An Algorithm to Simplify Tensor Expressions

The paper presents a REDUCE program for the simplification of tensor expressions that are considered as formal indexed objects. The proposed algorithm is based on the consideration of tensor expressions as vectors in some linear space. This linear space is formed by all the elements of the group algebra of the corresponding tensor expression. Such approach permits us to simplify the tensor expressions possessing symmetry properties, summation (dummy) indices and multiterm ide...

Computer algebra is widely used in various fields of mathematics, physics and other sciences. The simplification of tensor expressions is an important special case of computer algebra. In this paper, we consider the reduction of tensor polynomials to canonical form, taking into account the properties of symmetry under permutations of indices, the symmetries associated with the renaming of summation indices, and also linear relations between tensors of a general form. We give ...

We describe how Computational Group Theory provides tools for manipulating tensors in explicit index notation. In special, we present an algorithm that puts tensors with free indices obeying permutation symmetries into the canonical form. The method is based on algorithms for determining the canonical coset representative of a subgroup of the symmetric group. The complexity of our algorithm is polynomial on the number of indices and is useful for implementating general purpos...

Complicated mathematical equations involving products of tensors with permutation symmetries, frequently encountered in fields such as general relativity and quantum chemistry (e.g., equations in high-order coupled cluster theories), require computer-based automatic derivations and manipulations. In these processes, a key step is the collection of tensor product terms that can be found identical by utilizing permutation symmetries of tensors or relabeling dummy indices, which...

Computational Group Theory is applied to indexed objects (tensors, spinors, and so on) with dummy indices. There are two groups to consider: one describes the intrinsic symmetries of the object and the other describes the interchange of names of dummy indices. The problem of finding canonical forms for indexed objects with dummy indices reduces to finding double coset canonical representatives. Well known computational group algorithms are applied to index manipulation, which...

Computations with tensors are ubiquitous in fundamental physics, and so is the usage of Einstein's dummy index convention for the contraction of indices. For instance, $T_{ia}U_{aj}$ is readily recognized as the same as $T_{ib}U_{bj}$, but a computer does not know that T[i,a]U[a,j] is equal to T[i,b]U[b,j]. Furthermore, tensors may have symmetries which can be used to simply expressions: if $U_{ij}$ is antisymmetric, then $\alpha T_{ia}U_{aj}+\beta T_{ib}U_{jb}=\left(\alpha-\...

We are presenting an algorithm capable of simplifying tensor polynomials with indices when the building tensors have index symmetry properties. These properties include simple symmetry, cyclicity and those due to the presence of partial and covariant derivatives. We are also including some examples using the Riemann tensor as a paradigm. The algorithm is part of a Mathematica package called Tools of Tensor Calculus (TTC) [web address: http://baldufa.upc.es/ttc]

Simplification of expressions in computer algebra systems often involves a step known as "canonicalisation", which reduces equivalent expressions to the same form. However, such forms may not be natural from the perspective of a pen-and-paper computation, or may be unwieldy, or both. This is, for example, the case for expressions involving tensor multi-term symmetries. We propose an alternative strategy to handle such tensor expressions, which hides canonical forms from the u...

The Butler-Portugal algorithm for obtaining the canonical form of a tensor expression with respect to slot symmetries and dummy-index renaming suffers, in certain cases with a high degree of symmetry, from $O(n!)$ explosion in both computation time and memory. We present a modified algorithm which alleviates this problem in the most common cases---tensor expressions with subsets of indices which are totally symmetric or totally antisymmetric---in polynomial time. We also pres...

Tensor expression simplification is an "ancient" topic in computer algebra, a representative of which is the canonicalization of Riemann tensor polynomials. Practically fast algorithms exist for monoterm canonicalization, but not for multiterm canonicalization. Targeting the multiterm difficulty, in this paper we establish the extension theory of graph algebra, and propose a canonicalization algorithm for Riemann tensor polynomials based on this theory.