Del
In vector calculus, del is a vector differential operator represented by the symbol 
. The name of this symbol is the nabla, after a Hebrew stringed instrument with a similar shape, and so the operator is also called the nabla operator.
It is a shorthand for the vector:
The symbol was introduced by William Rowan Hamilton.
The operator can be applied to scalar fields (
) or vector fields (
), to give:
Further reading
- Div, Grad, Curl, and All That, H. M. Schey, ISBN 0-393-96997-5
