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[[File:Components stress tensor.svg|right|thumb|300px|The second-order [[Cauchy stress tensor]] <math>\mathbf{T}</math> describes the stress experienced by a material at a given point. For any unit vector <math>\mathbf{v}</math>, the product <math>\mathbf{T} \cdot \mathbf{v}</math> is a vector, denoted <math>\mathbf{T}(\mathbf{v})</math>, that quantifies the force per area along the plane perpendicular to <math>\mathbf{v}</math>. This image shows, for cube faces perpendicular to <math>\mathbf{e}_1, \mathbf{e}_2, \mathbf{e}_3</math>, the corresponding stress vectors <math>\mathbf{T}(\mathbf{e}_1), \mathbf{T}(\mathbf{e}_2), \mathbf{T}(\mathbf{e}_3)</math> along those faces. Because the stress tensor takes one vector as input and gives one vector as output, it is a second-order tensor.]]

In [[mathematics]], a '''tensor''' is an [[mathematical object|algebraic object]] that describes a [[Multilinear map|multilinear]] relationship between sets of [[algebraic structure|algebraic objects]] relatedassociated towith a [[vector space]]. Tensors may map between different objects such as [[Vector (mathematics and physics)|vectors]], [[Scalar (mathematics)|scalars]], and even other tensors. There are many types of tensors, including [[Scalar (mathematics)|scalars]] and [[Vector (mathematics and physics)|vectors]] (which are the simplest tensors), [[dual vector]]s, [[multilinear map]]s between vector spaces, and even some operations such as the [[dot product]]. Tensors are defined [[Tensor (intrinsic definition)|independent]] of any [[Basis (linear algebra)|basis]], although they are often referred to by their components in a basis related to a particular coordinate system; those components form an array, which can be thought of as a high-dimensional [[matrix (mathematics)|matrix]].

Tensors have become important in [[physics]] because they provide a concise mathematical framework for formulating and solving physics problems in areas such as [[mechanics]] ([[Stress (mechanics)|stress]], [[elasticity (physics)|elasticity]], [[quantum mechanics]], [[fluid mechanics]], [[moment of inertia]], ...), [[Classical electromagnetism|electrodynamics]] ([[electromagnetic tensor]], [[Maxwell stress tensor|Maxwell tensor]], [[permittivity]], [[magnetic susceptibility]], ...), and [[general relativity]] ([[stress–energy tensor]], [[Riemann curvature tensor|curvature tensor]], ...). In applications, it is common to study situations in which a different tensor can occur at each point of an object; for example the stress within an object may vary from one ___location to another. This leads to the concept of a [[tensor field]]. In some areas, tensor fields are so ubiquitous that they are often simply called "tensors".

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{{Main|Multilinear map}}

A downside to the definition of a tensor using the multidimensional array approach is that it is not apparent from the definition that the defined object is indeed basis independent, as is expected from an intrinsically geometric object. Although it is possible to show that transformation laws indeed ensure independence from the basis, sometimes a more intrinsic definition is preferred. One approach that is common in [[differential geometry]] is to define tensors relative to a fixed (finite-dimensional) vector space ''V'', which is usually taken to be a particular vector space of some geometrical significance like the [[tangent space]] to a manifold.<ref>{{citation|last=Lee|first=John|title=Introduction to smooth manifolds|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=4sGuQgAACAAJ|page=173}}|page=173|year=2000|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-0-387-95495-0}}</ref> In this approach, a type {{nowrap|(''p'', ''q'')}} tensor ''T'' is defined as a [[multilinear map]],

:<math> T: \underbrace{V^* \times\dots\times V^*}_{p \text{ copies}} \times \underbrace{ V \times\dots\times V}_{q \text{ copies}} \rightarrow \mathbfmathbb{R}, </math>

where ''V''^∗ is the corresponding [[dual space]] of covectors, which is linear in each of its arguments. The above assumes ''V'' is a vector space over the [[real number]]s, {{tmath|\R}}. More generally, ''V'' can be taken over any [[Field (mathematics)|field]] ''F'' (e.g. the [[complex number]]s), with ''F'' replacing {{tmath|\R}} as the codomain of the multilinear maps.

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! rowspan=6 | ''n''

! scope="row" | 0

| [[Scalar (mathematics)|Scalarscalar]], e.g. [[scalar curvature]]

| [[Covectorcovector]], [[linear functional]], [[1-form]], e.g. [[multipole expansion|dipole moment]], [[gradient]] of a scalar field

| [[Bilinearbilinear form]], e.g. [[inner product]], [[quadrupole moment]], [[metric tensor]], [[Ricci curvature]], [[2-form]], [[symplectic form]]

| 3-form Ee.g. [[multipole moment|octupole moment]]

|

| Ee.g. ''M''-form i.e. [[volume form]]

|

|-

! scope="row" | 1

| [[Euclidean vector]]

| [[Linearlinear transformation]],<ref name="BambergSternberg1991">{{cite book|first1=Paul|last1=Bamberg|first2=Shlomo|last2=Sternberg|title=A Course in Mathematics for Students of Physics|volume=2|year=1991|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-40650-5|page=669}}</ref> [[Kronecker delta]]

| Ee.g. [[cross product]] in three dimensions

| Ee.g. [[Riemann curvature tensor]]

|

|

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|-

! scope="row" | 2

| Inverse [[metric tensor]], [[bivector]], e.g., [[Poisson structure]], inverse [[metric tensor]]

|

| Ee.g. [[elasticity tensor]]

|

|

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|-

! scope="row" | ''N''

|[[Multivectormultivector]]

|

|

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== Operations ==

There are several operations on tensors that again produce a tensor. The linear nature of tensortensors implies that two tensors of the same type may be added together, and that tensors may be multiplied by a scalar with results analogous to the [[Scalar multiplication|scaling of a vector]]. On components, these operations are simply performed component-wise. These operations do not change the type of the tensor; but there are also operations that produce a tensor of different type.

=== Tensor product ===

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===Machine learning===

{{Main|Tensor (machine learning)}}

The properties of [[Tensor (machine learning)|tensors]], especially [[tensor decomposition]], have enabled their use in [[machine learning]] to embed higher dimensional data in [[artificial neural networks]]. This notion of tensor differs significantly from that in other areas of mathematics and physics, in the sense that a tensor is usuallythe regardedsame thing as a numericalmultidimensional quantityarray. inAbstractly, a tensor belongs to tensor product of spaces, each of which has a fixed basis, and the dimensiondimensions of the factor spaces alongcan thebe different. Thus, an example of a tensor in this context is a rectangular matrix. Just as a rectangular matrix has two axes, a horizontal and vertical axis to indicate the position of each entry, a more general tensor has as many axes as there are factors in the tensor needproduct notto bewhich it belongs, and an entry of the sametensor is referred to be a tuple of integers. The various axes have different dimensions in general.

== Generalizations ==