In mathematics and physics, a tensor field assigns a tensor to each point of a mathematical space (typically a Euclidean space or manifold). Tensor fields are used in differential geometry, algebraic geometry, general relativity, in the analysis of stress and strain in materials, and in numerous applications in the physical sciences. As a tensor is a generalization of a scalar (a pure number representing a value, for example speed) and a vector (a pure number plus a direction, like velocity), a tensor field is a generalization of a scalar field or vector field that assigns, respectively, a scalar or vector to each point of space. If a tensor is defined on a vector fields set over a module , we call a tensor field on .
Many mathematical structures called "tensors" are also tensor fields. For example, the Riemann curvature tensor is a tensor field as it associates a tensor to each point of a Riemannian manifold, which is a topological space.
Definition
Let M be a manifold, for instance the Euclidean plane Rn.
Equivalently, it is a collection of elements Tx ∈ Vx⊗p ⊗ (Vx*)⊗q for all points x ∈ M, arranging into a smooth map T : M → V⊗p ⊗ (V*)⊗q. Elements Tx are called tensors.
Often we take V = TM to be the tangent bundle of M.
Geometric introduction
Intuitively, a vector field is best visualized as an "arrow" attached to each point of a region, with variable length and direction. One example of a vector field on a curved space is a weather map showing horizontal wind velocity at each point of the Earth's surface.
Now consider more complicated fields. For example, if the manifold is Riemannian, then it has a metric field , such that given any two vectors at point , their inner product is . The field could be given in matrix form, but it depends on a choice of coordinates. It could instead be given as an ellipsoid of radius 1 at each point, which is coordinate-free. Applied to the Earth's surface, this is Tissot's indicatrix.
In general, we want to specify tensor fields in a coordinate-independent way: It should exist independently of latitude and longitude, or whatever particular "cartographic projection" we are using to introduce numerical coordinates.
Via coordinate transitions
Following and , the concept of a tensor relies on a concept of a reference frame (or coordinate system), which may be fixed (relative to some background reference frame), but in general may be allowed to vary within some class of transformations of these coordinate systems.
For example, coordinates belonging to the n-dimensional real coordinate space may be subjected to arbitrary affine transformations:
(with n-dimensional indices, summation implied). A covariant vector, or covector, is a system of functions that transforms under this affine transformation by the rule
The list of Cartesian coordinate basis vectors transforms as a covector, since under the affine transformation . A contravariant vector is a system of functions of the coordinates that, under such an affine transformation undergoes a transformation
This is precisely the requirement needed to ensure that the quantity is an invariant object that does not depend on the coordinate system chosen. More generally, a tensor of valence (p,q) has p downstairs indices and q upstairs indices, with the transformation law being
The concept of a tensor field may be obtained by specializing the allowed coordinate transformations to be smooth (or differentiable, analytic, etc). A covector field is a function of the coordinates that transforms by the Jacobian of the transition functions (in the given class). Likewise, a contravariant vector field transforms by the inverse Jacobian.
Tensor bundles
A tensor bundle is a fiber bundle where the fiber is a tensor product of any number of copies of the tangent space and/or cotangent space of the base space, which is a manifold. As such, the fiber is a vector space and the tensor bundle is a special kind of vector bundle.
The vector bundle is a natural idea of "vector space depending continuously (or smoothly) on parameters" – the parameters being the points of a manifold M. For example, a vector space of one dimension depending on an angle could look like a Möbius strip or alternatively like a cylinder. Given a vector bundle V over M, the corresponding field concept is called a section of the bundle: for m varying over M, a choice of vector
vm in Vm,
where Vm is the vector space "at" m.