a]

 

 

However, it is now also possible to indicate, using parenthesis, that the product of two of these tensors actually form a subexpression, so that the following two tensorial expressions are well defined, and the colliding dummy is automatically replaced making that explicit

> 

A[a]*B[a]*C[a]

A[b]*B[`~b`]*C[a]

(7)
> 

A[a]*B[a]*C[a]

A[a]*B[b]*C[`~b`]

(8)

 

 

This change in design makes concretely simpler the use of indices in that it eliminates the need for manually replacing dummies. For example, consider the tensorial expression for the angular momentum in terms of the coordinates and momentum vectors, in 3 dimensions

 

> 

Setup(coordinates = cartesian, dimension = 3, metric = euclidean, quiet)

[coordinatesystems = {X}, dimension = 3, metric = {(1, 1) = 1, (2, 2) = 1, (3, 3) = 1}]

(9)

Define L[j], p[k] respectively representing angular and linear momentum

> 

Define(L[j], p[k])

`Defined objects with tensor properties`

 

{Physics:-Dgamma[a], L[j], Physics:-Psigma[a], Physics:-d_[a], Physics:-g_[a, b], p[k], Physics:-KroneckerDelta[a, b], Physics:-LeviCivita[a, b, c], Physics:-SpaceTimeVector[a](X)}

(10)

Introduce the tensorial expression for L[a]

> 

L[a] = LeviCivita[a, b, c]*X[b]*p[c]

L[a] = Physics:-LeviCivita[a, b, c]*Physics:-SpaceTimeVector[b](X)*p[c]

(11)

The left-hand side has one free index, a, while the right-hand side has two dummy indices b and c

> 

Check(L[a] = Physics[LeviCivita][a, b, c]*Physics[SpaceTimeVector][b](X)*p[c], all)

`The repeated indices per term are: `[{`...`}, {`...`}, `...`]*`; the free indices are: `*{`...`}

 

([{}], {a}) = ([{b, c}], {a})

(12)

If we want to compute`#mrow(msup(mfenced(mover(mi("L"),mo("→")),open = "‖",close = "‖"),mn("2")),mo("="),msubsup(mi("L"),mi("a"),mn("2")))`we can now take the square of (11) directly, and the dummy indices on the right-hand side are automatically handled, there is now no need to manually substitute the repeated indices to avoid their collision

> 

(L[a] = Physics[LeviCivita][a, b, c]*Physics[SpaceTimeVector][b](X)*p[c])^2

L[a]^2 = Physics:-LeviCivita[a, b, c]*Physics:-SpaceTimeVector[b](X)*p[c]*Physics:-LeviCivita[a, d, e]*Physics:-SpaceTimeVector[d](X)*p[e]

(13)

The repeated indices on the right-hand side are now a, b, c, d, e

> 

Check(L[a]^2 = Physics[LeviCivita][a, b, c]*Physics[SpaceTimeVector][b](X)*p[c]*Physics[LeviCivita][a, d, e]*Physics[SpaceTimeVector][d](X)*p[e], all)

`The repeated indices per term are: `[{`...`}, {`...`}, `...`]*`; the free indices are: `*{`...`}

 

([{a}], {}) = ([{a, b, c, d, e}], {})

(14)
> 

NULL


 

Download AutomaticHandlingCollisionOfTensorIndices.mw

Edgardo S. Cheb-Terrab
Physics, Differential Equations and Mathematical Functions, Maplesoft
rule summation indices physics tensor

Please Wait...