Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
This article uses the standard notation ISO 80000-2, which supersedes ISO 31-11, for spherical coordinates (other sources may reverse the definitions of θ and φ): . The polar angle is denoted by [,]: it is the angle between the z-axis and the radial vector connecting the origin to the point in question.
D: divergence, C: curl, G: gradient, L: Laplacian, CC: curl of curl. Each arrow is labeled with the result of an identity, specifically, the result of applying the operator at the arrow's tail to the operator at its head. The blue circle in the middle means curl of curl exists, whereas the other two red circles (dashed) mean that DD and GG do ...
[citation needed] This is why the magnetic field, characterized by zero divergence, can be expressed as the curl of a magnetic vector potential. If W is a vector field with curl(W) = V, then adding any gradient vector field grad(f) to W will result in another vector field W + grad(f) such that curl(W + grad(f)) = V as well.
Del is a very convenient mathematical notation for those three operations (gradient, divergence, and curl) that makes many equations easier to write and remember. The del symbol (or nabla) can be formally defined as a vector operator whose components are the corresponding partial derivative operators.
The gradient of F is then normal to the hypersurface. Similarly, an affine algebraic hypersurface may be defined by an equation F(x 1, ..., x n) = 0, where F is a polynomial. The gradient of F is zero at a singular point of the hypersurface (this is the definition of a singular point). At a non-singular point, it is a nonzero normal vector.
In R 3, the gradient, curl, and divergence are special cases of the exterior derivative. An intuitive interpretation of the gradient is that it points "up": in other words, it points in the direction of fastest increase of the function. It can be used to calculate directional derivatives of scalar functions or normal directions. Divergence ...
Vector calculus or vector analysis is a branch of mathematics concerned with the differentiation and integration of vector fields, primarily in three-dimensional Euclidean space, . [1] The term vector calculus is sometimes used as a synonym for the broader subject of multivariable calculus, which spans vector calculus as well as partial differentiation and multiple integration.
In orthogonal curvilinear coordinates of 3 dimensions, where = ; = = one can express the gradient of a scalar or vector field as = = = ; = For an orthogonal basis = = = The divergence of a vector field can then be written as = ( ) Also, = = = ; = = ; = = Therefore, = ( ) We can get an expression for the Laplacian in a similar manner by noting ...