Interior Product - Definition

Definition

It is defined to be the contraction of a differential form with a vector field. Thus if X is a vector field on the manifold M, then

is the map which sends a p-form ω to the (p−1)-form ιXω defined by the property that

for any vector fields X1,..., Xp−1.

The interior product is the unique antiderivation of degree −1 on the exterior algebra such that on one-forms α

,

the duality pairing between α and the vector X. Explicitly, if β is a p-form and γ is a q-form, then

The above relation says that the interior product obeys a graded Leibniz rule. An operation equipped with linearity and a Leibniz rule is often called a derivative. The interior product is also known as the interior derivative.

Read more about this topic:  Interior Product

Famous quotes containing the word definition:

    “Was man made stupid to see his own stupidity?
    Is God by definition indifferent, beyond us all?
    Is the eternal truth man’s fighting soul
    Wherein the Beast ravens in its own avidity?”
    —Richard Eberhart (b. 1904)

    “Mothers often are too easily intimidated by their children’s negative reactions...When the child cries or is unhappy, the mother reads this as meaning that she is a failure. This is why it is so important for a mother to know...that the process of growing up involves by definition things that her child is not going to like. Her job is not to create a bed of roses, but to help him learn how to pick his way through the thorns.”
    —Elaine Heffner (20th century)

    “Scientific method is the way to truth, but it affords, even in
    principle, no unique definition of truth. Any so-called pragmatic
    definition of truth is doomed to failure equally.”
    —Willard Van Orman Quine (b. 1908)