Help deriving Lagrange's Formula with the levi-civita symbol

AI Thread Summary
The discussion focuses on deriving Lagrange's formula using the Levi-Civita symbol. The initial confusion revolves around manipulating the symbol to express the cross product of vectors. The user successfully derives the formula, showing that the cross product can be expressed as a combination of dot products and cross products of the involved vectors. The final expression confirms that the cross product of vector A with the cross product of vectors B and C equals B times the dot product of A and C minus C times the dot product of A and B. The thread highlights the importance of clarity in notation, particularly in using the dot symbol for dot products.
radonballoon
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Ok, so I'm really at a loss as to how to do this. I can prove the formula by just using determinants, but I don't really know how to do manipulations with the levi-civita symbol.
Here's what I have so far:
<br /> (\vec{B} \times \vec{C})_{i} = \epsilon_{ijk}(B_{j}C_{k})\vec{e_{i}}<br />

And I'm trying to get to:
<br /> \vec{A} \times (\vec{B} \times \vec{C}) = B(A \bullet C) - C(A \bullet B)<br />

Does anyone have any suggestions?
Thanks
 
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Ok So I figured it out, I'll just post the answer for the sake of completeness:

<br /> (\vec{B} \times \vec{C})_{k} = \epsilon_{kmn} (B_{m} C_{n})<br />

<br /> let (\vec{B} \times \vec{C}) = \vec{N} <br />

<br /> \vec{A} \times (\vec{B} \times \vec{C}) = \vec{A} \times \vec{N} <br />
<br /> (\vec{A} \times \vec{N})_{i} = \epsilon_{ijk} A_{j} N_{k}<br />
<br /> = \epsilon_{ijk} A_{j} (\epsilon_{kmn} B_{m} C_{n})
<br /> = \epsilon_{ijk} \epsilon_{kmn} (A_{j} B_{m} C_{n})

<br /> \epsilon_{ijk} \epsilon_{mnk} = \delta_{im} \delta_{jn} - \delta_{in} \delta_{jm} <br />

<br /> \vec{A} \times (\vec{B} \times \vec{C}) = (\delta_{im} \delta_{jn} - \delta_{in} \delta_{jm}) A_{j} B_{m} C_{n} <br />
<br /> = B_{i} A_{j} C_{j} - A_{j} B_{j} C_{i} <br />
<br /> = \vec{B}(\vec{A} \bullet \vec{C}) - \vec{C}(\vec{A} \bullet \vec{B})
 
It's threads like these that seem to be causing PF to accumulate helpful Google searches. :)
 
<br /> <br /> (\vec{B} \times \vec{C})_{i} = \epsilon_{ijk}(B_{j}C_{k})\vec{e_{i}}<br /> <br />

Should be:

<br /> <br /> (\vec{B} \times \vec{C})_{i} = \epsilon_{ijk}(B_{j}C_{k})<br /> <br />

And start using \cdot instead of that big black ball :-D
 
Haha wow this seems like so long ago. I couldn't find the dot for dot product, so thanks for that :D
 
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