Infinitesimal strain theory

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In continuum mechanics,
the infinitesimal strain theory is a mathematical approach to the description of
the deformation of a solid body in which the displacements of
the material particles are assumed to be much smaller
(indeed, infinitesimally smaller) than any relevant dimension of the body;
so that its geometry and the constitutive properties of the material
(such as density and stiffness) at each point of space can be assumed
to be unchanged by the deformation.