We have a $n \in \mathbb{N}$ finite dimensional vector space $V$ such that $\dim V = n$, with a basis $\{\mathbf{e}_i\}_{i=1}^n$ and a corresponding dual space $V^*$ with a basis $\{\mathbf{\hat e}^i\}.$ In the following sections we make use of the Einstein summation convention introduced in [vector analysis](/en/physics/mathematical-physics/vector-analysis/curvilinear-coordinates/) and $\mathbb{K} = \mathbb{R} \lor\mathbb{K} = \mathbb{C}.$
## Definition
> *Definition 1*: a **tensor** is a multilinear mapping of the type
We refer to $\mathbf{T} \in \mathscr{T}_q^p(V)$ as a $(p, q)$-tensor; a mixed tensor of **contravariant rank** $p$ and **covariant rank** $q.$ It may be observed that we have $\dim \mathscr{T}_q^p (V) = n^{p+q}$ with $\dim V = n \in \mathbb{N}$.
It follows from definition 1 and by virtue of the isomorphism between $V^{**}$ and $V$ that $\mathbf{T} \in \mathscr{T}_1^0(V) = V^*$ is a covector and $\mathbf{T} \in \mathscr{T}_0^1(V) = V$ is a vector.
## Kronecker tensor
> *Definition 2*: let $\mathbf{k} \in \mathscr{T}_1^1(V)$ be the **Kronecker tensor** be defined such that
Let $\mathbf{\hat u} = u_i \mathbf{\hat e}^i \in V^*$ and $\mathbf{v} = v^j \mathbf{e}_j \in V$ then the tensor properties and the definition of the Kronecker tensor imply that
> *Definition 3*: the outer product $f \otimes g: X \times Y \to \mathbb{K}$ of two scalar functions $f: X \to \mathbb{K}$ and $g: Y \to \mathbb{K}$ is defined as
For $\mathbf{T} \in \mathscr{T}^0_q(V)$ it follows that there exists holors $T_i \in \mathbb{K}$ such that $\mathbf{T} = T_i \mathbf{\hat e}^i$ with $T_i = \mathbf{T}(\mathbf{e}_i)$, are referred to as the **covariant components** of $\mathbf{T}$ relative to a basis $\{\mathbf{e}_i\}$.
For $\mathbf{T} \in \mathscr{T}^p_0(V)$ it follows that there exists holors $T^i \in \mathbb{K}$ such that $\mathbf{T} = T^i \mathbf{e}_i$ with $T^i = \mathbf{T}(\mathbf{\hat e}^i)$, are referred to as the **contravariant components** of $\mathbf{T}$ relative to a basis $\{\mathbf{e}_i\}$.
If $\mathbf{T} \in \mathscr{T}^p_q(V)$, it follows that there exists holors $T^i_j \in \mathbb{K}$ are coined the **mixed components** of $\mathbf{T}$ relative to a basis $\{\mathbf{e}_i\}$.
By definition tensors are basis independent. Holors are basis dependent.
> *Theorem 2*: let $\mathbf{S} \in \mathscr{T}^p_q(V)$ and $\mathbf{T} \in \mathscr{T}^r_s(V)$ be tensors with
> *Proposition 1*: the Gram matrix $G$ is symmetric and nonsingular such that
>
> $$
> g^{ik} g_{kj} = \delta^i_j,
> $$
>
> with $G^{-1} \overset{\text{def}}= (g^{ij})$.
??? note "*Proof*:"
Let $G$ be the Gram matrix, symmetry of $G$ follows from defintion 5. Suppose that $G$ is singular, then there exists $\mathbf{u} = u^i \mathbf{e}_i \in V \backslash \{\mathbf{0}\}$ such that $G \mathbf{u} = \mathbf{0} \implies u^i g_{ij} = 0$, as a result we find that
> with $\mathbf{g}(\mathbf{v}) = G \mathbf{v}$ for all $\mathbf{v} \in V$.
??? note "*Proof*:"
Let $\mathbf{u} \in V$ and let $\mathbf{\hat u} \in V^*$, suppose $\mathbf{\hat u}: \mathbf{v} \mapsto \bm{g}(\mathbf{u}, \mathbf{v})$ then we may define $\mathbf{g}: V \to V^*: \mathbf{u} \mapsto \mathbf{g}(\mathbf{u}) \overset{\text{def}} = \mathbf{\hat u}$.
Let $\mathbf{v} \in V \backslash \{\mathbf{0}\}: \mathbf{g}(\mathbf{v}) = \mathbf{0}$, then
for all $\mathbf{w} \in V$, which contradicts the non-degeneracy of the pseude inner product in definition 5. Hence $\mathbf{g}$ is injective, since $\dim V$ is finite $\mathbf{g}$ is also bijective.
Let $\mathbf{u} = u^i \mathbf{e}_i, \mathbf{v} = v^j \mathbf{e}_j \in V$ and define $\mathbf{g}(\mathbf{e}_i) = \text{g}_{ij} \mathbf{\hat e}^j$ such that
Since $u^i, v^j \in \mathbb{K}$ are arbitrary it follows that $\text{g}_{ij} = g_{ij}$.
Consequently the inverse $\mathbf{g}^{-1}: V^* \to V$ has the property $\mathbf{g}^{-1}(\mathbf{\hat u}) = G^{-1} \mathbf{\hat u}$ for all $\mathbf{\hat u} \in V^*$. The bijective linear map $\mathbf{g}$ is commonly known as the **metric** and $\mathbf{g}^{-1}$ as the **dual metric**.
It follows from theorem 3 that for $\mathbf{u} = u^i \mathbf{e}_i \in V$ and $\mathbf{\hat u} = u_i \mathbf{\hat e}^i \in V^*$ we have
Sofar, a vector space $V$ and its associated dual space $V^*$ have been introduced as a priori independent entities. An inner product provides us with an explicit mechanism to construct a bijective linear mapping associated with each vector by virtue of the metric.
