Main Page | See live article | Alphabetical index In vector calculus, del is a vector differential operator represented by the symbol . Another 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. Yet another name is Atled, because it is a reversed Delta. 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: Gradient: Divergence: Curl: See also: Laplace operator Table of mathematical symbols Maxwell's Equations Further reading Div, Grad, Curl, and All That, H. M. Schey, ISBN 0-393-96997-5 This article is from Wikipedia. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.