Covariance and contravariance of vectors

In physics, especially in multilinear algebra and tensor analysis, covariance and contravariance describe how the quantitative description of certain geometric or physical entities changes with a change of basis. [2] Briefly, a contravariant vector is a list of numbers that transforms oppositely to a change of basis, and a covariant vector is a list of numbers that transforms in the same way. Contravariant vectors are often just called vectors and covariant vectors are called covectors or dual vectors. The terms covariant and contravariant were introduced by James Joseph Sylvester in 1851.[3][4]

A   vector, v, represented in terms of
tangent basis
  e1, e2, e3 to the   coordinate curves (left),
dual basis, covector basis, or reciprocal basis
  e1, e2, e3 to   coordinate surfaces (right),
in 3-d general curvilinear coordinates (q1, q2, q3), a tuple of numbers to define a point in a position space. Note the basis and cobasis coincide only when the basis is orthogonal.[1]

Curvilinear coordinate systems, such as cylindrical or spherical coordinates, are often used in physical and geometric problems. Associated with any coordinate system is a natural choice of coordinate basis for vectors based at each point of the space, and covariance and contravariance are particularly important for understanding how the coordinate description of a vector changes by passing from one coordinate system to another. Tensors are objects in multilinear algebra that can have aspects of both covariance and contravariance.

Introduction edit

In physics, a vector typically arises as the outcome of a measurement or series of measurements, and is represented as a list (or tuple) of numbers such as

 

The numbers in the list depend on the choice of coordinate system. For instance, if the vector represents position with respect to an observer (position vector), then the coordinate system may be obtained from a system of rigid rods, or reference axes, along which the components v1, v2, and v3 are measured. For a vector to represent a geometric object, it must be possible to describe how it looks in any other coordinate system. That is to say, the components of the vectors will transform in a certain way in passing from one coordinate system to another.

A simple illustrative case is that of a Euclidean vector. For a vector, once a set of basis vectors has been defined, then the components of that vector will always vary opposite to that of the basis vectors. That vector is therefore defined as a contravariant tensor. Take a standard position vector for example. By changing the scale of the reference axes from meters to centimeters (that is, dividing the scale of the reference axes by 100, so that the basis vectors now are   meters long), the components of the measured position vector are multiplied by 100. A vector's components change scale inversely to changes in scale to the reference axes, and consequently a vector is called a contravariant tensor.

A vector, which is an example of a contravariant tensor, has components that transform inversely to the transformation of the reference axes, (with example transformations including rotation and dilation). The vector itself does not change under these operations; instead, the components of the vector change in a way that cancels the change in the spatial axes. In other words, if the reference axes were rotated in one direction, the component representation of the vector would rotate in exactly the opposite way. Similarly, if the reference axes were stretched in one direction, the components of the vector, would reduce in an exactly compensating way. Mathematically, if the coordinate system undergoes a transformation described by an   invertible matrix M, so that the basis vectors transform according to  , then the components of a vector v in the original basis (   ) must be similarly transformed via  . The components of a vector are often represented arranged in a column.

By contrast, a covector has components that transform like the reference axes. It lives in the dual vector space, and represents a linear map from vectors to scalars. The dot product operator involving vectors is a good example of a covector. To illustrate, assume we have a covector defined as   , where   is a vector. The components of this covector in some arbitrary basis are  , with   being the basis vectors in the corresponding vector space. (This can be derived by noting that we want to get the correct answer for the dot product operation when multiplying by an arbitrary vector   , with components  ). The covariance of these covector components is then easily seen by noting that if a transformation described by an   invertible matrix M were to be applied to the basis vectors in the corresponding vector space,  , then the components of the covector   will transform with the same matrix  , namely,  . The components of a covector are often represented arranged in a row.

A third concept related to covariance and contravariance is invariance. A scalar (also called type-0 or rank-0 tensor) is an object that does not vary with the change in basis. An example of a physical observable that is a scalar is the mass of a particle. The single, scalar value of mass is independent to changes in basis vectors and consequently is called invariant. The magnitude of a vector (such as distance) is another example of an invariant, because it remains fixed even if geometrical vector components vary. (For example, for a position vector of length   meters, if all Cartesian basis vectors are changed from   meters in length to   meters in length, the length of the position vector remains unchanged at   meters, although the vector components will all increase by a factor of  ). The scalar product of a vector and a covector is invariant, because one has components that vary with the base change, and the other has components that vary oppositely, and the two effects cancel out. One thus says that covectors are dual to vectors.

Thus, to summarize:

  • A vector or tangent vector, has components that contra-vary with a change of basis to compensate. That is, the matrix that transforms the vector components must be the inverse of the matrix that transforms the basis vectors. The components of vectors (as opposed to those of covectors) are said to be contravariant. In Einstein notation (implicit summation over repeated index), contravariant components are denoted with upper indices as in
     
  • A covector or cotangent vector has components that co-vary with a change of basis in the corresponding (initial) vector space. That is, the components must be transformed by the same matrix as the change of basis matrix in the corresponding (initial) vector space. The components of covectors (as opposed to those of vectors) are said to be covariant. In Einstein notation, covariant components are denoted with lower indices as in
     
  • The scalar product of a vector and covector is the scalar  , which is invariant. It is the duality pairing of vectors and covectors.

Definition edit

 
Covariant and contravariant components of a vector when the basis is not orthogonal.

The general formulation of covariance and contravariance refers to how the components of a coordinate vector transform under a change of basis (passive transformation). Thus let V be a vector space of dimension n over a field of scalars S, and let each of f = (X1, ..., Xn) and f′ = (Y1, ..., Yn) be a basis of V.[note 1] Also, let the change of basis from f to f′ be given by

 

 

 

 

 

(1)

for some invertible n×n matrix A with entries  . Here, each vector Yj of the f′ basis is a linear combination of the vectors Xi of the f basis, so that

 

Contravariant transformation edit

A vector   in V is expressed uniquely as a linear combination of the elements   of the f basis as

 

 

 

 

 

(2)

where vi[f] are elements of the field S known as the components of v in the f basis. Denote the column vector of components of v by v[f]:

 

so that (2) can be rewritten as a matrix product

 

The vector v may also be expressed in terms of the f′ basis, so that

 

However, since the vector v itself is invariant under the choice of basis,

 

The invariance of v combined with the relationship (1) between f and f′ implies that

 

giving the transformation rule

 

In terms of components,

 

where the coefficients   are the entries of the inverse matrix of A.

Because the components of the vector v transform with the inverse of the matrix A, these components are said to transform contravariantly under a change of basis.

The way A relates the two pairs is depicted in the following informal diagram using an arrow. The reversal of the arrow indicates a contravariant change:

 

Covariant transformation edit

A linear functional α on V is expressed uniquely in terms of its components (elements in S) in the f basis as

 

These components are the action of α on the basis vectors Xi of the f basis.

Under the change of basis from f to f′ (via 1), the components transform so that

 

 

 

 

 

(3)

Denote the row vector of components of α by α[f]:

 

so that (3) can be rewritten as the matrix product

 

Because the components of the linear functional α transform with the matrix A, these components are said to transform covariantly under a change of basis.

The way A relates the two pairs is depicted in the following informal diagram using an arrow. A covariant relationship is indicated since the arrows travel in the same direction:

 

Had a column vector representation been used instead, the transformation law would be the transpose

 

Coordinates edit

The choice of basis f on the vector space V defines uniquely a set of coordinate functions on V, by means of

 

The coordinates on V are therefore contravariant in the sense that

 

Conversely, a system of n quantities vi that transform like the coordinates xi on V defines a contravariant vector (or simply vector). A system of n quantities that transform oppositely to the coordinates is then a covariant vector (or covector).

This formulation of contravariance and covariance is often more natural in applications in which there is a coordinate space (a manifold) on which vectors live as tangent vectors or cotangent vectors. Given a local coordinate system xi on the manifold, the reference axes for the coordinate system are the vector fields

 

This gives rise to the frame f = (X1, ..., Xn) at every point of the coordinate patch.

If yi is a different coordinate system and

 

then the frame f' is related to the frame f by the inverse of the Jacobian matrix of the coordinate transition:

 

Or, in indices,

 

A tangent vector is by definition a vector that is a linear combination of the coordinate partials  . Thus a tangent vector is defined by

 

Such a vector is contravariant with respect to change of frame. Under changes in the coordinate system, one has

 

Therefore, the components of a tangent vector transform via

 

Accordingly, a system of n quantities vi depending on the coordinates that transform in this way on passing from one coordinate system to another is called a contravariant vector.

Covariant and contravariant components of a vector with a metric edit

 
The contravariant components   of a vector   are obtained by projecting onto the coordinate axes. The covariant components   are obtained by projecting onto the normal lines to the coordinate hyperplanes.

In a finite-dimensional vector space V over a field K with a symmetric bilinear form g : V × VK (which may be referred to as the metric tensor), there is little distinction between covariant and contravariant vectors, because the bilinear form allows covectors to be identified with vectors. That is, a vector v uniquely determines a covector α via

 

for all vectors w. Conversely, each covector α determines a unique vector v by this equation. Because of this identification of vectors with covectors, one may speak of the covariant components or contravariant components of a vector, that is, they are just representations of the same vector using the reciprocal basis.

Given a basis f = (X1, ..., Xn) of V, there is a unique reciprocal basis f# = (Y1, ..., Yn) of V determined by requiring that

 

the Kronecker delta. In terms of these bases, any vector v can be written in two ways:

 

The components vi[f] are the contravariant components of the vector v in the basis f, and the components vi[f] are the covariant components of v in the basis f. The terminology is justified because under a change of basis,

 

Euclidean plane edit

In the Euclidean plane, the dot product allows for vectors to be identified with covectors. If   is a basis, then the dual basis   satisfies

 

Thus, e1 and e2 are perpendicular to each other, as are e2 and e1, and the lengths of e1 and e2 normalized against e1 and e2, respectively.

Example edit

For example,[5] suppose that we are given a basis e1, e2 consisting of a pair of vectors making a 45° angle with one another, such that e1 has length 2 and e2 has length 1. Then the dual basis vectors are given as follows:

  • e2 is the result of rotating e1 through an angle of 90° (where the sense is measured by assuming the pair e1, e2 to be positively oriented), and then rescaling so that e2e2 = 1 holds.
  • e1 is the result of rotating e2 through an angle of 90°, and then rescaling so that e1e1 = 1 holds.

Applying these rules, we find

 

and

 

Thus the change of basis matrix in going from the original basis to the reciprocal basis is

 

since

 

For instance, the vector

 

is a vector with contravariant components

 

The covariant components are obtained by equating the two expressions for the vector v:

 

so

 

Three-dimensional Euclidean space edit

In the three-dimensional Euclidean space, one can also determine explicitly the dual basis to a given set of basis vectors e1, e2, e3 of E3 that are not necessarily assumed to be orthogonal nor of unit norm. The dual basis vectors are:

 

Even when the ei and ei are not orthonormal, they are still mutually reciprocal:

 

Then the contravariant components of any vector v can be obtained by the dot product of v with the dual basis vectors:

 

Likewise, the covariant components of v can be obtained from the dot product of v with basis vectors, viz.

 

Then v can be expressed in two (reciprocal) ways, viz.

 

or

 

Combining the above relations, we have

 

and we can convert between the basis and dual basis with

 

and

 

If the basis vectors are orthonormal, then they are the same as the dual basis vectors.

General Euclidean spaces edit

More generally, in an n-dimensional Euclidean space V, if a basis is

 

the reciprocal basis is given by (double indices are summed over),

 

where the coefficients gij are the entries of the inverse matrix of

 

Indeed, we then have

 

The covariant and contravariant components of any vector

 

are related as above by

 

and

 

Informal usage edit

In the field of physics, the adjective covariant is often used informally as a synonym for invariant. For example, the Schrödinger equation does not keep its written form under the coordinate transformations of special relativity. Thus, a physicist might say that the Schrödinger equation is not covariant. In contrast, the Klein–Gordon equation and the Dirac equation do keep their written form under these coordinate transformations. Thus, a physicist might say that these equations are covariant.

Despite this usage of "covariant", it is more accurate to say that the Klein–Gordon and Dirac equations are invariant, and that the Schrödinger equation is not invariant. Additionally, to remove ambiguity, the transformation by which the invariance is evaluated should be indicated.

Because the components of vectors are contravariant and those of covectors are covariant, the vectors themselves are often referred to as being contravariant and the covectors as covariant.

Use in tensor analysis edit

The distinction between covariance and contravariance is particularly important for computations with tensors, which often have mixed variance. This means that they have both covariant and contravariant components, or both vector and covector components. The valence of a tensor is the number of variant and covariant terms, and in Einstein notation, covariant components have lower indices, while contravariant components have upper indices. The duality between covariance and contravariance intervenes whenever a vector or tensor quantity is represented by its components, although modern differential geometry uses more sophisticated index-free methods to represent tensors.

In tensor analysis, a covariant vector varies more or less reciprocally to a corresponding contravariant vector. Expressions for lengths, areas and volumes of objects in the vector space can then be given in terms of tensors with covariant and contravariant indices. Under simple expansions and contractions of the coordinates, the reciprocity is exact; under affine transformations the components of a vector intermingle on going between covariant and contravariant expression.

On a manifold, a tensor field will typically have multiple, upper and lower indices, where Einstein notation is widely used. When the manifold is equipped with a metric, covariant and contravariant indices become very closely related to one another. Contravariant indices can be turned into covariant indices by contracting with the metric tensor. The reverse is possible by contracting with the (matrix) inverse of the metric tensor. Note that in general, no such relation exists in spaces not endowed with a metric tensor. Furthermore, from a more abstract standpoint, a tensor is simply "there" and its components of either kind are only calculational artifacts whose values depend on the chosen coordinates.

The explanation in geometric terms is that a general tensor will have contravariant indices as well as covariant indices, because it has parts that live in the tangent bundle as well as the cotangent bundle.

A contravariant vector is one which transforms like  , where   are the coordinates of a particle at its proper time  . A covariant vector is one which transforms like  , where   is a scalar field.

Algebra and geometry edit

In category theory, there are covariant functors and contravariant functors. The assignment of the dual space to a vector space is a standard example of a contravariant functor. Contravariant (resp. covariant) vectors are contravariant (resp. covariant) functors from a  -torsor to the fundamental representation of  . Similarly, tensors of higher degree are functors with values in other representations of  . However, some constructions of multilinear algebra are of "mixed" variance, which prevents them from being functors.

In differential geometry, the components of a vector relative to a basis of the tangent bundle are covariant if they change with the same linear transformation as a change of basis. They are contravariant if they change by the inverse transformation. This is sometimes a source of confusion for two distinct but related reasons. The first is that vectors whose components are covariant (called covectors or 1-forms) actually pull back under smooth functions, meaning that the operation assigning the space of covectors to a smooth manifold is actually a contravariant functor. Likewise, vectors whose components are contravariant push forward under smooth mappings, so the operation assigning the space of (contravariant) vectors to a smooth manifold is a covariant functor. Secondly, in the classical approach to differential geometry, it is not bases of the tangent bundle that are the most primitive object, but rather changes in the coordinate system. Vectors with contravariant components transform in the same way as changes in the coordinates (because these actually change oppositely to the induced change of basis). Likewise, vectors with covariant components transform in the opposite way as changes in the coordinates.

See also edit

Notes edit

  1. ^ A basis f may here profitably be viewed as a linear isomorphism from Rn to V. Regarding f as a row vector whose entries are the elements of the basis, the associated linear isomorphism is then  

Citations edit

  1. ^ Misner, C.; Thorne, K.S.; Wheeler, J.A. (1973). Gravitation. W.H. Freeman. ISBN 0-7167-0344-0.
  2. ^ Frankel, Theodore (2012). The geometry of physics : an introduction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 42. ISBN 978-1-107-60260-1. OCLC 739094283.
  3. ^ Sylvester, J.J. (1851). "On the general theory of associated algebraical forms". Cambridge and Dublin Mathematical Journal. Vol. 6. pp. 289–293.
  4. ^ Sylvester, J.J. University Press. The collected mathematical papers of James Joseph Sylvester. Vol. 3, 1870–1883. ISBN 978-1107661431. OCLC 758983870.
  5. ^ Bowen, Ray; Wang, C.-C. (2008) [1976]. "§3.14 Reciprocal Basis and Change of Basis". Introduction to Vectors and Tensors. Dover. pp. 78, 79, 81. ISBN 9780486469140.

References edit

External links edit