any of several muscles that cause an attached structure to become tense or firm
a certain kind of geometrical entity which generalizes the concepts of scalar , vector and linear operator
a generalization of the concept of vector and matrices
a kind of matrix in the same sense that a vector is a kind of array
a mathematical object like a point and a vector
a type of muscle which tightens or stretches a part of the body
Latin tensus = stretched; hence a muscle which produces tension.
(L. tendere, to stretch). Pertaining to a muscle whose function is to make a structure, to which it is attached, firm and tense.
(n) A general term describing all types of quantitative data. A tensor has two parts: the dimensionality of the coordinate system, d, and the order of the tensor, n. The number of components (scalar values) needed to express the tensor is equal to dn. For example, a 2-D vector is a tensor of order n_=_1 with 21_=_2 components.
(rhd) - Anatomy 'a muscle structure that stretches or tightens some part of the body'; Mathematics 'a set of functions that are transformed in a particular way when changing from one coordinate system to another'.
The term ‘tensor’ has slightly different meanings in mathematics and physics. In the mathematical fields of multilinear algebra and differential geometry, a tensor is a multilinear function. In physics and engineering, the same term usually means what a mathematician would call a tensor field: an association of a different (mathematical) tensor with each point of a geometric space, varying continuously with position.
In mathematics, the modern component-free approach to the theory of tensors views tensors initially as abstract objects, expressing some definite type of multi-linear concept. Their well-known properties can be derived from their definitions, as linear maps or more generally; and the rules for manipulations of tensors arise as an extension of linear algebra to multilinear algebra.