Question #2872d

1 Answer
Dec 16, 2017

A rank-m tensor is a mathematical object that represents #N^m# real numbers, where #N# is the dimension of space.

rank-0 Tensor: represents a single real number and is usually called a scalar. Examples of rank-0 tensors (scalars) are temperature, density etc.

rank-1 Tensor: represents N real numbers and is usually called vectors. Examples of rank-1 tensor (vector) are velocity, force, etc.

rank-2 Tensor: represents N^2 real numbers that can be arranged as a #N\timesN# matrix. Examples of rank-2 tensors are Moment-of-inertia, Riemann Curvature etc.