In mathematics, especially in applications of linear algebra to physics, the Einstein notation or Einstein summation convention
is a notational convention that implies summation over a set of indexed
terms in a formula, thus achieving notational brevity. As part of
mathematics it is a notational subset of Ricci calculus; however, it is often used in applications in physics 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, it implies summation of that term over all the values of the index. So where the indices can range over the set{1, 2, 3},
is simplified by the convention to:
.
The upper indices are not exponents but are indices of coordinates, coefficients or basis vectors. That is, in this context x2 should be understood as the second component of x rather than the square of x (this can occasionally lead to ambiguity). The upper index position in xi
is because, typically, an index occurs once in an upper (superscript)
and once in a lower (subscript) position in a term (see 'Application'
below). And typically (x1, x2, x3) would be equivalent to the traditional (x, y, z).
In general relativity, a common convention is that
the Greek alphabet is used for space and time components, where indices take on values 0, 1, 2, or 3 (frequently used letters are μ, ν, ...),
the Latin alphabet is used for spatial components only, where indices take on values 1, 2, or 3 (frequently used letters are i, j, ...),
In general, indices can range over any indexing set, including an infinite set. This should not be confused with a typographically similar convention used to distinguish between tensor index notation and the closely related but distinct basis-independent abstract index notation.
An index that is summed over is a summation index, in this case "i". It is also called a dummy index since any symbol can replace "i" without changing the meaning of the expression provided that it does not collide with index symbols in the same term.
An index that is not summed over is a free index
and should appear only once per term. If such an index does appear, it
usually also appears in terms belonging to the same sum, with the
exception of special values such as zero.
Application
Einstein
notation can be applied in slightly different ways. Typically, each
index occurs once in an upper (superscript) and once in a lower
(subscript) position in a term; however, the convention can be applied
more generally to any repeated indices within a term. When dealing with covariant and contravariant
vectors, where the position of an index also indicates the type of
vector, the first case usually applies; a covariant vector can only be
contracted with a contravariant vector, corresponding to summation of
the products of coefficients. On the other hand, when there is a fixed
coordinate basis (or when not considering coordinate vectors), one may
choose to use only subscripts.
Vector representations
Superscripts and subscripts versus only subscripts
They transform contravariantly or covariantly, respectively, with respect to change of basis.
In recognition of this fact, the following notation uses the same symbol both for a (co)vector and its components, as in:
where v is the vector and vi are its components (not the ith covector v), w is the covector and wi are its components.
A basis gives such a form (via the dual basis), hence when working on ℝn with a Euclidean metric and a fixed orthonormal basis, one has the option to work with only subscripts.
However, if one changes coordinates, the way that coefficients
change depends on the variance of the object, and one cannot ignore the
distinction; see covariance and contravariance of vectors.
Mnemonics
In the above example, vectors are represented as n × 1 matrices (column vectors), while covectors are represented as 1 × n matrices (row covectors).
When using the column vector convention
"Upper indices go up to down; lower indices go left to right."
"Covariant tensors are row vectors that have indices that are below (co-below-row)."
Covectors are row vectors:
Hence the lower index indicates which column you are in.
Contravariant vectors are column vectors:
Hence the upper index indicates which row you are in.
Abstract description
The virtue of Einstein notation is that it represents the invariant quantities with a simple notation.
In physics, a scalar is invariant under transformations of basis. In particular, a Lorentz scalar is invariant under a Lorentz transformation. The individual terms in the sum are not. When the basis is changed, the components
of a vector change by a linear transformation described by a matrix.
This led Einstein to propose the convention that repeated indices imply
the summation is to be done.
As for covectors, they change by the inverse matrix. This is
designed to guarantee that the linear function associated with the
covector, the sum above, is the same no matter what the basis is.
The value of the Einstein convention is that it applies to other vector spaces built from V using the tensor product and duality. For example, V ⊗ V, the tensor product of V with itself, has a basis consisting of tensors of the form eij = ei ⊗ ej. Any tensor T in V ⊗ V can be written as:
.
V*, the dual of V, has a basis e1, e2, ..., en which obeys the rule
the row/column coordinates on a matrix correspond to the upper/lower indices on the tensor product.
Common operations in this notation
In Einstein notation, the usual element reference Amn for the mth row and nth column of matrix A becomes Amn. We can then write the following operations in Einstein notation as follows.
Again using an orthogonal basis (in 3 dimensions) the cross product
intrinsically involves summations over permutations of components:
where
εijk is the Levi-Civita symbol, and δil is the generalized Kronecker delta. Based on this definition of ε, there is no difference between εijk and εijk but the position of indices.
Matrix-Vector Multiplication
The product of a matrix Aij with a column vector vj is :
Given a tensor, one can raise an index or lower an index by contracting the tensor with the metric tensor, gμν. For example, take the tensor Tαβ, one can raise an index:
The stress–energy tensor involves the use of superscripted variables (not exponents). If Cartesian coordinates in SI units are used, then the components of the position four-vector are given by: x0 = t, x1 = x, x2 = y, and x3 = z, where t is time in seconds, and x, y, and z are distances in meters.
The stress–energy tensor is defined as the tensorTαβ of order two that gives the flux of the αth component of the momentumvector across a surface with constant xβcoordinate. In the theory of relativity, this momentum vector is taken as the four-momentum. In general relativity, the stress–energy tensor is symmetric,
In some alternative theories like Einstein–Cartan theory, the stress–energy tensor may not be perfectly symmetric because of a nonzero spin tensor, which geometrically corresponds to a nonzero torsion tensor.
Identifying the components of the tensor
Because the stress–energy tensor is of order two, its components can be displayed in 4 × 4 matrix form:
In the following, i and k range from 1 through 3.
The time–time component is the density of relativistic mass, i.e. the energy density divided by the speed of light squared. Its components have a direct physical interpretation. In the case of a perfect fluid this component is
where is the relativistic mass per unit volume, and for an electromagnetic field in otherwise empty space this component is
where E and B are the electric and magnetic fields, respectively.
The flux of relativistic mass across the xi surface is equivalent to the density of the ith component of linear momentum,
The components
represent flux of ith component of linear momentum across the xk surface. In particular,
(not summed) represents normal stress, which is called pressure when it is independent of direction. The remaining components
In solid state physics and fluid mechanics, the stress tensor is defined to be the spatial components of the stress–energy tensor in the proper frame of reference. In other words, the stress energy tensor in engineeringdiffers from the stress–energy tensor here by a momentum convective term.
Covariant and mixed forms
In most of this article we work with the contravariant form, Tμν of the stress–energy tensor. However, it is often necessary to work with the covariant form,
The divergence of the non-gravitational stress–energy is zero. In
other words, non-gravitational energy and momentum are conserved,
When gravity is negligible and using a Cartesian coordinate system for spacetime, this may be expressed in terms of partial derivatives as
The integral form of this is
where N is any compact four-dimensional region of spacetime; is its boundary, a three-dimensional hypersurface; and is an element of the boundary regarded as the outward pointing normal.
In flat spacetime and using Cartesian coordinates, if one
combines this with the symmetry of the stress–energy tensor, one can
show that angular momentum is also conserved:
Consequently, if is any Killing vector field, then the conservation law associated with the symmetry generated by the Killing vector field may be expressed as
In general relativity, the partial derivatives used in special relativity are replaced by covariant derivatives.
What this means is that the continuity equation no longer implies that
the non-gravitational energy and momentum expressed by the tensor are
absolutely conserved, i.e. the gravitational field can do work on matter
and vice versa. In the classical limit of Newtonian gravity, this has a simple interpretation: energy is being exchanged with gravitational potential energy,
which is not included in the tensor, and momentum is being transferred
through the field to other bodies. In general relativity the Landau–Lifshitz pseudotensor is a unique way to define the gravitational field energy and momentum densities. Any such stress–energy pseudotensor can be made to vanish locally by a coordinate transformation.
In curved spacetime, the spacelike integral
now depends on the spacelike slice, in general. There is in fact no way
to define a global energy–momentum vector in a general curved
spacetime.
The Einstein field equations
In general relativity, the stress tensor is studied in the context of the Einstein field equations which are often written as
where is the mass–energy density (kilograms per cubic meter), is the hydrostatic pressure (pascals), is the fluid's four velocity, and is the reciprocal of the metric tensor. Therefore, the trace is given by
where is the nongravitational part of the Lagrangian density of the action. This is symmetric and gauge-invariant. See Einstein–Hilbert action for more information.
Canonical stress–energy tensor
Noether's theorem
implies that there is a conserved current associated with translations
through space and time. This is called the canonical stress–energy
tensor. Generally, this is not symmetric and if we have some gauge
theory, it may not be gauge invariant because space-dependent gauge transformations do not commute with spatial translations.
In general relativity,
the translations are with respect to the coordinate system and as such,
do not transform covariantly. See the section below on the
gravitational stress–energy pseudo-tensor.
Belinfante–Rosenfeld stress–energy tensor
In the presence of spin or other intrinsic angular momentum, the
canonical Noether stress energy tensor fails to be symmetric. The
Belinfante–Rosenfeld stress energy tensor is constructed from the
canonical stress–energy tensor and the spin current in such a way as to
be symmetric and still conserved. In general relativity, this modified
tensor agrees with the Hilbert stress–energy tensor.
Gravitational stress–energy
By the equivalence principle
gravitational stress–energy will always vanish locally at any chosen
point in some chosen frame, therefore gravitational stress–energy cannot
be expressed as a non-zero tensor; instead we have to use a pseudotensor.
In general relativity, there are many possible distinct
definitions of the gravitational stress–energy–momentum pseudotensor.
These include the Einstein pseudotensor and the Landau–Lifshitz pseudotensor.
The Landau–Lifshitz pseudotensor can be reduced to zero at any event in
spacetime by choosing an appropriate coordinate system.