G EOTECHNICAL E NGINEERING D IVISION , D EPARTMENT OF C IVIL E NGINEERING

I NDIAN I NSTITUTE OF T ECHNOLOGY, M ADRAS

CE 5815: I NTRODUCTION TO C OMPUTATIONAL G EOMECHANICS
I NSTRUCTOR : P ROF. C HANDRASEKHAR A NNAVARAPU

Homework 2: Tensor Operations

Assigned: September 25, 2020; Due: October 12, 2020

1. Compute the following:

(a) δi i
(b) δi j δ j k
(c) C i j δi k δ j k
(d) δab δbc δcd ......δx y δ y z

2. Show that:
(a) [S + T]ij = S ij + Tij

(b) [ST]ij = S ik Tkj

3. Show that:
(a) [TT ]ij = [T]ji . If TT = T, then what is such a tensor T called?

(b) [TT T]ij = [TT T]ji

(c) Let Tsym = 21 (TT + T). How are [Tsym ]ij and [Tsym ]ji related?

(d) Now, let Tskew = 12 (T − TT ). How are [Tskew ]ij and [Tskew ]ji related?

(e) Are the following relationships true?

T = Tsym + Tskew
TT = Tsym − Tskew

(f) Evaluate the trace of Tskew

4. Prove the following:

(a) det(TT ) = det(T)

(b) det(ST) = det(S)det(T)

(c) [ST]T = TT ST

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 (d) [ST]−1 = T−1 S−1

5. Consider two Cartesian coordinate systems, one with basis (e1 , e2 , e3 ) and the other with
basis (g1 , g2 , g3 ). Let Q ij = gi · ej be the cosine of the angle between gi and ej .
(a) Show that gi = Q ij ej and ej = Q ij gi relate the two sets of base vectors

(b) We can define a rotation tensor Q such that ei = Qgi . Show that this tensor can be
expressed as Q = Q ij [gi ⊗ gj ], that is, Q ij are the components of Q with respect to the
basis [gi ⊗ gj ]. Show that the tensor can also be expressed in the form Q = [ei ⊗ gi ]

(c) We can define a rotation tensor QT , such that gi = QT ei (the reverse rotation from
part (b)). Show that this tensor can be expressed as QT = Q ij [ej ⊗ ei ], that is, Q ij are
the components of QT with respect to the basis [ej ⊗ ei ]. Show that the tensor can
also be expressed in the form QT = [gi ⊗ ei ].

(d) Show that QT Q = I, which implies that the tensor Q is orthogonal.

6. Consider two bases: {e1 , e2 , e3 } and {g1 , g2 , g3 }, where:

g1 = e1 + e2 + e3 ; g2 = e2 + e3 ; g3 = e2 − e3
(a) Compute Q ij for the given bases.

(b) Compute the value of Q ikQ jk . Can you explain why the identity Q ikQ jk = δij is not
true for this case?

(c) Now consider a vector v = e1 + 2e2 + 3e3 and a tensor T given as

T = [e2 ⊗ e1 − e1 ⊗ e2 ] + [e3 ⊗ e1 − e1 ⊗ e3 ] + [e3 ⊗ e2 − e2 ⊗ e3 ]
Compute the components of the vector Tv in both bases, i. e. find v i and v̄ i so that
the following relationship holds Tv = v i ei = v̄ i gi .

7. In Problem 3, we saw that any tensor can be decomposed into a symmetric and a skew
symmetric part. Additionally, for any tensor T, the following decomposition holds:
T = Tdev + Tsph
The two associated tensors are: (a) a deviator tensor Tdev , and (b) a spherical tensor Tsph .
A deviator tensor has the property that its trace is zero, i. e. tr(Tdev ) = 0. The spherical
tensor is a diagonal tensor such that Tsph = pI; p = 31 tr(T).
(a) Verify that tr(Tdev ) = 0

(b) Given that the eigenvalues of T are (λ1 , λ2 , λ3 ), what can we say about the eigenval-
ues of Tdev ?

(c) Given that the eigenvectors of T are (n1 , n2 , n3 ), what can we say about the eigen-
vectors of Tdev ?

8. The balance of angular momentum can be expressed in terms of tensor T and base vec-
tors ei as: ei × (Tei ) = 0 (summation on repeated indices implied). What specific condi-
tions must the components of the tensor T satisfy in order for this equation to hold?