Tensors & Vectors in Rockets & Spacecraft

In 2025 I attended the first Canadian Space Launch Conference at the Canada Aviation & Space Museum in Ottawa. In 2026 I was invited to deliver a presentation; I foolishly chose the overly-broad topic of tensors & vectors in rockets & spacecraft, in response to the ongoing proliferation of the concept of tensors in everyday use.

The presentation incorporates an interactive visualization located at: tvg.genss.org.

Reading list:

• Penrose (1971), Applications of Negative Dimensional Tensors [PDF].
• Lazovskis (2012), Abstract Tensor Systems and Diagrammatic Representations [PDF].
• Bridgeman & Chubb (2017), Hand-waving and Interpretive Dance: An Introductory Course on Tensor Networks [HTML] [PDF].
• Austrin, Kaski & Kubjas (2019), Tensor Network Complexity of Multilinear Maps [HTML] [PDF].
• Miller, Roeder & Bradley (2021), Probabilistic Graphical Models and Tensor Networks: A Hybrid Framework [HTML] [PDF].
• Yokota (2024), Very Basics of Tensors with Graphical Notations: Unfolding, Calculations, and Decompositions [HTML] [PDF].
• Domingos (2025), Tensor Logic: The Language of AI [HTML] [PDF].

Acknowledgement: My gratitude to Dr. Alan Neil Campbell and Axel Whalen for inspiration & feedback.

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