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Suppose $\vec{w}=\frac{g}{||\vec{v}||} \vec{v}$, what is the derivative of $\vec{w}$ w.r.t. $\vec{v}$?

Don't know how to deal with the norm of $\vec{v}$ here...

Thanks in advance. :-)

Edit:

$L$ is a function of $\vec{w}$ and $g$. Based on $\vec{w}=\frac{g}{||\vec{v}||} \vec{v}$, we have $$\nabla{g}{L}=\frac{\nabla{\vec{w}}{L} \cdot \vec{v}}{||\vec{v}||}$$ $$\nabla{\vec{v}}{L}=\frac{g}{||\vec{v}||}\nabla{\vec{w}}{L}-\frac{g\nabla{g}{L}}{||\vec{v}||^2}\vec{v}$$

Could you show how to get exactly the second equation? It seems a bit weird to me.

2 Answers2

1

Hint.

Apply the chain rule, using the fact that $$f(\vec{v})=\frac{\vec{v}}{||\vec{v}||} = F(\vec{v})\vec{v}$$ where $$F(\vec{v})= \frac{1}{\sqrt{\Vert \vec{v} \Vert^2}}$$ and $$h(\vec{v})=\Vert \vec{v} \Vert^2= (\vec{v},\vec{v})$$ is a bilinear map so its Fréchet derivative is $$h^\prime(\vec{v}).\vec{r} = 2 (\vec{v},\vec{r})$$ and applying the chain rule $$F^\prime(\vec{v}).\vec{r}=-\frac{(\vec{v},\vec{r})}{\Vert \vec{v} \Vert^3}$$

Applying again the chain rule to $f$: $$f^\prime(\vec{v}).\vec{r}=(F^\prime(\vec{v}).\vec{r})\vec{v} + F(\vec{v})\vec{r}$$ you finally get $$f^\prime(\vec{v}).\vec{r} = -\frac{(\vec{v},\vec{r})}{\Vert \vec{v} \Vert^3}\vec{v}+\frac{\vec{r}}{\Vert \vec{v} \Vert}$$

If $g$ is also a map depending on $\vec{v}$, you need to applying the chain rule once more.

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The ''derivative'' of a vector function of a vector is not a single number, but a matrix that contains all the partial derivative of the vector function with respect to the components of the independent vector, called the Jacobian matrix.

In your case, supposing that, $\vec W$ and $\vec v$ are vectors of a $n-$ dimensional real vector space, we have: $$ \frac{\partial \vec w}{\partial \vec v}= \begin{bmatrix} \frac{\partial w_1}{\partial v_1}&\frac{\partial w_1}{\partial v_2} &\cdots&\frac{\partial w_1}{\partial v_n}\\ \frac{\partial w_2}{\partial v_1}&\frac{\partial w_2}{\partial v_2} &\cdots&\frac{\partial w_2}{\partial v_n}\\ \cdots\\ \frac{\partial w_n}{\partial v_1}&\frac{\partial w_n}{\partial v_2} &\cdots&\frac{\partial w_n}{\partial v_n}\\ \end{bmatrix} $$

Using this definition you can evaluate the elements of the matrix for your function. If $n=2$, we have: $$ \begin{bmatrix} w_1\\ w_2 \end{bmatrix} = \begin{bmatrix} \frac{gv_1}{\sqrt{v_1^2+v_2^2}}\\ \frac{gv_2}{\sqrt{v_1^2+v_2^2}} \end{bmatrix} $$ so we can find the partial derivatives as: $$ \frac{\partial w_1}{\partial v_1}=\frac{gv_2^2}{\sqrt{\left(v_1^2+v_2^2\right)^3}} \qquad \frac{\partial w_1}{\partial v_2}=\frac{-gv_1v_2}{\sqrt{\left(v_1^2+v_2^2\right)^3}} $$

and so one... and you can do the same if $n>2$.

Emilio Novati
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  • Is it possible to use a $\nabla$ to hide all these details and eventually get something like a simple equation as mentioned in my edit? – Isilmë O. Feb 27 '16 at 02:02
  • The Jacobian matrix contains all informations about the variations of the vector field and the gradient of a vector field is essentially the Jacobian matrix ( see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gradient#Gradient_of_a_vector). – Emilio Novati Feb 27 '16 at 09:44
  • You can see also: http://math.stackexchange.com/questions/156880/gradient-of-a-vector-field – Emilio Novati Feb 27 '16 at 09:45
  • Yes, but I just cannot get the same equation through differentiation... Could you briefly check it below my original question? – Isilmë O. Feb 27 '16 at 10:20