Some Indentities for the Gradient of the Principal Invariants, Traces and Determinants via Grassmann Calculus

Let A be a second order tensor in a finite dimensional space. In this work we determine the gradient of the principal invariants of A and obtain some trace and determinant identities using only some standard rigorous statements concerning Grassmann calculus. We recover some of the results of Dui et al. (J. Elast. 75:193–196, 2004) and of Truesdell and Noll (The Non-linear Field Theories of Mechanics, Springer, Berlin, 2002) and solve an old problem proposed in SIAM Review concerning a determinant identity from a new perspective in a concise and simple manner.