Antisymmetric Tensor - Antisymmetric and Symmetric Tensors

Antisymmetric and Symmetric Tensors

A tensor A that is antisymmetric on indices i and j has the property that the contraction with a tensor B that is symmetric on indices i and j is identically 0.

For a general tensor U with components and a pair of indices i and j, U has symmetric and antisymmetric parts defined as:

(symmetric part)
(antisymmetric part).

Similar definitions can be given for other pairs of indices. As the term "part" suggests, a tensor is the sum of its symmetric part and antisymmetric part for a given pair of indices, as in

Read more about this topic:  Antisymmetric Tensor