[Math] Tensor Laplacian

differential-geometrygeneral-relativityriemannian-geometry

For a general tensor $T_{\mu_1 \dots \mu_n}$ on a (pseudo-)Riemannian manifold, is it true that $$\Delta (T_{\mu_1 \dots \mu_n})= (\Delta T)_{\mu_1 \dots \mu_n}?$$

In general, it is not true that $(\nabla_{\nu}T)_{\mu}$ versus $\nabla_{\nu}(T_{\mu}),$ where $\nabla$ is the induced covariant derivative.

However, the coordinate formula given in this article seems to imply that equality does hold for the Laplacian.

Attempt at a solution:

If I consider the simplest case where $T$ is a $(1,0)$ vector field, then

$$\Delta (T_{\mu}) = \Delta (T(dx^{\mu})) = \Delta T (dx^{\mu})+ 2 \nabla^{\lambda} T \nabla_{\lambda} (dx^{\mu}) + T(\Delta (dx^{\mu})).$$ So it would suffice to show that the second and third term on the right hand side vanish. However, I don't see why they should…

Best Answer

I did the case for a $(0, 1)$ tensor $A = A_i$, it's

$$ (\Delta A)_i = \Delta (A_i) - g^{jk}\partial _k \Gamma_{ij}^l A_l - 2 g^{jk}\Gamma_{ij}^l A_{l,k} +g^{jk}\Gamma_{ik}^l \Gamma_{jl}^m A_m + g^{jk} \Gamma_{jk}^l \Gamma_{il}^m A_m$$

In general there is no hope that $(\Delta A)_i = \Delta (A_i)$, since the equations should be all coupled and the term $g^{jk}\partial _k \Gamma_{ij}^l A_l$ involves the curvature. If your manifold is something explicit, might be you can simplify the term though.

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