I want to know if it is possible to express the operation $$ \nabla \phi \times (\nabla \times \mathbf A) $$ as the divergence of second order tensor field $T$. Here $ \phi$ is a scalar field and $\mathbf A$ is a solenoidal vector field ($\nabla \cdot \mathbf A=0$) I have used all possible identities and finally I can only get $$ \nabla \phi \times (\nabla \times \mathbf A) = \nabla \phi \cdot(\nabla \mathbf A - \nabla \mathbf A^T) $$ Is it possible to find something like $ \nabla \phi \times (\nabla \times \mathbf A) = \nabla \cdot(\text{tensor}) $ ? -------------------------------------------------------------------------- EDIT: I could derive an expression that I think it is equivalent to Carlo's comment. $$ \nabla \phi \times (\nabla \times \mathbf A) = (\nabla \mathbf A^T-\nabla \mathbf A) \cdot \nabla \phi $$ Now, from the identity $\nabla \cdot (\phi \nabla \mathbf A)=\phi\nabla\cdot (\nabla \mathbf A)+(\nabla \mathbf A)^T \nabla \phi$ we can write $$ (\nabla \mathbf A^T-\nabla \mathbf A) \cdot \nabla \phi = \nabla \cdot(\phi(\nabla \mathbf A - \nabla \mathbf A^T))-\phi\nabla\cdot(\nabla \mathbf A - \nabla \mathbf A^T) $$ Considering that $\nabla \cdot(\nabla \mathbf A)=\nabla (\nabla \cdot \mathbf A)$ and $\nabla \cdot(\nabla \mathbf A^T)=\nabla^2 \mathbf A$: $$ \nabla \phi \times (\nabla \times \mathbf A) = (\nabla \mathbf A^T-\nabla \mathbf A) \cdot \nabla \phi = \nabla\cdot(\phi(\nabla \mathbf A-\nabla \mathbf A^T)-\phi\nabla^2 \mathbf A $$ This form is convenient since the LHS of the equation already contains $\nabla^2 \mathbf A$.