See also: Vector algebra relations. The following are important identities involving derivatives and integrals in vector calculus.
See main article: Gradient.
For a function
f(x,y,z)
\operatorname{grad}(f)=\nablaf= \begin{pmatrix}\displaystyle
\partial | , | |
\partialx |
\partial | , | |
\partialy |
\partial | |
\partialz |
\end{pmatrix}f=
\partialf | |
\partialx |
i+
\partialf | |
\partialy |
j+
\partialf | |
\partialz |
k
\psi(x1,\ldots,xn)
ei(i=1,2,...,n)
As the name implies, the gradient is proportional to, and points in the direction of, the function's most rapid (positive) change.
For a vector field
A=\left(A1,\ldots,An\right)
T
\operatorname{grad}(T)=dT=(\nablaT)sf{T}
For a tensor field
T
\nablaT
C
See main article: Divergence.
F=Fxi+Fyj+Fzk
As the name implies, the divergence is a (local) measure of the degree to which vectors in the field diverge.
T
\operatorname{div}(T)=\nabla ⋅ T
A ⋅ \nabla
A
For a tensor field
T
\nabla ⋅ T
C
See main article: Curl (mathematics).
In Cartesian coordinates, for
F=Fxi+Fyj+Fzk
As the name implies the curl is a measure of how much nearby vectors tend in a circular direction.
In Einstein notation, the vector field
F=\begin{pmatrix}F1, F2, F3\end{pmatrix}
\varepsilon
For a tensor field
T
\nabla x T
C
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:Specifically, for the outer product of two vectors,
See main article: Laplace operator.
In Cartesian coordinates, the Laplacian of a function
f(x,y,z)
The Laplacian is a measure of how much a function is changing over a small sphere centered at the point.
When the Laplacian is equal to 0, the function is called a harmonic function. That is,
For a tensor field,
T
For a tensor field
T
\nabla2T
C
In Feynman subscript notation,where the notation ∇B means the subscripted gradient operates on only the factor B.[1] [2]
Less general but similar is the Hestenes overdot notation in geometric algebra.[3] The above identity is then expressed as:where overdots define the scope of the vector derivative. The dotted vector, in this case B, is differentiated, while the (undotted) A is held constant.
For the remainder of this article, Feynman subscript notation will be used where appropriate.
For scalar fields
\psi
\phi
A
B
\begin{align} \nabla(\psi+\phi)&=\nabla\psi+\nabla\phi\\ \nabla(A+B)&=\nablaA+\nablaB\\ \nabla ⋅ (A+B)&=\nabla ⋅ A+\nabla ⋅ B\\ \nabla x (A+B)&=\nabla x A+\nabla x B \end{align}
\begin{align} (A ⋅ \nabla)\psi&=A ⋅ (\nabla\psi)\\ (A ⋅ \nabla)B&=A ⋅ (\nablaB)\\ (A x \nabla)\psi&=A x (\nabla\psi)\\ (A x \nabla)B&=A x (\nablaB) \end{align}
We have the following generalizations of the product rule in single-variable calculus.
\begin{align} \nabla(\psi\phi)&=\phi\nabla\psi+\psi\nabla\phi\\ \nabla(\psiA)&=(\nabla\psi)Asf{T}+\psi\nablaA = \nabla\psi ⊗ A+\psi\nablaA\\ \nabla ⋅ (\psiA)&=\psi\nabla{ ⋅ }A+(\nabla\psi){ ⋅ }A\\ \nabla{ x }(\psiA)&=\psi\nabla{ x }A+(\nabla\psi){ x }A\\ \nabla2(\psi\phi)&=\psi\nabla2\phi+2\nabla\psi ⋅ \nabla\phi+\phi\nabla2\psi \end{align}
\begin{align} \nabla\left(
\psi | |
\phi |
\right)&=
\phi\nabla\psi-\psi\nabla\phi | |
\phi2 |
\\[1em] \nabla\left(
A | |
\phi |
\right)&=
\phi\nablaA-\nabla\phi ⊗ A | |
\phi2 |
\\[1em] \nabla ⋅ \left(
A | |
\phi |
\right)&=
\phi\nabla{ ⋅ | |
A |
-\nabla\phi ⋅ A
Let
f(x)
r(t)=(x1(t),\ldots,xn(t))
\phi:Rn\toR
A:Rn\toRn
\begin{align} \nabla(f\circ\phi)&=\left(f'\circ\phi\right)\nabla\phi\\ (r\circf)'&=(r'\circf)f'\\ (\phi\circr)'&=(\nabla\phi\circr) ⋅ r'\\ (A\circr)'&=r' ⋅ (\nablaA\circr)\\ \nabla(\phi\circA)&=(\nablaA) ⋅ (\nabla\phi\circA)\\ \nabla ⋅ (r\circ\phi)&=\nabla\phi ⋅ (r'\circ\phi)\\ \nabla x (r\circ\phi)&=\nabla\phi x (r'\circ\phi) \end{align}
For a vector transformation
x:Rn\toRn
\nabla ⋅ (A\circx)=tr\left((\nablax) ⋅ (\nablaA\circx)\right)
Here we take the trace of the dot product of two second-order tensors, which corresponds to the product of their matrices.
\begin{align} \nabla(A ⋅ B)& = (A ⋅ \nabla)B+(B ⋅ \nabla)A+A{ x }(\nabla{ x }B)+B{ x }(\nabla{ x }A)\\ & = A ⋅ JB+B ⋅ JA = (\nablaB) ⋅ A+(\nablaA) ⋅ B \end{align}
where
JA=(\nablaA)sf{T}=(\partialAi/\partialxj)ij
A=(A1,\ldots,An)
Alternatively, using Feynman subscript notation,
\nabla(A ⋅ B)=\nablaA(A ⋅ B)+\nablaB(A ⋅ B) .
See these notes.[4]
As a special case, when,
\tfrac{1}{2}\nabla\left(A ⋅ A\right) = A ⋅ JA = (\nablaA) ⋅ A = (A{ ⋅ }\nabla)A+A{ x }(\nabla{ x }A) = A\nablaA .
The generalization of the dot product formula to Riemannian manifolds is a defining property of a Riemannian connection, which differentiates a vector field to give a vector-valued 1-form.
\begin{align} \nabla ⋅ (A x B) & = (\nabla{ x }A) ⋅ B-A ⋅ (\nabla{ x }B)\\[5pt] \nabla x (A x B) & = A(\nabla{ ⋅ }B)-B(\nabla{ ⋅ }A)+(B{ ⋅ }\nabla)A-(A{ ⋅ }\nabla)B\\[2pt] & = A(\nabla{ ⋅ }B)+(B{ ⋅ }\nabla)A-(B(\nabla{ ⋅ }A)+(A{ ⋅ }\nabla)B)\\[2pt] & = \nabla{ ⋅ }\left(BAsf{T}\right) -\nabla{ ⋅ }\left(ABsf{T}\right)\\[2pt] & = \nabla{ ⋅ }\left(BAsf{T}-ABsf{T}\right)\\[5pt] A x (\nabla x B) & = \nablaB(A{ ⋅ }B)-(A{ ⋅ }\nabla)B\\[2pt] & = A ⋅ JB-(A{ ⋅ }\nabla)B\\[2pt] & = (\nablaB) ⋅ A-A ⋅ (\nablaB)\\[2pt] & = A ⋅ (JB-
sf{T})\\[5pt] | |
J | |
B |
(A x \nabla) x B & = (\nablaB) ⋅ A-A(\nabla{ ⋅ }B)\\[2pt] & = A x (\nabla x B)+(A{ ⋅ }\nabla)B-A(\nabla{ ⋅ }B)\\[5pt] (A x \nabla) ⋅ B & = A ⋅ (\nabla{ x }B) \end{align}
Note that the matrix
JB-
sf{T} | |
J | |
B |
The divergence of the curl of any continuously twice-differentiable vector field A is always zero:
This is a special case of the vanishing of the square of the exterior derivative in the De Rham chain complex.
The Laplacian of a scalar field is the divergence of its gradient:The result is a scalar quantity.
The divergence of a vector field A is a scalar, and the divergence of a scalar quantity is undefined. Therefore,
\varphi
C2
It can be easily proved by expressing
\nabla x (\nabla\varphi)
Here ∇2 is the vector Laplacian operating on the vector field A.
The divergence of a vector field A is a scalar, and the curl of a scalar quantity is undefined. Therefore,
\begin{align} (\nabla ⋅ \nabla)\psi&=\nabla ⋅ (\nabla\psi)=\nabla2\psi\\ (\nabla ⋅ \nabla)A&=\nabla ⋅ (\nablaA)=\nabla2A\\ (\nabla x \nabla)\psi&=\nabla x (\nabla\psi)=0\\ (\nabla x \nabla)A&=\nabla x (\nablaA)=0 \end{align}
The figure to the right is a mnemonic for some of these identities. The abbreviations used are:
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 not exist.
\nabla(\psi+\phi)=\nabla\psi+\nabla\phi
\nabla(\psi\phi)=\phi\nabla\psi+\psi\nabla\phi
\nabla(\psiA)=\nabla\psi ⊗ A+\psi\nablaA
\nabla(A ⋅ B)=(A ⋅ \nabla)B+(B ⋅ \nabla)A+A x (\nabla x B) +B x (\nabla x A)
\nabla ⋅ (A+B)=\nabla ⋅ A+\nabla ⋅ B
\nabla ⋅ \left(\psiA\right)=\psi\nabla ⋅ A+A ⋅ \nabla\psi
\nabla ⋅ \left(A x B\right)=(\nabla x A) ⋅ B-(\nabla x B) ⋅ A
\nabla x (A+B)=\nabla x A+\nabla x B
\nabla x \left(\psiA\right)=\psi(\nabla x A)-(A x \nabla)\psi=\psi(\nabla x A)+(\nabla\psi) x A
\nabla x \left(\psi\nabla\phi\right)=\nabla\psi x \nabla\phi
\nabla x \left(A x B\right)=A\left(\nabla ⋅ B\right)-B\left(\nabla ⋅ A\right)+\left(B ⋅ \nabla\right)A-\left(A ⋅ \nabla\right)B
(A ⋅ \nabla)B=
1 | |
2 |
[\nabla(A ⋅ B)-\nabla x (A x B)-B x (\nabla x A)-A x (\nabla x B)-B(\nabla ⋅ A)+A(\nabla ⋅ B)]
(A ⋅ \nabla)A=
1 | |
2 |
\nabla|A|2-A x (\nabla x A)=
1 | |
2 |
\nabla|A|2+(\nabla x A) x A
\nabla ⋅ (\nabla x A)=0
\nabla x (\nabla\psi)=0
\nabla ⋅ (\nabla\psi)=\nabla2\psi
\nabla\left(\nabla ⋅ A\right)-\nabla x \left(\nabla x A\right)=\nabla2A
\nabla ⋅ (\phi\nabla\psi)=\phi\nabla2\psi+\nabla\phi ⋅ \nabla\psi
\psi\nabla2\phi-\phi\nabla2\psi=\nabla ⋅ \left(\psi\nabla\phi-\phi\nabla\psi\right)
\nabla2(\phi\psi)=\phi\nabla2\psi+2(\nabla\phi) ⋅ (\nabla\psi)+\left(\nabla2\phi\right)\psi
\nabla2(\psiA)=A\nabla2\psi+2(\nabla\psi ⋅ \nabla)A+\psi\nabla2A
\nabla2(A ⋅ B)=A ⋅ \nabla2B-B ⋅ \nabla2A+2\nabla ⋅ ((B ⋅ \nabla)A+B x (\nabla x A))
\nabla2(\nabla\psi)=\nabla(\nabla ⋅ (\nabla\psi))=\nabla\left(\nabla2\psi\right)
\nabla2(\nabla ⋅ A)=\nabla ⋅ (\nabla(\nabla ⋅ A))=\nabla ⋅ \left(\nabla2A\right)
\nabla2(\nabla x A)=-\nabla x (\nabla x (\nabla x A))=\nabla x \left(\nabla2A\right)
Below, the curly symbol ∂ means "boundary of" a surface or solid.
In the following surface–volume integral theorems, V denotes a three-dimensional volume with a corresponding two-dimensional boundary S = ∂V (a closed surface):
In the following curve–surface integral theorems, S denotes a 2d open surface with a corresponding 1d boundary C = ∂S (a closed curve):
\oint\partialA ⋅ d\boldsymbol{\ell} = \iintS\left(\nabla x A\right) ⋅ dS
\oint\partial\psid\boldsymbol{\ell} = -\iintS\nabla\psi x dS
\oint\partialA x d\boldsymbol{\ell} = -\iintS\left(\nablaA-(\nabla ⋅ A)1\right) ⋅ dS = -\iintS\left(dS x \nabla\right) x A
Integration around a closed curve in the clockwise sense is the negative of the same line integral in the counterclockwise sense (analogous to interchanging the limits in a definite integral):
In the following endpoint–curve integral theorems, P denotes a 1d open path with signed 0d boundary points
q-p=\partialP
p
q
\psi|\partial=\psi(q)-\psi(p)=\intP\nabla\psi ⋅ d\boldsymbol{\ell}
A|\partial=A(q)-A(p)=\intP\left(d\boldsymbol{\ell} ⋅ \nabla\right)A