Highlights of Riemannian Geometry in Physics Brazilian Journal of Physics, Vol

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Highlights of Riemannian Geometry in Physics Brazilian Journal of Physics, Vol Brazilian Journal of Physics ISSN: 0103-9733 [email protected] Sociedade Brasileira de Física Brasil Novello, Mario; Bittencourt, Eduardo Metric Relativity and the Dynamical Bridge: Highlights of Riemannian Geometry in Physics Brazilian Journal of Physics, vol. 45, núm. 6, 2015, pp. 756-805 Sociedade Brasileira de Física Sâo Paulo, Brasil Available in: http://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=46442560018 How to cite Complete issue Scientific Information System More information about this article Network of Scientific Journals from Latin America, the Caribbean, Spain and Portugal Journal's homepage in redalyc.org Non-profit academic project, developed under the open access initiative Braz J Phys (2015) 45:756–805 DOI 10.1007/s13538-015-0362-7 GENERAL AND APPLIED PHYSICS Metric Relativity and the Dynamical Bridge: Highlights of Riemannian Geometry in Physics Mario Novello1 · Eduardo Bittencourt2,3 Received: 4 July 2015 / Published online: 30 September 2015 © Sociedade Brasileira de F´ısica 2015 Abstract We present an overview of recent developments mechanics and consists in the principle of Metric Relativ- concerning modifications of the geometry of space-time to ity. The main difference between gravitational interaction describe various physical processes of interactions among and all other forces concerns the universality of gravity classical and quantum configurations. We concentrate in which added to the interpretation of the equivalence princi- two main lines of research: the Metric Relativity and the ple allows all associated geometries—one for each different Dynamical Bridge. We describe the notion of equivalent body in the case of non-gravitational forces—to be uni- (dragged) metric gμν which is responsible to map the fied into a unique Riemannian space-time structure. The path of any accelerated body in Minkowski space-time same geometrical description appears for electromagnetic onto a geodesic motion in such associated g geometry. waves in the optical limit within the context of nonlinear Only recently, the method introduced by Einstein in gen- theories or material medium. Once it is largely discussed eral relativity was used beyond the domain of gravitational in the literature, the so-called analogue models of grav- forces to map arbitrary accelerated bodies submitted to ity, we will dedicate few sections on this emphasizing their non-Newtonian attractions onto geodesics of a modified relation with the new concepts introduced here. Then, we geometry. This process has its roots in the very ancient pass to the description of the Dynamical Bridge formalism idea to treat any dynamical problem in Classical Mechan- which states the dynamic equivalence of nonlinear theories ics as nothing but a problem of static where all forces (driven by arbitrary scalar, spinor or vector fields) that occur acting on a body annihilates themselves including the iner- in Minkowski background to theories described in asso- tial ones. This general procedure, that concerns arbitrary ciated curved geometries generated by each one of these forces—beyond the uses of General Relativity that is lim- fields. We shall see that it is possible to map the dynam- ited only to gravitational processes—is nothing but the ical properties of a theory, say Maxwell electrodynamics relativistic version of the d’Alembert method in classical in Minkowski space-time, into Born-Infeld electrodynam- ics described in a curved space-time the metric of which is defined in terms of the electromagnetic field itself in Eduardo Bittencourt such way that it yields the same dynamics. It is clear that [email protected] when considered in whatever unique geometrical structure, these two theories are not the same; they do not describe Mario Novello [email protected] the same phenomenon. However, we shall see that by a convenient modification of the metric of space-time, an 1 Instituto de Cosmologia Relatividade e Astrofisica equivalence appears that establishes a bridge between these (ICRA/CBPF) Rua Dr. Xavier Sigaud, 150 - Urca, two theories making they represent the same phenomenon. Rio de Janeiro, RJ 22290-180 , Brazil This method was recently used to achieve a successful 2 CAPES Foundation, Ministry of Education of Brazil, Bras´ılia, geometric scalar theory of gravity. At the end, we briefly Brazil review the proposal of geometrization of quantum mechan- ics in the de Broglie-Bohm formulation using an enlarged 3 Physics Department, La Sapienza University of Rome, non-Riemannian (Weyl) structure. I-00185 Rome, Italy Braz J Phys (2015) 45:756–805 757 Keywords Riemannian geometry · Classical field theory · and to follow the geodesics on this curved space-time, as Nonlinear field theory · Quantum mechanics far as gravity is taken into account solely. If a body suffers a particular acceleration of non-gravitational character, this freedom disappears and the body follows a non-geodesic 1 Preliminary Comments path. The purpose of these notes is to describe some new The success of general relativity (GR) led to the general results that intend, in a very particularly and precise way, to acceptance that the introduction of a geometry to describe a extend the idea that it is possible to deal with any kind of physical process yields a unique structure identified to the force through similar lines as suggested by GR. This means space-time. However, this is a rather general mathematical to introduce the idea that modifications of the geometry of procedure, and one can apply the modification of the back- space-time may describe a large variety of physical pro- ground geometry to substitute the acceleration not only by cesses. In other words, to generalize the approach of GR in gravity but by any kind of force; introducing specific and order to represent all kind of acceleration as nothing but a limited geometries for different observers in many distinct modification of the geometry. Along this line, the path of situations seems to be a very useful tool. any body on which an arbitrary force has acted upon, can One could accept that the achievements of a given the- be described as if this body is free, without any interaction, ory may depend on the uniqueness of its representation. in a particular associated metric structure that depends on However, in more recent years, we have learned that the both, the characteristics of the force and the kinematics of possibility of presenting an alternative equivalent descrip- the body. Let us point out that there are obvious distinctions tion of a given phenomenon may be an important theoretical between the case of GR and all other cases. This is due to tool. The presentation of a theory under distinct formula- the universality of gravitational processes. Indeed, one of tions has been of great help in many occasions, as we will the postulates of GR states that there exists one and only one verify with direct examples in these notes. We shall see how geometric structure of space-time as perceived for all that it is possible to modify the background geometry of space- exists. Besides that, the uniqueness of the scenario where time (intrinsic to the description of gravitational interactions all events occurs lies on the hypothesis that its geometry is according to the rules and proposals of GR) to describe the controlled by the gravitational phenomena. This unification effect of forces of distinct and multiple natures. A well- requires the neglect of all other kind of interaction and must known example concerns the propagation of light inside be interpreted as some sort of approximation related to the moving dielectrics. degree of amplitude of its corresponding description. This We shall describe how very different modifications of the beautiful requirement of GR appears in each observation space-time geometry have been used to describe accelerated as specific examples of geometries obtained as a particular paths in Minkowski space-time as geodesics in an associ- solutions of its dynamics. In these notes, we will analyze ated curved Riemannian geometry and even to exhibit the another possibility. equivalence dynamics of various fields in distinct associated The original GR proposal was concerned with the possi- geometries. bility of eliminating the acceleration induced on an arbitrary An important step in the construction of the theory of spe- body A by a gravitational field by a convenient modification cial relativity was the hypothesis that a specific proper time of the metric associated to the space where A is propagating. can be assigned for each body. Distinct observers establish GR shows that all gravitational effects can be equivalently distinct times. This proposal highlights the importance of described in terms of such an universal modification of the an individual body in the description of its kinematics and space-time geometry. stresses the importance of the global aspects of the physical However, from the technical point of view, this is only description in the domain of mechanics. Such an individ- one possibility. Indeed, as we shall review in these notes, ualization was new in the standard program of physics this should not be considered the only possibility, and one that usually is based, in a very broad sense, to develop could well make other conventions to ascribe specific met- formalisms that intended to be universal. rics to different events. According to this point of view, After the success of this procedure, there has been a need to each interaction, a particular modification of the met- to recover the global and unified character of the theoret- ric environment in which a body moves in such a way that ical framework. This has indeed come about through the any kind of force can be eliminated by this interpretation is next big step made by the entrance of a dynamical scheme likely to be associated. After this characterization of its own associated to the universal gravitational interaction, which metric structure, the body is interpreted as realizing a free becomes identified to an attribute of the structure of space- motion.
Recommended publications
  • Modified Theories of Relativistic Gravity
    Modified Theories of Relativistic Gravity: Theoretical Foundations, Phenomenology, and Applications in Physical Cosmology by c David Wenjie Tian A thesis submitted to the School of Graduate Studies in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Theoretical Physics (Interdisciplinary Program) Faculty of Science Date of graduation: October 2016 Memorial University of Newfoundland March 2016 St. John’s Newfoundland and Labrador Abstract This thesis studies the theories and phenomenology of modified gravity, along with their applications in cosmology, astrophysics, and effective dark energy. This thesis is organized as follows. Chapter 1 reviews the fundamentals of relativistic gravity and cosmology, and Chapter 2 provides the required Co-authorship 2 2 Statement for Chapters 3 ∼ 6. Chapter 3 develops the L = f (R; Rc; Rm; Lm) class of modified gravity 2 µν 2 µανβ that allows for nonminimal matter-curvature couplings (Rc B RµνR , Rm B RµανβR ), derives the “co- herence condition” f 2 = f 2 = − f 2 =4 for the smooth limit to f (R; G; ) generalized Gauss-Bonnet R Rm Rc Lm gravity, and examines stress-energy-momentum conservation in more generic f (R; R1;:::; Rn; Lm) grav- ity. Chapter 4 proposes a unified formulation to derive the Friedmann equations from (non)equilibrium (eff) thermodynamics for modified gravities Rµν − Rgµν=2 = 8πGeffTµν , and applies this formulation to the Friedman-Robertson-Walker Universe governed by f (R), generalized Brans-Dicke, scalar-tensor-chameleon, quadratic, f (R; G) generalized Gauss-Bonnet and dynamical Chern-Simons gravities. Chapter 5 systemati- cally restudies the thermodynamics of the Universe in ΛCDM and modified gravities by requiring its com- patibility with the holographic-style gravitational equations, where possible solutions to the long-standing confusions regarding the temperature of the cosmological apparent horizon and the failure of the second law of thermodynamics are proposed.
    [Show full text]
  • Bianchi Identities for the Riemann and Weyl Tensors
    BIANCHI IDENTITIES FOR THE RIEMANN AND WEYL TENSORS J.-F. Pommaret CERMICS, Ecole des Ponts ParisTech, 6/8 Av. Blaise Pascal, 77455 Marne-la-Vall´ee Cedex 02, France E-mail: [email protected], [email protected] URL: http://cermics.enpc.fr/∼pommaret/home.html ABSTRACT The purpose of this paper is to revisit the Bianchi identities existing for the Riemann and Weyl tensors in the combined framework of the formal theory of systems of partial differential equations (Spencer cohomology, differential systems, formal integrability) and Algebraic Analysis (homolog- ical algebra, differential modules, duality). In particular, we prove that the n2(n2 − 1)(n − 2)/24 generating Bianchi identities for the Riemann tensor are first order and can be easily described by means of the Spencer cohomology of the first order Killing symbol in arbitrary dimension n ≥ 2. Similarly, the n(n2 − 1)(n + 2)(n − 4)/24 generating Bianchi identities for the Weyl tensor are first order and can be easily described by means of the Spencer cohomology of the first order conformal Killing symbol in arbitrary dimension n ≥ 5. As a most surprising result, the 9 generating Bianchi identities for the Weyl tensor are of second order in dimension n = 4 while the analogue of the Weyl tensor has 5 components of third order in the metric with 3 first order generating Bianchi identi- ties in dimension n = 3. The above results, which could not be obtained otherwise, are valid for any non-degenerate metric of constant riemannian curvature and do not depend on any conformal factor.
    [Show full text]
  • Existence of Lanczos Potentials and Superpotentials for the Weyl Spinor/Tensor
    INSTITUTE OF PHYSICS PUBLISHING CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM GRAVITY Class. Quantum Grav. 18 (2001) 2297–2304 www.iop.org/Journals/cq PII: S0264-9381(01)22408-3 Existence of Lanczos potentials and superpotentials for the Weyl spinor/tensor Fredrik Andersson and S Brian Edgar Department of Mathematics, Linkoping¨ University, S581 83 Linkoping,¨ Sweden E-mail: [email protected] and [email protected] Received 2 March 2001 Abstract A new and concise proof of existence—emphasizing the very natural and simple structure—is given for the Lanczos spinor potential LABCA of an A arbitrary symmetric spinor WABCD defined by WABCD = 2∇(A LBCD)A ; this proof is easily translated into tensors in such a way that it is valid in four- dimensional spaces of any signature. In particular, this means that the Weyl spinor ABCD has Lanczos potentials in all spacetimes, and furthermore that the Weyl tensor has Lanczos potentials on all four-dimensional spaces, irrespective of signature. In addition, two superpotentials for WABCD are identified: the D first TABCD (= T(ABC)D) is given by LABCA =∇A TABCD, while the second HABAB (= H(AB)(AB)) (which is restricted to Einstein spacetimes) is given by B LABCA =∇(A HBC)AB . The superpotential TABCD is used to describe the gauge freedom in the Lanczos potential. PACS numbers: 0420, 0240 1. Introduction The fact that there exists a potential (called the Lanczos potential [1]) for the Weyl tensor/spinor in analogy to the well known electromagnetic potential for the electromagnetic field does not seem to be well known. Even among those aware of its existence it does not seem to be fully appreciated just how close is the analogy with the electromagnetic case, nor how simple and natural is the structure of the potential for the gravitational case.
    [Show full text]
  • Implications of Gravitational Particle Creation
    Advances in High Energy Physics Implications of Gravitational Particle Creation Lead Guest Editor: Subhajit Saha Guest Editors: Kazuharu Bamba and Martiros Khurshudyan Implications of Gravitational Particle Creation Advances in High Energy Physics Implications of Gravitational Particle Creation Lead Guest Editor: Subhajit Saha Guest Editors: Kazuharu Bamba and Martiros Khurshudyan Copyright © 2019 Hindawi. All rights reserved. This is a special issue published in “Advances in High Energy Physics.” All articles are open access articles distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Editorial Board Antonio J. Accioly, Brazil Chao-Qiang Geng, Taiwan Anastasios Petkou, Greece Giovanni Amelino-Camelia, Italy Philippe Gras, France Alexey A. Petrov, USA Luis A. Anchordoqui, USA Xiaochun He, USA Thomas Rössler, Sweden Michele Arzano, Italy Luis Herrera, Spain Diego Saez-Chillon Gomez, Spain T. Asselmeyer-Maluga, Germany Filipe R. Joaquim, Portugal Takao Sakaguchi, USA Alessandro Baldini, Italy Aurelio Juste, Spain Juan José Sanz-Cillero, Spain Marco Battaglia, Switzerland Theocharis Kosmas, Greece Edward Sarkisyan-Grinbaum, USA Lorenzo Bianchini, Switzerland Ming Liu, USA Sally Seidel, USA Roelof Bijker, Mexico Enrico Lunghi, USA George Siopsis, USA Burak Bilki, USA Salvatore Mignemi, Italy Luca Stanco, Italy Rong-Gen Cai, China Omar G. Miranda, Mexico Jouni Suhonen, Finland Anna Cimmino, France Grégory Moreau, France Mariam Tórtola, Spain Osvaldo Civitarese, Argentina Piero Nicolini, Germany Smarajit Triambak, South Africa Andrea Coccaro, Italy Carlos Pajares, Spain Jose M. Udías, Spain Shi-Hai Dong, Mexico Sergio Palomares-Ruiz, Spain Elias C. Vagenas, Kuwait Mariana Frank, Canada Giovanni Pauletta, Italy Sunny Vagnozzi, UK Ricardo G.
    [Show full text]
  • The Affine Geometry of the Lanczos H Tensor Formalism(1993, with Kevin
    The Affine Geometry of the Lanczos H-tensor Formalism ∗ K. S. Hammon† and L. K. Norris‡ College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences North Carolina State University ABSTRACT We identify the fiber-bundle-with-connection structure that underlies the Lanczos H-tensor formulation of Riemannian geometrical structure. Motivated by the Lanczos Lagrangian that includes the tensorial constraint that the linear connection be the Levi- Civita connection of the metric tensor, we consider linear connections to be type (1,2) affine tensor fields. We sketch the structure of the appropriate fiber bundle that is needed to describe the differential geometry of such affine tensors, namely the affine frame bundle 1 1 1 4 A2M with structure group A2(4) = GL(4) s T2 R over spacetime M. Generalized affine connections on this bundle are in 1-1 correspondence with pairs (Γ,K) on M, where the 1 4 gl(4)-component Γ denotes a linear connection and the T2 R -component K is a type (1,3) tensor field on M. Once an origin Γˆ0 is chosen in the affine space of linear connections one may define the gauge components of any other linear connection Γˆ relative to Γˆ0, and these gauge components correspond to type (1,2) tensor fields on M. Taking the origin to be the Levi-Civita connection Γˆg of the metric tensor g, and taking the pair µ λ ({νκ},Rµνκ ) as the generalized Riemannian affine connection, we show that the Lanczos H-tensor arises from a gauge fixing condition on this geometrical structure. The resulting translation gauge, the Lanczos gauge, is invariant under the transformations found earlier by Lanczos, and these transformations are identified as elements of a subgroup of the 1 4 translation group {I} s T2 R .
    [Show full text]
  • The Lanczos Potential for Weyl-Candidate Tensors Exists Only in Four Dimensions 3
    The Lanczos potential for Weyl-candidate tensors exists only in four dimensions S. B. Edgar1 and A. H¨oglund2 Matematiska institutionen, Link¨opings universitet, SE-581 83 Link¨oping, Sweden. Abstract We prove that a Lanczos potential Labc for the Weyl candidate ten- sor Wabcd does not generally exist for dimensions higher than four. The technique is simply to assume the existence of such a potential in di- mension n, and then check the integrability conditions for the assumed system of differential equations; if the integrability conditions yield an- other non-trivial differential system for Labc and Wabcd, then this system’s integrability conditions should be checked; and so on. When we find a non-trivial condition involving only Wabcd and its derivatives, then clearly Weyl candidate tensors failing to satisfy that condition cannot be written in terms of a Lanczos potential Labc. 1 Introduction The mere presence of an unadulterated Riemannian geometry of specifically 4- dimensions brings into existence a tensor of third order of 16 components, which bridges the gap between the second-order tensor of the line element and the fourth order tensor of the Riemannian curvature. C. Lanczos (1962) Rev. Mod. Phys. 34, 379. Even though there is a deeper understanding today of the 3-tensor potential for the Weyl tensor proposed by Lanczos [7], there exists still a question mark over whether its existence is unique to 4-dimensions, as seems to be claimed by arXiv:gr-qc/9711022v2 25 Apr 2000 Lanczos. In this paper we demonstrate that it is not possible, in general, to obtain a Lanczos potential for all Weyl candidates in spaces of dimension n, where n> 4; this does not prove unambiguously the truth of Lanczos’ claim [for the Weyl curvature tensor], but certainly emphasises that four dimensional spaces play a very special role regarding the existence of Lanczos potentials.
    [Show full text]
  • The Physical Interpretation of the Lanczos Tensor
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by CERN Document Server The Physical Interpretation of the Lanczos Tensor. Mark D. Roberts, Department of Mathematics and Applied Mathematics, University of Cape Town, Rondbosch 7701, South Africa [email protected] April 6, 1999 Published: Il Nuovo Cim. B110(1996)1165-1176. Eprint: gr-qc/9904006 Comments: 15 pages, no diagrams, no tables, Latex2e. 3KEYWORDS: Lanczos Tensor: Aharonov-Bohm effect: Quantum Potentials. 1999 PACS Classification Scheme: http://publish.aps.org/eprint/gateway/pacslist 04.60+n, 03.65-w . 1991 Mathematics Subject Classification: http://www.ams.org/msc 83C45, 81S99, 81T13 1 Abstract The field equations of general relativity can be written as first or- der differential equations in the Weyl tensor, the Weyl tensor in turn can be written as a first order differential equation in a three index tensor called the Lanczos tensor. Similarly in electro-magnetic theory Maxwell’s equations can be written as first order differential equations in the field tensor Fab and this in can be written as a first order differen- tial equation in the vector potential Aa; thus the Lanczos tensor plays a similar role in general relativity to that of the vector potential in electro-magnetic theory. The Aharonov-Bohm effect shows that when quantum mechanics is applied to electro-magnetic theory the vector potential is dynamically significant, even when the electro-magnetic field tensor Fab vanishes. Here it is assumed that in the quantum realm the Lanczos tensor is dynamically significant, and this leads to an attempt to quantize the gravitational field by pursuing the analogy between the vector field and the Lanczos tensor.
    [Show full text]
  • Spinor Formulation of Lanczos Potentials in Riemannian Geometry
    Bachelorarbeit Spinor formulation of Lanczos potentials in Riemannian Geometry Nikita Popov 347863 Institut für Theoretische Physik Technische Universität Berlin 22. Juni 2017 Erstgutachter: Prof. Dr. H.-H. von Borzeszkowski Zweitgutachter: Dr. Thoralf Chrobok Bearbeitungszeitraum: 8. März 2017 bis 23. Juni 2017 Erklärung zur eigenständigen Anfertigung Hiermit erkläre ich, dass ich die vorliegende Arbeit selbstständig und eigenhändig sowie ohne unerlaubte Hilfe und ausschließlich unter Verwendung der aufgeführten Quellen und Hilfs- mittel angefertigt habe. Berlin, den 22. Juni 2017 ........................................ I Abstract The conformal curvature Cabcd of a spacetime admits a potential Labc, known as the Lanczos potential. The topic of this thesis is the formulation of the Lanczos potential in the spinor formalism, where the high symmetry of the Weyl spinor ΨABCD simplifies many calculations. Various properties of the Lanczos spinor are discussed, the most important of which is the Illge wave equation, which can be leveraged for a proof of existence. The formulation in the Newman-Penrose and Geroch-Held-Penrose formalisms is also considered. Finally, spinorial solutions of the Lanczos potential for some classes of algebraically special spacetimes are discussed. Zusammenfassung Die konforme Krümming Cabcd einer Raumzeit besitzt ein Potential Labc, welches als Lanczos- Potential bekannt ist. Thema dieser Arbeit ist die Formulierung des Lanczos-Potentials im Spinor-Formalismus, wo die hohe Symmetrie des Weyl-Spinors ΨABCD viele Berechnungen vereinfacht. Verschiedene Eigenschaften des Lanczos-Spinors werden diskutiert, von denen die wichtigste die Illge-Wellengleichung ist, welche auch zum Beweis der Existenz des Potentials verwendet werden kann. Die Formulierung in den Newman-Penrose und Geroch-Held-Penrose Formalismen wird ebenfalls behandelt.
    [Show full text]
  • Examensarbete Lanczos Potentials in Perfect Fluid Cosmologies David
    Examensarbete Lanczos Potentials in Perfect Fluid Cosmologies David Holgersson LiTH-MAT-EX{04/12{SE Lanczos Potentials in Perfect Fluid Cosmologies Till¨ampad matematik, Link¨opings tekniska h¨ogskola David Holgersson LiTH-MAT-EX{04/12{SE Examensarbete: 20 p Level: D Supervisor & Examiner: Fredrik Andersson, Matematiska institutionen, Till¨ampad matematik, Link¨opings tekniska h¨ogskola Link¨oping: 13 October 2004 Datum Avdelning, Institution Date Division, Department Matematiska Institutionen 13 October 2004 581 83 LINKOPING¨ SWEDEN Spr˚ak Rapporttyp ISBN Language Report category ISRN Svenska/Swedish Licentiatavhandling x Engelska/English x Examensarbete LiTH-MAT-EX{04/12{SE C-uppsats Serietitel och serienummer ISSN D-uppsats Title of series, numbering Ovrig¨ rapport URL f¨or elektronisk version http://www.ep.liu.se/exjobb/mai/2004/tm/012/ Titel Lanczos Potentials in Perfect Fluid Cosmologies Title F¨orfattare David Holgersson Author Sammanfattning Abstract We derive the equation linking the Weyl tensor with its Lanczos potential, called the Weyl-Lanczos equation, in 1+3 covariant formalism for perfect fluid Bianchi type I spacetime and find an explicit expression for a Lanczos poten- tial of the Weyl tensor in these spacetimes. To achieve this, we first need to derive the covariant decomposition of the Lanczos potential in this formalism. We also study an example by Novello and Velloso and derive their Lanczos potential in shear-free, irrotational perfect fluid spacetimes from a particular ansatz in 1+3 covariant formalism. The existence of the Lanczos potential is in some ways analogous to the vector potential in electromagnetic theory. Therefore, we also derive the electromagnetic potential equation in 1+3 co- variant formalism for a general spacetime.
    [Show full text]
  • The Lanczos Potential for the Weyl Curvature Tensor: Existence, Wave
    1200 THE LANCZOS POTENTIAL FOR THE WEYL CURVATURE TENSOR: EXISTENCE, WAVE EQUATION AND ALGORITHMS. S. Brian Edgar and A. H¨oglund Department of Mathematics, Link¨oping University, Link¨oping, S581 83 Sweden. ABSTRACT In the last few years renewed interest in the 3-tensor potential Labc proposed by Lanczos for the Weyl curvature tensor has not only clarified and corrected Lanczos’s original work, but generalised the concept in a number of ways. In this paper we carefully summarise and extend some aspects of these results, and clarify some misunderstandings in the literature. We also clarify some comments in a recent paper by Dolan and Kim; in addition, we correct some internal inconsistencies in their paper and extend their results. The following new results are also presented. The (computer checked) complicated second order partial differential equation for the 3-potential, in arbitrary gauge, for Weyl candidates satisfying Bianchi-type equations is given — in those n-dimensional spaces (with arbitrary signature) for which the potential exists; this is easily specialised to Lanczos potentials for the Weyl curvature tensor. It is found that it is only in 4-dimensional spaces (with arbitrary signature and gauge), that the non-linear terms disappear and that the awkward second order derivative terms cancel; for 4-dimensional spacetimes (with Lorentz signature), this remarkably simple form was originally found by Illge, using spinor methods. It is also shown that, arXiv:gr-qc/9601029v1 19 Jan 1996 for most 4-dimensional vacuum spacetimes, any 3-potential in the Lanczos gauges which satisfies a simple homogeneous wave equation must be a Lanczos potential for the Weyl curvature tensor of the background vacuum spacetime.
    [Show full text]
  • Localizing Energy in Fierz-Lanczos Theory
    Localizing Energy in Fierz-Lanczos theory Jacek Jezierski∗ and Marian Wiatr† Department of Mathematical Methods in Physics, Faculty of Physics, University of Warsaw, ul. Pasteura 5, 02-093 Warsaw, Poland Jerzy Kijowski‡ Center for Theoretical Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Al. Lotnikw 32/46, 02-668 Warsaw, Poland April 8, 2020 Abstract We calculate energy carried by the massless spin-2 field using Fierz-Lanczos represen- tation of the theory. For this purpose Hamiltonian formulation of the field dynamic is thoroughly analyzed. Final expression for the energy is very much analogous to the Maxwell energy in electrodynamics (spin-1 field) and displays the locality property. Known as a “super-energy” in gravity theory, this quantity differs considerably from the well understood gravitational field energy (represented in linear gravity by the quadratic term in Taylor expansion of the A.D.M. mass) which cannot be localized. 1 Introduction. Fierz-Lanczos field equations Linear gravity is a gauge-type field theory. The spacetime metric is split into a fixed “background metric” gµν and a “small perturbation” hµν playing a role of the configuration variable and admitting gauge transformations: hµν hµν + £ξgµν , (1) −→ arXiv:2004.03214v1 [gr-qc] 7 Apr 2020 where the Lie derivative with respect to the vector field ξ describes an “infinitesimal coordinate transformation” xµ xµ + ξµ(x). Linearized Einstein equations are second order differential → equations imposed on the metric variable hµν . A substantial, technical simplification of the theory is obtained if we formulate it in terms of gauge-invariants. In case of the flat Minkowski background, an elegant gauge-invariant formula- tion is obtained in terms of components of the (linearized) Weyl tensor Wλµνκ, i.e.
    [Show full text]
  • Arxiv:2103.00311V2 [Gr-Qc] 1 Apr 2021 Lanczos Potential of Weyl Field: Interpretations and Applications
    Lanczos potential of Weyl field: interpretations and applications Ram Gopal Vishwakarma* Unidad Acade´mica de Matema´ticas Universidad Auto´noma de Zacatecas, Zacatecas, ZAC, Mexico Abstract An attempt is made to uncover the physical meaning and significance of the obscure Lanczos tensor field which is regarded as a potential of the Weyl field. Despite being a fundamental building block of any metric theory of gravity, the Lanczos tensor has not been paid proper attention as it deserves. By providing an elucidation on this tensor field through its derivation in some particularly chosen spacetimes, we try to find its adequate interpretation. Though the Lanczos field is traditionally introduced as a gravitational analogue of the electromagnetic 4-potential field, the performed study unearths its another feature - a relativistic analogue of the Newtonian gravitational force field. A new domain of ap- plicability of the Lanczos tensor is introduced which corroborates this new feature of the arXiv:2103.00311v2 [gr-qc] 1 Apr 2021 tensor. PACS: 04.20.Cv, 04.20.-q, 04.30.-w, 95.30.Sf Keywords: Lanczos tensor, potential of Weyl tensor, gravitational waves, gravitational collapse. 1 Introduction General Relativity (GR), which constitutes the current description of gravitation in modern physics, appears to be afflicted with at least two major difficulties. Firstly, it shows an intrin- sic difficulty in its unification with the rest of physics, which is perhaps the most profound foundational problem in physics. Secondly, its cosmological application - the ΛCDM model - faces challenges on both theoretical and observational grounds, despite its overall success and *E-mail address:[email protected] 2 Ram Gopal Vishwakarma simplicity.
    [Show full text]