Hyper-Stresses in $k$-Jet Field Theories

Abstract

For high-order continuum mechanics and classical field theories configurations are modeled as sections of general fiber bundles and generalized velocities are modeled as variations thereof. Smooth stress fields are considered and it is shown that three distinct mathematical stress objects play the roles of the traditional stress tensor of continuum mechanics in Euclidean spaces. These objects are referred to as the variational hyper-stress, the traction hyper-stress and the non-holonomic stress. The properties of these three stress objects and the relations between them are studied.