Divergence（散度） of a vector field

定义

The divergence of a vector field $a(x,y,z)$ is defined by
$$div\mathbf{a}=\nabla \cdot \mathbf{a}=\frac{\partial a_x}{\partial x}+\frac{\partial a_y}{\partial y}+\frac{\partial a_z}{\partial z},$$
where $a_x$, $a_y$ and $a_z$ are the $x$-, $y$- and $z$- components of $\mathbf{a}$. Clearly, $\nabla \cdot \mathbf{a}$ is a scalar field. Any vector field $\mathbf{a}$ for which $\nabla \cdot \mathbf{a}=0$ is said to be solenoidal.

Examples

Example 1

Find the divergence of the vector field $\mathbf{a}=x^2{y}^2\mathbf{i}+y^2{z}^2\mathbf{j}+x^2{z}^2\mathbf{k}$.

Solution

From the definition, the divergence of a vector field $a(x,y,z)$ is given by
$$\nabla \cdot \mathbf{a}=2x{y}^2+2y{z}^2+z{x}^{2}z=2(x{y}^2+y{z}^2+x^{2}z).$$

Geometrical properties

The divergence can be considered as a quantitative measure of how much a vector field diverges
(spreads out) or converges at any given point.
For example, if we consider the vector field $v(x,y,z)$ describing the local velocity at any point in a fluid then $\nabla \cdot \mathbf{v}$ is equal to the net rate of outflow of fluid per unit volume, evaluated at a point (by letting a small volume at that point tend to zero).