contravariant index

contravariant index

[¦kän·trə′ver·ē·ənt ′in‚deks]

(mathematics)

A tensor index such that, under a transformation of coordinates, the procedure for obtaining a component of the transformed tensor for which this index has the value p involves taking a sum over q of the product of a component of the original tensor for which the index has the value q times the partial derivative of the p th transformed coordinate with respect to the q th original coordinate; it is written as a superscript.

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.