Through several centuries there has been a lively interaction between mathematics and mechanics. On the one side, mechanics has used mathemat ics to formulate the basic laws and to apply them to a host of problems that call for the quantitative prediction of the consequences of some action. On the other side, the needs of mechanics have stimulated the development of mathematical concepts. Differential calculus grew out of the needs of Newtonian dynamics; vector algebra was developed as a means . to describe force systems; vector analysis, to study velocity fields and force fields; and the calcul~s of variations has evolved from the energy principles of mechan ics. In recent times the theory of tensors has attracted the attention of the mechanics people. Its very name indicates its origin in the theory of elasticity. For a long time little use has been made of it in this area, but in the last decade its usefulness in the mechanics of continuous media has been widely recognized. While the undergraduate textbook literature in this country was becoming "vectorized" (lagging almost half a century behind the development in Europe), books dealing with various aspects of continuum mechanics took to tensors like fish to water. Since many authors were not sure whether their readers were sufficiently familiar with tensors~ they either added' a chapter on tensors or wrote a separate book on the subject.

There is a large gap between engineering courses in tensor algebra on one hand, and the treatment of linear transformations within classical linear algebra on the other. This book addresses primarily engineering students with some initial knowledge of matrix algebra. Thereby, mathematical formalism is applied as far as it is absolutely necessary. Numerous exercises provided in the book are accompanied by solutions enabling autonomous study. The last chapters deal with modern developments in the theory of isotropic and anisotropic tensor functions and their applications to continuum mechanics and might therefore be of high interest for PhD-students and scientists working in this area.

Book 3 in the Princeton Mathematical Series. Originally published in 1950. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

This book presents the fundamentals of modern tensor calculus for students in engineering and applied physics, emphasizing those aspects that are crucial for applying tensor calculus safely in Euclidian space and for grasping the very essence of the smooth manifold concept. After introducing the subject, it provides a brief exposition on point set topology to familiarize readers with the subject, especially with those topics required in later chapters. It then describes the finite dimensional real vector space and its dual, focusing on the usefulness of the latter for encoding duality concepts in physics. Moreover, it introduces tensors as objects that encode linear mappings and discusses affine and Euclidean spaces. Tensor analysis is explored first in Euclidean space, starting from a generalization of the concept of differentiability and proceeding towards concepts such as directional derivative, covariant derivative and integration based on differential forms. The final chapter addresses the role of smooth manifolds in modeling spaces other than Euclidean space, particularly the concepts of smooth atlas and tangent space, which are crucial to understanding the topic. Two of the most important concepts, namely the tangent bundle and the Lie derivative, are subsequently worked out.

This is an intermediate book for beginning postgraduate students and junior researchers, and offers up-to-date content on both continuum mechanics and elasticity. The material is self-contained and should provide readers sufficient working knowledge in both areas. Though the focus is primarily on vector and tensor calculus (the so-called coordinate-free approach), the more traditional index notation is used whenever it is deemed more sensible. With the increasing demand for continuum modeling in such diverse areas as mathematical biology and geology, it is imperative to have various approaches to continuum mechanics and elasticity. This book presents these subjects from an applied mathematics perspective. In particular, it extensively uses linear algebra and vector calculus to develop the fundamentals of both subjects in a way that requires minimal use of coordinates (so that beginning graduate students and junior researchers come to appreciate the power of the tensor notation).

In this text which gradually develops the tools for formulating and manipulating the field equations of Continuum Mechanics, the mathematics of tensor analysis is introduced in four, well-separated stages, and the physical interpretation and application of vectors and tensors are stressed throughout. This new edition contains more exercises. In addition, the author has appended a section on Differential Geometry.

The new edition includes additional analytical methods in the classical theory of viscoelasticity. This leads to a new theory of finite linear viscoelasticity of incompressible isotropic materials. Anisotropic viscoplasticity is completely reformulated and extended to a general constitutive theory that covers crystal plasticity as a special case.

Here is a modern introduction to the theory of tensor algebra and tensor analysis. It discusses tensor algebra and introduces differential manifold. Coverage also details tensor analysis, differential forms, connection forms, and curvature tensor. In addition, the book investigates Riemannian and pseudo-Riemannian manifolds in great detail. Throughout, examples and problems are furnished from the theory of relativity and continuum mechanics.