Riemannian Geometry

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Riemannian Geometry Appendix A Riemannian Geometry In this appendix besides introducing notation and basic definitions we recollect some of the more technical results in Riemannian geometry we exploited in these lecture notes. We freely refer to the excellent exposition of the theory provided by [4, 8], and to [27] for further details. A.1 Notation In what follows, Vn will always denote a C1 compact n–dimensional manifold, (n 3). Unless otherwise stated, the manifold Vn will be supposed oriented, connected, and without boundary. Let .E; Vn;/be a smooth vector bundle over Vn with projection map W E ! Vn. When no confusion arises the space of smooth 1. n; / n 1. n; / sections fs 2 C V E j ı s D idV g will simply be denoted by C V E instead of the standard .E/ (to avoid confusion (Fig. A.1) with the already too numerous s appearing in Riemannian geometry: Christoffel symbols, harmonic n i n coordinates, ...).If U V is an open set, we let fx giD1 be local coordinates for @ @=@ i n 1. ; n/ the points p 2 U. The vector fields f i WD x giD1 2 C U TV provide the n local (positively oriented) coordinate basis for TpV , p 2 U. The corresponding n 1 dual basis for the cotangent spaces Tp V , is provided by the set of –forms i n 1. ; n/ 1. n; 2 n/ fdx giD1 2 C U T V . In particular, the metric tensor g 2 C V ˝S T V , 1. n; 2 n/ where C V ˝S T V denotes the set of smooth symmetric bilinear forms over n i k V , has the local coordinates representation g D gikdx ˝dx , where gik WD g.@i;@k/, and the Einsteinp summation convention is in effect. The RiemannianR volume form is 1 ::: n . n/ d g D det gdx ^ ^dx , and we denote by Volg V WD Vn d g the volume of (the compact) .Vn; g/. The distance between points x; y 2 Vn, characterizing .Vn; g/ as a metric space, is defined by setting © Springer International Publishing AG 2017 347 M. Carfora, A. Marzuoli, Quantum Triangulations, Lecture Notes in Physics 942, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-67937-2 348 A Riemannian Geometry Fig. A.1 ...Riemanniangeometrymayhaveunexpectedsides...andmustbeusedresponsibly! Z 1 p dg.x; y/ WD inf g..P t/; .P t// dt; (A.1) 2 C .x;y/ 0 where C .x; y/ is the space of (piecewise C1) curves W Œ0; 1 ! Vn such that .0/ D x and .1/ D y.If 2 k1:::k j1:::j jUj WD gi1h1 :::girhr U q U q g :::g (A.2) g i1:::ip hi:::hr k1j1 kqjq denotes the pointwise (squared) g–norm in the tensor bundle T.r;q/Vn WD ˝r TVn ˝q TVn, then we can endow the space of smooth .r; q/–tensor fields 1 n .r;q/ n n p p; s C .V ; T V / on V with the corresponding L .dg/ and H .dg/ Sobolev norms ÄZ 1 p : p p ;1 < ; jjUjjL .dg/ D jUjg d g Ä p 1 (A.3) Vn 1 s ÄZ X ˇ ˇ p : ˇ .i/ ˇ p H p; s. / ; jjUjj d g D r U g d g (A.4) n iD0 V where s is an integer 0, and r.i/U denotes the ith covariant derivative of the tensor field U. The completions of C1.Vn; T.r;q/Vn/ in these norms, define A Riemannian Geometry 349 Fig. A.2 The group of diffeomorphisms the Sobolev spaces of sections H p; s.Vn; T.r;q/Vn/. In particular, for p D 2,we denote by H s.Vn; T.r;q/Vn/ the Hilbert space H 2;s.Vn; T.r;q/Vn/. According to 0 > n H s. n; .r;q/ n/ Sobolev embedding theorem, if k and s 2 C k, then V T V Ck.Vn; T.r;q/Vn/. Similarly, if we denote by H s.Vn; Vn/ the Sobolev space of maps W Vn ! Vn, then H s.Vn; Vn/ Ck.Vn; Vn/ is a dense continuous inclusion for s >.n=2/ C k. Let ˚ ˇ « Diff k.Vn/ WD 2 Ck.Vn; Vn/ˇ is a bijection and 1 2 Ck.Vn; Vn/ (A.5) be the group of Ck diffeomorphisms of Vn, endowed with the compact–open Ck topology. The group of smooth diffeomorphisms Diff.Vn/ is defined by the sequence of natural inclusions (Fig. A.2) Diff 1.Vn/ Diff 2.Vn/ :::Diff k.Vn/ ::: ; (A.6) according to . n/ 1 k. n/: Diff V D\kD1 Diff V (A.7) Recall that under a diffeomorphism W Vn ! Vn the pull back from ..Vn/; g/ to .Vn;g/ is given for p 2 Vn by ˇ ˇ . ; / . ; / ; g V W p WD g V W j.p/ (A.8) 350 A Riemannian Geometry n where V denotes the push forward of V defined by the tangent map W TpV ! n i a i a i T.p/V . In local coordinates .U; x / and ..U/; y /, U 3 x 7! .x / WD ya..p// 2 .U/, we write @a @b g .p/ D g ..p//: (A.9) ik @xi @xk ab It is important to stress that the pull–back action of Diff.Vn/ on the metric g is a right action since under composition of any two diffeomorphisms and we have . ı /g D . g/. This latter remark plays a role when, for technical reasons, it is necessary to enlarge Diff.Vn/ to the (Hilbert manifold of the) diffeomorphisms of Sobolev class H s,fors >.n=2/ C 1, ˚ « D s.Vn/ WD 2 H s.Vn; Vn/j is a bijection and 1 2 H s.Vn; Vn/ : (A.10) In such a framework the group of smooth diffeomorphisms can be recovered from D s.Vn/ by characterizing the smooth topology on Diff.Vn/ as the limit of the topologies of D s.Vn/, by viewing Diff.Vn/ as an Inverse Limit Hilbert group in n s n the sense of Omori [26], i.e. Diff.V / D\s>n=2D .V /. Since right multiplication is smooth, but left multiplication is not, D s.Vn/ is not “an infinite–dimensional” Lie group but only a topological group [11,21]. A.2 Curvature and Scaling Besides diffeomorphisms, the metric g is naturally acted upon also by overall rescalings according to for 2 R>0 (Fig. A.3) g 7! g (A.11) Fig. A.3 Besides diffeomorphisms, the metric g is naturally acted upon also by overall rescalings A Riemannian Geometry 351 g1 7! 1 g1; 1 1. n; 2 n/ where g 2 C V ˝S TV denotes the inverse metric providing the inner n n . ; i/ product in Tp V , p 2 V . In local coordinates U x , we write gik 7! gik and gik 7! 1 gik, respectively. Under the scaling (A.11) we immediately get an obvious dilation or contraction effect on distances and volume 1 2 dg.p; q/ 7! dg.p; q/ D dg.p; q/ n (A.12) n n 2 n Vol g.V / 7! Vol g.V / D Vol g.V /; which is often useful to factor out in the study of Riemannian functional. In this connection it is worthwhile to recall how the basic Riemannian definitions interact with (A.11). We start with the Levi–Civita connection rg of .Vn; g/,(“r” if there is no danger of confusion), defined by 2 g .rX Y; Z/ WD X .g.Y; Z// C Y .g.Z; X// Z .g.X; Y// (A.13) C g .ŒX; Y; Z/ g .ŒY; Z; X/ C g .ŒZ; X; Y/ ; along with the torsion–free and metric compatibility conditions rXY rY X D ŒX; Y (A.14) X .g.Y; Z// D g .rXY; Z/ C g .Y; rXZ/ ; for all vector fields X; Y; Z 2 C1.Vn; TVn/. In a local coordinate neighborhood . ; i / @ @ k. /@ k. / U fx g we write ri j WD r@i j WD ij g k, where the Christoffel symbols ij g are given by  à 1 @g ` @g` @g k.g/ D gk` j C i ij : (A.15) ij 2 @xi @xj @x` If .Vn;g/ is the pull–back of ..Vn/; g/ under a diffeomorphism W Vn ! Vn, k. / k. / then the Christoffel symbols ij g and ij g are related by @c @a @b @2c k.g/ D c .g/ ı C ; (A.16) ij @xk ab @xi @xj @xi@xj whereas, under the metric rescaling (A.11), we easily compute from (A.15) k. / k. / ij g D ij g , hence r g Drg: (A.17) 1 n Let us recall that if Hessg f WD rdf denotes the Hessian of f , f 2 C .V ; R/, then n the Laplace–Beltrami operator 4g on .V ; g/ is defined by 352 A Riemannian Geometry ik 4g f WD trg Hessg f D g rirk f ; (A.18) where we have used the geometer’s sign convention according to which, on P 2 .Rn;ı/ n @ Euclidean space , 4ı D iD1 @ 2 . It is useful to have the expression of xi 4g available in local coordinates  à 1 @ p @ ij 4g D p det gg det g @xi @xj @2 1 @ p Á @ (A.19) D gij C p det ggij @xi@xj det g @xi @xj @2 @ D gij j ; @xi@xj @xj where we have defined @ @ p Á j WD ghk j D gji gij log det g : (A.20) hk @xi @xi From the definitions of Hessg and 4g it immediately follows that under the metric rescaling (A.11), we have Hessg D Hessg; (A.21) 1 4 g D 4g: The Riemann, the sectional, the Ricci and the scalar curvature operators (Fig.
Recommended publications
  • General Relativity As Taught in 1979, 1983 By
    General Relativity As taught in 1979, 1983 by Joel A. Shapiro November 19, 2015 2. Last Latexed: November 19, 2015 at 11:03 Joel A. Shapiro c Joel A. Shapiro, 1979, 2012 Contents 0.1 Introduction............................ 4 0.2 SpecialRelativity ......................... 7 0.3 Electromagnetism. 13 0.4 Stress-EnergyTensor . 18 0.5 Equivalence Principle . 23 0.6 Manifolds ............................. 28 0.7 IntegrationofForms . 41 0.8 Vierbeins,Connections . 44 0.9 ParallelTransport. 50 0.10 ElectromagnetisminFlatSpace . 56 0.11 GeodesicDeviation . 61 0.12 EquationsDeterminingGeometry . 67 0.13 Deriving the Gravitational Field Equations . .. 68 0.14 HarmonicCoordinates . 71 0.14.1 ThelinearizedTheory . 71 0.15 TheBendingofLight. 77 0.16 PerfectFluids ........................... 84 0.17 Particle Orbits in Schwarzschild Metric . 88 0.18 AnIsotropicUniverse. 93 0.19 MoreontheSchwarzschild Geometry . 102 0.20 BlackHoleswithChargeandSpin. 110 0.21 Equivalence Principle, Fermions, and Fancy Formalism . .115 0.22 QuantizedFieldTheory . .121 3 4. Last Latexed: November 19, 2015 at 11:03 Joel A. Shapiro Note: This is being typed piecemeal in 2012 from handwritten notes in a red looseleaf marked 617 (1983) but may have originated in 1979 0.1 Introduction I am, myself, an elementary particle physicist, and my interest in general relativity has come from the growth of a field of quantum gravity. Because the gravitational inderactions of reasonably small objects are so weak, quantum gravity is a field almost entirely divorced from contact with reality in the form of direct confrontation with experiment. There are three areas of contact 1. In relativistic quantum mechanics, one usually formulates the physical quantities in terms of fields. A field is a physical degree of freedom, or variable, definded at each point of space and time.
    [Show full text]
  • HARMONIC MORPHISMS BETWEEN RIEMANNIAN MANIFOLDS by Bent FUGLEDE
    Ann. Inst. Fourier, Grenoble 28, 2 (1978), 107-144, HARMONIC MORPHISMS BETWEEN RIEMANNIAN MANIFOLDS by Bent FUGLEDE Introduction. The harmonic morphisms of a Riemannian manifold, M , into another, N , are the morphisms for the harmonic struc- tures on M and N (the harmonic functions on a Riemannian manifold being those which satisfy the Laplace-Beltrami equation). These morphisms were introduced and studied by Constantinescu and Cornea [4] in the more general frame of harmonic spaces, as a natural generalization of the conformal mappings between Riemann surfaces (1). See also Sibony [14]. The present paper deals with harmonic morphisms between two Riemannian manifolds M and N of arbitrary (not necessarily equal) dimensions. It turns out, however, that if dim M < dim N , the only harmonic morphisms M -> N are the constant mappings. Thus we are left with the case dim M ^ dim N . If dim N = 1 , say N = R , the harmonic morphisms M —> R are nothing but the harmonic functions on M . If dim M = dim N = 2 , so that M and N are Riemann surfaces, then it is known that the harmonic morphisms of (1) We use the term « harmonic morphisms » rather than « harmonic maps » (as they were called in the case of harmonic spaces in [4]) since it is necessary (in the present frame of manifolds) to distinguish between these maps and the much wider class of harmonic maps in the sense of Eells and Sampson [7], which also plays an important role in our discussion. 108 B. FUGLEDE M into N are the same as the conformal mappings f: M -> N (allowing for points where df= 0).
    [Show full text]
  • Partial Differential Equations
    PARTIAL DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS SERGIU KLAINERMAN 1. Basic definitions and examples To start with partial differential equations, just like ordinary differential or integral equations, are functional equations. That means that the unknown, or unknowns, we are trying to determine are functions. In the case of partial differential equa- tions (PDE) these functions are to be determined from equations which involve, in addition to the usual operations of addition and multiplication, partial derivatives of the functions. The simplest example, which has already been described in section 1 of this compendium, is the Laplace equation in R3, ∆u = 0 (1) ∂2 ∂2 ∂2 where ∆u = ∂x2 u + ∂y2 u + ∂z2 u. The other two examples described in the section of fundamental mathematical definitions are the heat equation, with k = 1, − ∂tu + ∆u = 0, (2) and the wave equation with k = 1, 2 − ∂t u + ∆u = 0. (3) In these last two cases one is asked to find a function u, depending on the variables t, x, y, z, which verifies the corresponding equations. Observe that both (2) and (3) involve the symbol ∆ which has the same meaning as in the first equation, that is ∂2 ∂2 ∂2 ∂2 ∂2 ∂2 ∆u = ( ∂x2 + ∂y2 + ∂z2 )u = ∂x2 u+ ∂y2 u+ ∂z2 u. Both equations are called evolution equations, simply because they are supposed to describe the change relative to the time parameter t of a particular physical object. Observe that (1) can be interpreted as a particular case of both (3) and (2). Indeed solutions u = u(t, x, y, z) of either (3) or (2) which are independent of t, i.e.
    [Show full text]
  • Applications of Partial Differential Equations to Problems in Geometry
    Applications of Partial Differential Equations To Problems in Geometry Jerry L. Kazdan Preliminary revised version Copyright c 1983, 1993 by Jerry L. Kazdan ° Preface These notes are from an intensive one week series of twenty lectures given to a mixed audience of advanced graduate students and more experienced mathematicians in Japan in July, 1983. As a consequence, these they are not aimed at experts, and are frequently quite detailed, especially in Chapter 6 where a variety of standard techniques are presented. My goal was to in- troduce geometers to some of the techniques of partial differential equations, and to introduce those working in partial differential equations to some fas- cinating applications containing many unresolved nonlinear problems arising in geometry. My intention is that after reading these notes someone will feel that they can cope with current research articles. In fact, the quite sketchy Chapter 5 and Chapter 6 are merely intended to be advertisements to read the complete details in the literature. When writing something like this, there is the very real danger that the only people who understand anything are those who already know the subject. Caveat emptor. In any case, I hope I have shown that if one assumes a few basic results on Sobolev spaces and elliptic operators, then the basic techniques used in the applications are comprehensible. Of course carrying out the details for any specific problem may be quite complicated—but at least the ideas should be clearly recognizable. These notes definitely do not represent the whole subject. I did not have time to discuss a number of beautiful applications such as minimal surfaces, harmonic maps, global isometric embeddings (including the Weyl and Minkowski problems as well as Nash’s theorem), Yang-Mills fields, the wave equation and spectrum of the Laplacian, and problems on compact manifolds with boundary or complete non-compact manifolds.
    [Show full text]
  • Boundary Behavior of Harmonic Maps on Non-Smooth Domains and Complete Negatively Curved Manifolds*
    JOURNAL OF FUNCTIONAL ANALYSIS 99, 293-33 1 (1991) Boundary Behavior of Harmonic Maps on Non-smooth Domains and Complete Negatively Curved Manifolds* PATRICTO Avrr.ks Deporrmenl oj Muthrmarics, University of Illinms at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana. Illinois 61801 H. CHOI Department oJ Mathematics, University qf‘ Iouaa. Iowa City, Iowa 52242 AND MARIO MICALLEF Department of Mathematics, University of Warwick, Convenrry CV4 7AL, England. Communicated by R. B. Melrose Received November 8, 1989 In this paper we develop a theory for harmonic maps which is analogous to the classical theory for bounded harmonic functions in harmonic analysis. We solve the Dirichlet problem in bounded Lipschitz domains and manifolds with negative sectional curvatures, generalize the Wienner criterion, and prove the Fatou theorem for harmonic maps into convex balls. Ii” 1991 Academic Press. Inc. CONTENTS 1. Introduction and statement of main results. 2. Preliminaries and notation. 3. The Dirichlet problem in regular domains and Wiener criterion for harmonic maps. 4. The Dirichlet problem on complete, negatively curved manifolds. 5. Fatou’s theorem for harmonic maps into convex balls. 6. Bounded Lipschitz domains in complete Riemannian manifolds. * All of the authors were supported by NSF grants. 293 0022-1236191$3.00 Copyright % 1991 by Academx Press, Inc All rlghfs of reproductmn m any form reserved 294 AWL&, CHOI, AND MICALLEF 1. INTRODUCTION AND STATEMENT OF RESULTS The Dirichlet problem and Fatou’s theorem are central topics of investigation in harmonic analysis on bounded domains. The main point of this paper is to extend such properties of harmonic functions to harmonic maps whose image lies in a convex ball.
    [Show full text]
  • Cheeger-Gromov Theory and Applications to General Relativity
    CHEEGER-GROMOV THEORY AND APPLICATIONS TO GENERAL RELATIVITY MICHAEL T. ANDERSON Contents 1. Background: Examples and Definitions. 1 2. Convergence/Compactness. 5 3. Collapse/Formation of Cusps. 11 4. Applications to Static and Stationary Space-Times. 16 5. Lorentzian Analogues and Open Problems. 21 6. Future Asymptotics and Geometrization of 3-Manifolds. 27 References 30 This paper surveys aspects of the convergence and degeneration of Rie- mannian metrics on a given manifold M, and some recent applications of this theory to general relativity. The basic point of view of conver- gence/degeneration described here originates in the work of Gromov, cf. [31]-[33], with important prior work of Cheeger [16], leading to the joint work of [18]. This Cheeger-Gromov theory assumes L∞ bounds on the full curvature tensor. For reasons discussed below, we focus mainly on the generalizations ∞ p arXiv:gr-qc/0208079v2 28 Jan 2004 of this theory to spaces with L , (or L ) bounds on the Ricci curvature. Although versions of the results described hold in any dimension, for the most part we restrict the discussion to 3 and 4 dimensions, where stronger results hold and the applications to general relativity are most direct. The first three sections survey the theory in Riemannian geometry, while the last three sections discuss applications to general relativity. I am grateful to many of the participants of the Carg`ese meeting for their comments and suggestions, and in particular to Piotr Chru´sciel and Helmut Friedrich for organizing such a fine meeting. 1. Background: Examples and Definitions. The space M of Riemannian metrics on a given manifold M is an infinite dimensional cone, (in the vector space of symmetric bilinear forms on M), Partially supported by NSF Grant DMS 0072591.
    [Show full text]
  • HARMONIC MAPS Introduction 1 Harmonic Functions on Euclidean
    Article for the ‘Handbook of Global Analysis’, Elsevier (2007, to appear) HARMONIC MAPS Fred´ eric´ Helein´ and John C. Wood Introduction The subject of harmonic maps is vast and has found many applications, and it would require a very long book to cover all aspects, even superficially. Hence, we have made a choice; in particular, highlighting the key questions of existence, uniqueness and regularity of harmonic maps between given manifolds. Thus we shall survey some of the main methods of global analysis for answering these questions. We first consider relevant aspects of harmonic functions on Euclidean space; then we give a general introduc- tion to harmonic maps. The core of our work is in Chapters 3–6 where we present the analytical methods. We round of the article by describing how twistor theory and integrable systems can be used to construct many more harmonic maps. On the way, we mention harmonic morphisms: maps between Riemannian manifolds which pre- serve Laplace’s equation; these turn out to be a particular class of harmonic maps and exhibit some properties dual to those of harmonic maps. More information on harmonic maps can be found in the following articles and books; for generalities: [61, 62, 63, 219], analytical aspects: [21, 88, 103, 118, 131, 133, 135, 189, 204, 194], integrable systems methods: [73, 94, 117], applications to complex and Kahler¨ geometry: [63, 135], harmonic morphisms: [7], and other topics: [64, 231]. 1 Harmonic functions on Euclidean spaces Harmonic functions on an open domain Ω of Rm are solutions of the Laplace equation ∂2 ∂2 ∆f = 0, where ∆ := + ··· + (x1, ··· , xm) ∈ Ω.
    [Show full text]
  • Conformal Harmonic Coordinates
    CONFORMAL HARMONIC COORDINATES MATTI LASSAS AND TONY LIIMATAINEN Abstract. We study conformal harmonic coordinates on Riemannian manifolds. These are coordinates constructed as quotients of solutions to the conformal Laplace equation. We show their existence under gen- eral conditions. We find that conformal harmonic coordinates are a close conformal analogue of harmonic coordinates. We prove up to boundary regularity results for conformal mappings. We show that Weyl, Cot- ton, Bach, and Fefferman-Graham obstruction tensors become elliptic operators in conformal harmonic coordinates if one normalizes the de- terminant of the metric. We give a corresponding elliptic regularity result, which includes an analytic case. We prove a unique continu- ation result for local conformal flatness for Bach and obstruction flat manifolds. We discuss and prove existence of conformal harmonic coor- dinates on Lorentzian manifolds. We prove unique continuation results for conformal mappings both on Riemannian and Lorentzian manifolds. 1. Introduction In this article we study a coordinate system called conformal harmonic co- ordinates on Riemannian manifolds. Conformal harmonic coordinates were invented in a recent joint paper [LLS16] by the authors. These coordinates are conformally invariant and they have similar properties to harmonic co- ordinates. One of the main motivations of this paper is to better understand these coordinates. This is done by proving new results in conformal geom- etry and by giving new proofs of some earlier results. The results concern conformal mappings and conformal curvature tensors such as Weyl and Bach tensors. We prove the existence and regularity of conformal harmonic co- ordinates and characterize them. We also initiate the study of conformal harmonic coordinates on Lorentzian manifolds.
    [Show full text]
  • Aspects of Global Riemannian Geometry
    BULLETIN (New Series) OF THE AMERICAN MATHEMATICAL SOCIETY Volume 36, Number 3, Pages 297{344 S 0273-0979(99)00787-9 Article electronically published on May 24, 1999 ASPECTS OF GLOBAL RIEMANNIAN GEOMETRY PETER PETERSEN Abstract. In this article we survey some of the developments in Riemann- ian geometry. We place special emphasis on explaining the relationship be- tween curvature and topology for Riemannian manifolds with lower curvature bounds. 1. Introduction We shall in this survey explain the development of the branch of Riemannian geometry called global Riemannian geometry. The main goal of this particular type of geometry is to classify topologically, or even metrically, manifolds with certain given geometric conditions on, say, curvature, volume and diameter. The earliest such theorem is the Gauss-Bonnet theorem, which gives the Euler characteristic in terms of the integral of the Gaussian curvature. Since then the subject has developed tremendously, and there is no way we can explain most of the impor- tant results. Some exclusions have therefore been necessary. Thus there will be no discussion of submanifold geometry including minimal surfaces. Only a few theo- rems on manifolds with nonpositive curvature are mentioned, very little on what is called geometric analysis is presented, and we have not discussed K¨ahler geometry at all. We have thus tried to emphasize results where the main assumption will be a lower curvature bound of some sort and the main technique something related to either the Bochner technique or the Rauch estimates. Even then, it has been hard to include many interesting results. For instance, while many of these ideas have naturally led to very interesting investigations into spaces which are more singular than Riemannian manifolds, and this in turn has given us a better understanding of Riemannian manifolds themselves, we have decided not to talk about these issues.
    [Show full text]
  • A New Generalized Harmonic Evolution System
    INSTITUTE OF PHYSICS PUBLISHING CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM GRAVITY Class. Quantum Grav. 23 (2006) S447–S462 doi:10.1088/0264-9381/23/16/S09 A new generalized harmonic evolution system Lee Lindblom1, Mark A Scheel1, Lawrence E Kidder2, Robert Owen1 and Oliver Rinne1 1 Theoretical Astrophysics 130-33, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA 2 Center for Radiophysics and Space Research, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA Received 15 December 2005, in final form 8 February 2006 Published 27 July 2006 Online at stacks.iop.org/CQG/23/S447 Abstract A new representation of the Einstein evolution equations is presented that is first order, linearly degenerate and symmetric hyperbolic. This new system uses the generalized harmonic method to specify the coordinates, and exponentially suppresses all small short-wavelength constraint violations. Physical and constraint-preserving boundary conditions are derived for this system, and numerical tests that demonstrate the effectiveness of the constraint suppression properties and the constraint-preserving boundary conditions are presented. PACS numbers: 04.25.Dm, 04.20.Cv, 02.60.Cb 1. Introduction Harmonic and generalized harmonic (GH) coordinates have played important roles in general relativity theory from the very beginning. Einstein used harmonic (then called isothermal) coordinates in his analysis of candidate theories of gravitation (as recorded in his Zurich notebook of 1912) before general relativity even existed [1], DeDonder used them to analyse the characteristic structure of general relativity in 1921 [2, 3], and Fock used them to analyse gravitational waves in 1955 [4]. Harmonic coordinates played an important role in the proofs of the well posedness of the Cauchy problem for the Einstein equations by Choquet-Bruhat in 1952 [5, 6] and by Fischer and Marsden in 1972 [7].
    [Show full text]
  • Introduction to the Ricci Flow
    An Introduction to Hamilton's Ricci Flow Olga Iacovlenco Department of Mathematics and Statistics, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada Abstract In this project we study the Ricci flow equation introduced by Richard Hamilton in 1982. The Ricci flow exhibits many similarities with the heat equation: it gives manifolds more uniform geometry and smooths out irregularities. The Ricci flow has proven to be a very useful tool in understanding the topology of arbitrary Riemannian manifolds. In particular, it was a primary tool in Grigory Perelman's proof of Thurston's geometrization conjecture, of which Poincar´econjecture is a special case. Keywords: Hamilton's Ricci flow, manifold, Riemannian metric, soliton 1. Introduction Geometric flows, as a class of important geometric partial differential equations, have been high- lighted in many fields of theoretical research and practical applications. They have been around at least since Mullin's paper [1] in 1956, which proposed the curve shortening flow to model the motion of idealized grain boundaries. In 1964 Eells and Sampson [2] introduced the harmonic map heat flow and used it to prove the existence of harmonic maps into targets with nonpositive sectional curvature. Motivated by the work of Eells and Sampson, in 1975 Richard Hamilton [3] continued the study of harmonic map heat flow by considering manifolds with boundary. [4] In the late seventies, William Thurston suggested a classification of three-dimensional manifolds, which became known as the geometrization conjecture. Thurston's conjecture stated that any compact 3-manifold can be decomposed into one or more types (out of 8) of components with homogeneous geometry, including a spherical type, and thus implied the Poincar´econjecture.
    [Show full text]
  • Harmonic Coordinates for the Nonlinear Finsler Laplacian and Some Regularity Results for Berwald Metrics
    axioms Article Harmonic Coordinates for the Nonlinear Finsler Laplacian and Some Regularity Results for Berwald Metrics Erasmo Caponio and Antonio Masiello * Department of Mechanics, Mathematics and Management, Politecnico di Bari, Via Orabona 4, 70125 Bari, Italy * Correspondence: [email protected] Received: 22 June 2019; Accepted: 17 July 2019; Published: 23 July 2019 Abstract: We prove existence of harmonic coordinates for the nonlinear Laplacian of a Finsler manifold and apply them in a proof of the Myers–Steenrod theorem for Finsler manifolds. Different from the Riemannian case, these coordinates are not suitable for studying optimal regularity of the fundamental tensor, nevertheless, we obtain some partial results in this direction when the Finsler metric is Berwald. Keywords: Finsler Laplacian; harmonic coordinates; regularity; Berwald MSC: 53B40; 58J60 1. Introduction The existence of harmonic coordinates is well-known both on Riemannian and Lorentzian manifolds. Actually, apart from isothermal coordinates on a surface, the problem of existence of harmonic coordinates on a Lorentzian manifold (wave harmonic) was considered before the Riemannian case. Indeed, A. Einstein, T. De Donder, and C. Lanczos considered harmonic coordinates in the study of the Cauchy problem for the Einstein field equations, cf. [1]. In a Riemannian manifold with a smooth metric, a proof of the existence of harmonic coordinates is given in [2] (Lemma 1.2) but actually it can be found in the work of other authors such as [3] or [4] (p. 231). The motivation to consider harmonic coordinates comes from the fact that the expression of the Ricci tensor in such coordinates simplifies highly (see the introduction in [2]).
    [Show full text]