Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
A vector field V defined on an open set S is called a gradient field or a conservative field if there exists a real-valued function (a scalar field) f on S such that = = (,,, …,). The associated flow is called the gradient flow , and is used in the method of gradient descent .
Note: This page uses common physics notation for spherical coordinates, in which is the angle between the z axis and the radius vector connecting the origin to the point in question, while is the angle between the projection of the radius vector onto the x-y plane and the x axis. Several other definitions are in use, and so care must be taken ...
For a tensor field of order k > 1, the tensor field of order k is defined by the recursive relation = where is an arbitrary constant vector. A tensor field of order greater than one may be decomposed into a sum of outer products, and then the following identity may be used: = ().
An example of a solenoidal vector field, (,) = (,) In vector calculus a solenoidal vector field (also known as an incompressible vector field , a divergence-free vector field , or a transverse vector field ) is a vector field v with divergence zero at all points in the field: ∇ ⋅ v = 0. {\displaystyle \nabla \cdot \mathbf {v} =0.}
Interchanging the vector field v and ∇ operator, we arrive at the cross product of a vector field with curl of a vector field: = () , where ∇ F is the Feynman subscript notation, which considers only the variation due to the vector field F (i.e., in this case, v is treated as being constant in space).
In the study of mathematics, and especially of differential geometry, fundamental vector fields are instruments that describe the infinitesimal behaviour of a smooth Lie group action on a smooth manifold. Such vector fields find important applications in the study of Lie theory, symplectic geometry, and the study of Hamiltonian group actions.
The most common description of the electromagnetic field uses two three-dimensional vector fields called the electric field and the magnetic field.These vector fields each have a value defined at every point of space and time and are thus often regarded as functions of the space and time coordinates.
In vector calculus, a conservative vector field is a vector field that is the gradient of some function. [1] A conservative vector field has the property that its line integral is path independent; the choice of path between two points does not change the value of the line integral. Path independence of the line integral is equivalent to the ...