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Comments on What does upper indices represent?

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What does upper indices represent?

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I saw that people were representing matrices in two ways.

  1. $$\sum_{j=1}^n a_{ij}$$

It is representing a column matrix (vector actually) if we assume $i=1$.

$$\begin{bmatrix}a_{11} & a_{12} & a_{13} & ......\end{bmatrix}$$

  1. $$\sum_{j=1}^n a^{ij}$$

What is it representing? At first, I thought it was a row matrix (vector) since it is the opposite of a column matrix (vector). But when I was writing the question I couldn't generate a row matrix using the 2nd equation. I became more confused when I saw $a_j^{i}$, and sometimes there are two variables in sub and sup: $a_{ji}^{kl}$. I don't remember if either of them matches (I am not sure if I wrote it the wrong way).

After searching a little bit I found that when we move components our vectors don't change. But, I can't get deeper into covariant and contravariant. I even saw some people use an equation like this: $^ia_j$.

I was reading https://physics.stackexchange.com/q/541822/, and those answers don't explain the covariant and contravariant for a beginner (those explanations are for those who have some knowledge of the covariant and contravariant).

I was watching the video, what he said that is, if we take some basis vectors and then find a vector using those basis vectors than if we decrease length of those vectors than that's contravariant vectors (I think he meant to say changing those components). But the explanation is not much more good to me. He might be correct also but I don't have any idea. If he is assuming that changes of basis vectors is contravariant then is "the original" basis vectors covariant? So how do we deal with covariant and contravariant altogether $g^i_j$ sometimes $g_j^i$

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r~~‭ wrote about 3 years ago

Your source might be using Einstein notation, but there are other notations that give different meanings to upper and lower indices. I think you need to include more of the surrounding context to know for sure—a raised index doesn't universally mean one thing.

deleted user wrote about 3 years ago · edited about 3 years ago

At first, I had seen that for some Dirac's equation (That was also about Relativistic mechanics hence we can say that was Einstein notation). And I have seen those notation in Tensor. Hence I am talking about Einstein notation.