Dyadic, outer, and tensor products A
dyad is a
tensor of
order two and
rank one, and is the dyadic product of two
vectors (
complex vectors in general), whereas a
dyadic is a general
tensor of
order two (which may be full rank or not). There are several equivalent terms and notations for this product: • the
dyadic product of two vectors \mathbf{a} and \mathbf{b} is denoted by \mathbf{a}\mathbf{b} (juxtaposed; no symbols, multiplication signs, crosses, dots, etc.) • the
outer product of two
column vectors \mathbf{a} and \mathbf{b} is denoted and defined as \mathbf{a} \otimes \mathbf{b} or \mathbf{a}\mathbf{b}^\mathsf{T}, where \mathsf{T} means
transpose, • the
tensor product of two vectors \mathbf{a} and \mathbf{b} is denoted \mathbf{a} \otimes \mathbf{b}, In the dyadic context they all have the same definition and meaning, and are used synonymously, although the
tensor product is an instance of the more general and abstract use of the term.
Three-dimensional Euclidean space To illustrate the equivalent usage, consider
three-dimensional Euclidean space, letting: : \begin{align} \mathbf{a} &= a_1 \mathbf{i} + a_2 \mathbf{j} + a_3 \mathbf{k} \\ \mathbf{b} &= b_1 \mathbf{i} + b_2 \mathbf{j} + b_3 \mathbf{k} \end{align} be two vectors where
i,
j,
k (also denoted
e1,
e2,
e3) are the standard
basis vectors in this
vector space (see also
Cartesian coordinates). Then the dyadic product of
a and
b can be represented as a sum: : \begin{align} \mathbf{ab} =\qquad &a_1 b_1 \mathbf{ii} + a_1 b_2 \mathbf{ij} + a_1 b_3 \mathbf{ik} \\ {}+{} &a_2 b_1 \mathbf{ji} + a_2 b_2 \mathbf{jj} + a_2 b_3 \mathbf{jk} \\ {}+{} &a_3 b_1 \mathbf{ki} + a_3 b_2 \mathbf{kj} + a_3 b_3 \mathbf{kk} \end{align} or by extension from row and column vectors, a 3×3 matrix (also the result of the outer product or tensor product of
a and
b): : \mathbf{a b} \equiv \mathbf{a}\otimes\mathbf{b} \equiv \mathbf{a b}^\mathsf{T} = \begin{pmatrix} a_1 \\ a_2 \\ a_3 \end{pmatrix}\begin{pmatrix} b_1 & b_2 & b_3 \end{pmatrix} = \begin{pmatrix} a_1 b_1 & a_1 b_2 & a_1 b_3 \\ a_2 b_1 & a_2 b_2 & a_2 b_3 \\ a_3 b_1 & a_3 b_2 & a_3 b_3 \end{pmatrix}. Just as the standard basis (and unit) vectors
i,
j,
k, have the representations: : \begin{align} \mathbf{i} &= \begin{pmatrix} 1 \\ 0 \\ 0 \end{pmatrix},& \mathbf{j} &= \begin{pmatrix} 0 \\ 1 \\ 0 \end{pmatrix},& \mathbf{k} &= \begin{pmatrix} 0 \\ 0 \\ 1 \end{pmatrix} \end{align} (which can be transposed), the
standard basis (and unit) dyads have the representation: : \begin{align} \mathbf{ii} &= \begin{pmatrix} 1 & 0 & 0 \\ 0 & 0 & 0 \\ 0 & 0 & 0 \end{pmatrix}, & \mathbf{ij} &= \begin{pmatrix} 0 & 1 & 0 \\ 0 & 0 & 0 \\ 0 & 0 & 0 \end{pmatrix}, & \mathbf{ik} &= \begin{pmatrix} 0 & 0 & 1 \\ 0 & 0 & 0 \\ 0 & 0 & 0 \end{pmatrix} \\ \mathbf{ji} &= \begin{pmatrix} 0 & 0 & 0 \\ 1 & 0 & 0 \\ 0 & 0 & 0 \end{pmatrix}, & \mathbf{jj} &= \begin{pmatrix} 0 & 0 & 0 \\ 0 & 1 & 0 \\ 0 & 0 & 0 \end{pmatrix}, & \mathbf{jk} &= \begin{pmatrix} 0 & 0 & 0 \\ 0 & 0 & 1 \\ 0 & 0 & 0 \end{pmatrix} \\ \mathbf{ki} &= \begin{pmatrix} 0 & 0 & 0 \\ 0 & 0 & 0 \\ 1 & 0 & 0 \end{pmatrix}, & \mathbf{kj} &= \begin{pmatrix} 0 & 0 & 0 \\ 0 & 0 & 0 \\ 0 & 1 & 0 \end{pmatrix}, & \mathbf{kk} &= \begin{pmatrix} 0 & 0 & 0 \\ 0 & 0 & 0 \\ 0 & 0 & 1 \end{pmatrix} \end{align} For a simple numerical example in the standard basis: : \begin{align} \mathbf{A} &= 2\mathbf{ij} + \frac{\sqrt{3}}{2}\mathbf{ji} - 8\pi\mathbf{jk} + \frac{2\sqrt{2}}{3}\mathbf{kk} \\[2pt] &= 2 \begin{pmatrix} 0 & 1 & 0 \\ 0 & 0 & 0 \\ 0 & 0 & 0 \end{pmatrix} + \frac{\sqrt{3}}{2}\begin{pmatrix} 0 & 0 & 0 \\ 1 & 0 & 0 \\ 0 & 0 & 0 \end{pmatrix} - 8\pi \begin{pmatrix} 0 & 0 & 0 \\ 0 & 0 & 1 \\ 0 & 0 & 0 \end{pmatrix} + \frac{2\sqrt{2}}{3}\begin{pmatrix} 0 & 0 & 0 \\ 0 & 0 & 0 \\ 0 & 0 & 1 \end{pmatrix} \\[2pt] &= \begin{pmatrix} 0 & 2 & 0 \\ \frac{\sqrt{3}}{2} & 0 & -8\pi \\ 0 & 0 & \frac{2\sqrt{2}}{3} \end{pmatrix} \end{align}
N-dimensional Euclidean space If the Euclidean space is
N-
dimensional, and : \begin{align} \mathbf{a} &= \sum_{i=1}^N a_i\mathbf{e}_i = a_1 \mathbf{e}_1 + a_2 \mathbf{e}_2 + {\ldots} + a_N \mathbf{e}_N \\ \mathbf{b} &= \sum_{j=1}^N b_j\mathbf{e}_j = b_1 \mathbf{e}_1 + b_2 \mathbf{e}_2 + \ldots + b_N \mathbf{e}_N \end{align} where
ei and
ej are the
standard basis vectors in
N-dimensions (the index
i on
ei selects a specific vector, not a component of the vector as in
ai), then in algebraic form their dyadic product is: : \mathbf{ab} = \sum_{j=1}^N \sum_{i=1}^N a_i b_j \mathbf{e}_i \mathbf{e}_j. This is known as the
nonion form of the dyad. Their outer/tensor product in matrix form is: : \mathbf{ab} = \mathbf{ab}^\mathsf{T} = \begin{pmatrix} a_1 \\ a_2 \\ \vdots \\ a_N \end{pmatrix}\begin{pmatrix} b_1 & b_2 & \cdots & b_N \end{pmatrix} = \begin{pmatrix} a_1 b_1 & a_1 b_2 & \cdots & a_1 b_N \\ a_2 b_1 & a_2 b_2 & \cdots & a_2 b_N \\ \vdots & \vdots & \ddots & \vdots \\ a_N b_1 & a_N b_2 & \cdots & a_N b_N \end{pmatrix}. A
dyadic polynomial A, otherwise known as a dyadic, is formed from multiple vectors
ai and
bj: : \mathbf{A} = \sum_i\mathbf{a}_i\mathbf{b}_i = \mathbf{a}_1\mathbf{b}_1 + \mathbf{a}_2\mathbf{b}_2 + \mathbf{a}_3\mathbf{b}_3 + \ldots A dyadic which cannot be reduced to a sum of less than
N dyads is said to be complete. In this case, the forming vectors are non-coplanar, see
Chen (1983).
Classification The following table classifies dyadics: :
Identities The following identities are a direct consequence of the definition of the tensor product: {{ordered list : (\alpha\mathbf{a}) \mathbf{b} = \mathbf{a} (\alpha\mathbf{b}) = \alpha (\mathbf{a}\mathbf{b}) for any scalar \alpha. : \begin{align} \mathbf{a} (\mathbf{b} + \mathbf{c}) &= \mathbf{a}\mathbf{b} + \mathbf{a}\mathbf{c} \\ (\mathbf{a} + \mathbf{b}) \mathbf{c} &= \mathbf{a}\mathbf{c} + \mathbf{b}\mathbf{c} \end{align} }} == Dyadic algebra ==