A strain tensor that couples to the Madelung stress tensor

Abstract: Ordinarily, the stress tensor that one derives for a Madelung fluid is not regarded as being coupled to a strain tensor, which is consistent with the fluid hypothesis. However, based upon earlier work regarding the geometric nature of the quantum potential, one can, in fact, define a strain tensor, which is not, however, due to a deformation of a spatial region, but to a deformation of a frame field on that region. When one expresses the Madelung stress tensor as a function of the strain tensor and its derivatives, one then defines a constitutive law for the Madelung medium that might lead to a more detailed picture of its elementary structure. It is pointed out that the resulting constitutive law is strongly analogous to laws that were presented by Kelvin and Tait for the bending and torsion of elastic wires and plates, as well as the Einstein equations for gravitation if one takes the viewpoint of metric elasticity.