International Tables for Crystallography

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Introduction to the properties of tensors
A. Authier. International Tables for Crystallography (2006). Vol. D, ch. 1.1, pp. 3-33  [ doi:10.1107/97809553602060000628 ]

Abstract

This chapter introduces the notion of tensors in physics (field tensors and material property tensors), starting from the matrix of physical properties. The basic properties of vector spaces and the elementary mathematical properties of tensors are then recalled. The most important part of the chapter, Section 1.1.4, is devoted to the symmetry properties of tensors: Neumann's principle, Curie laws and the reduction of the components of polar and axial tensors of rank up to 4 for the 32 crystallographic groups. The relations between the thermodynamic functions and the physical property tensors are developed in Section 1.1.5.


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About International Tables for Crystallography

International Tables for Crystallography is the definitive resource and reference work for crystallography. The multi-volume series comprises articles and tables of data relevant to crystallographic research and to applications of crystallographic methods in all sciences concerned with the structure and properties of materials.