Paper 3, Section I, C

Vector Calculus | Part IA, 2011

State the value of ∂xi/∂xj\partial x_{i} / \partial x_{j} and find ∂r/∂xj\partial r / \partial x_{j}, where r=∣x∣r=|\mathbf{x}|.

Vector fields u\mathbf{u} and v\mathbf{v} in R3\mathbb{R}^{3} are given by u=rαx\mathbf{u}=r^{\alpha} \mathbf{x} and v=k×u\mathbf{v}=\mathbf{k} \times \mathbf{u}, where α\alpha is a constant and k\mathbf{k} is a constant vector. Calculate the second-rank tensor dij=∂ui/∂xjd_{i j}=\partial u_{i} / \partial x_{j}, and deduce that ∇×u=0\boldsymbol{\nabla} \times \mathbf{u}=\mathbf{0} and ∇⋅v=0\boldsymbol{\nabla} \cdot \mathbf{v}=0. When α=−3\alpha=-3, show that ∇⋅u=0\boldsymbol{\nabla} \cdot \mathbf{u}=0 and

∇×v=3(k⋅x)x−kr2r5\nabla \times \mathbf{v}=\frac{3(\mathbf{k} \cdot \mathbf{x}) \mathbf{x}-\mathbf{k} r^{2}}{r^{5}}

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