Vector Field


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vector field

[′vek·tər ‚fēld]
(mathematics)
The field of vectors arising from considering a system of differential equations on a differentiable manifold.
A function whose range is in a vector space.
(physics)
A field which is characterized by a vector function.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Vector Field

 

a region, at each point P of which a vector a(P) is assigned. Mathematically, a vector field can be defined in a given region G by the vector function a(P) of the variable point P of this region. A whole series of physical phenomena and processes (for example, the vectors of the velocities of a moving fluid’s particles at each moment of time form a vector field) lead to the concept of a vector field. Vector-field theory has been extensively developed and has diverse applications in various branches of natural science.

REFERENCE

Budak, B. M., and S. V. Fomin. Kratnye integraly i riady, 2nd ed.Moscow, 1967.

E. G. POZNIAK

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
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