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Pp-waves
In general relativity, the pp-wave spacetimes, or pp-waves for short, are an important family of exact solutions of Einstein's field equation. The term ''pp'' stands for ''plane-fronted waves with parallel propagation'', and was introduced in 1962 by Jürgen Ehlers and Wolfgang Kundt. Overview The pp-waves solutions model radiation moving at the speed of light. This radiation may consist of: * electromagnetic radiation, * gravitational radiation, * massless radiation associated with Weyl spinor, Weyl fermions, * ''massless'' radiation associated with some hypothetical distinct type relativistic classical field, or any combination of these, so long as the radiation is all moving in the ''same'' direction. A special type of pp-wave spacetime, the plane wave spacetimes, provide the most general analogue in general relativity of the plane waves familiar to students of electromagnetism. In particular, in general relativity, we must take into account the gravitational effects of th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aichelburg–Sexl Ultraboost
In general relativity, the Aichelburg–Sexl ultraboost is an Exact solutions in general relativity, exact solution which models the spacetime of an observer moving towards or away from a Schwarzschild metric, spherically symmetric gravitating object at nearly the speed of light. It was introduced by Peter C. Aichelburg and Roman U. Sexl in 1971. The original motivation behind the ultraboost was to consider the gravitational field of massless point particles within general relativity. It can be considered an approximation to the gravity well of a photon or other lightspeed particle, although it does not take into account quantum uncertainty in particle position or momentum. The metric tensor can be written, in terms of Brinkmann coordinates, as : ds^2 = -8m \, \delta(u) \, \log r \, du^2 + 2 \, du \, dv + dr^2 + r^2 \, d\theta^2, : -\infty < u,v < \infty, \, 0 < r < \infty, \, -\pi < \theta < \pi The ultraboost can be obtained as the limit of a metric, which is also an ex ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jürgen Ehlers
Jürgen Ehlers (; 29 December 1929 – 20 May 2008) was a German physicist who contributed to the understanding of Albert Einstein's theory of general relativity. From graduate and postgraduate work in Pascual Jordan's relativity research group at Hamburg University, he held various posts as a lecturer and, later, as a professor before joining the Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics in Munich as a director. In 1995, he became the founding director of the newly created Max Planck Institute for Gravitational Physics in Potsdam, Germany. Ehlers' research focused on the foundations of general relativity as well as on the theory's applications to astrophysics. He formulated a suitable classification of exact solutions to Einstein's field equations and proved the Ehlers–Geren–Sachs theorem that justifies the application of simple, general-relativistic model universes to modern cosmology. He created a spacetime-oriented description of gravitational lensing and clarified ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
General Relativity
General relativity, also known as the general theory of relativity, and as Einstein's theory of gravity, is the differential geometry, geometric theory of gravitation published by Albert Einstein in 1915 and is the current description of gravitation in modern physics. General theory of relativity, relativity generalizes special relativity and refines Newton's law of universal gravitation, providing a unified description of gravity as a geometric property of space and time in physics, time, or four-dimensional spacetime. In particular, the ''curvature of spacetime'' is directly related to the energy and momentum of whatever is present, including matter and radiation. The relation is specified by the Einstein field equations, a system of second-order partial differential equations. Newton's law of universal gravitation, which describes gravity in classical mechanics, can be seen as a prediction of general relativity for the almost flat spacetime geometry around stationary mass ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Coordinate Vector
In linear algebra, a coordinate vector is a representation of a vector as an ordered list of numbers (a tuple) that describes the vector in terms of a particular ordered basis. An easy example may be a position such as (5, 2, 1) in a 3-dimensional Cartesian coordinate system with the basis as the axes of this system. Coordinates are always specified relative to an ordered basis. Bases and their associated coordinate representations let one realize vector spaces and linear transformations concretely as column vectors, row vectors, and matrices; hence, they are useful in calculations. The idea of a coordinate vector can also be used for infinite-dimensional vector spaces, as addressed below. Definition Let ''V'' be a vector space of dimension ''n'' over a field ''F'' and let : B = \ be an ordered basis for ''V''. Then for every v \in V there is a unique linear combination of the basis vectors that equals '' v '': : v = \alpha _1 b_1 + \alpha _2 b_2 + \cdots + \alpha _n b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Covariant Derivative
In mathematics and physics, covariance is a measure of how much two variables change together, and may refer to: Statistics * Covariance matrix, a matrix of covariances between a number of variables * Covariance or cross-covariance between two random variables or data sets * Autocovariance, the covariance of a signal with a time-shifted version of itself * Covariance function, a function giving the covariance of a random field with itself at two locations Algebra and geometry * A covariant (invariant theory) is a bihomogeneous polynomial in and the coefficients of some homogeneous form in that is invariant under some group of linear transformations. * Covariance and contravariance of vectors, properties of how vector coordinates change under a change of basis ** Covariant transformation, a rule that describes how certain physical entities change under a change of coordinate system * Covariance and contravariance of functors, properties of functors * General covariance ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Null Vector
In mathematics, given a vector space ''X'' with an associated quadratic form ''q'', written , a null vector or isotropic vector is a non-zero element ''x'' of ''X'' for which . In the theory of real bilinear forms, definite quadratic forms and isotropic quadratic forms are distinct. They are distinguished in that only for the latter does there exist a nonzero null vector. A quadratic space which has a null vector is called a pseudo-Euclidean space. The term ''isotropic vector v'' when ''q''(''v'') = 0 has been used in quadratic spaces, and anisotropic space for a quadratic space without null vectors. A pseudo-Euclidean vector space may be decomposed (non-uniquely) into orthogonal subspaces ''A'' and ''B'', , where ''q'' is positive-definite on ''A'' and negative-definite on ''B''. The null cone, or isotropic cone, of ''X'' consists of the union of balanced spheres: \bigcup_ \. The null cone is also the union of the isotropic lines through the origin. Split algebras A co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Coordinate-free
A coordinate-free, or component-free, treatment of a scientific theory A scientific theory is an explanation of an aspect of the universe, natural world that can be or that has been reproducibility, repeatedly tested and has corroborating evidence in accordance with the scientific method, using accepted protocol (s ... or mathematical topic develops its concepts on any form of manifold without reference to any particular coordinate system. Benefits Coordinate-free treatments generally allow for simpler systems of equations and inherently constrain certain types of inconsistency, allowing greater mathematical elegance at the cost of some abstraction from the detailed formulae needed to evaluate these equations within a particular system of coordinates. In addition to elegance, coordinate-free treatments are crucial in certain applications for proving that a given definition is well formulated. For example, for a vector space V with basis v_1, ..., v_n, it may be tempting to co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Smooth Function
In mathematical analysis, the smoothness of a function is a property measured by the number of continuous derivatives (''differentiability class)'' it has over its domain. A function of class C^k is a function of smoothness at least ; that is, a function of class C^k is a function that has a th derivative that is continuous in its domain. A function of class C^\infty or C^\infty-function (pronounced C-infinity function) is an infinitely differentiable function, that is, a function that has derivatives of all orders (this implies that all these derivatives are continuous). Generally, the term smooth function refers to a C^-function. However, it may also mean "sufficiently differentiable" for the problem under consideration. Differentiability classes Differentiability class is a classification of functions according to the properties of their derivatives. It is a measure of the highest order of derivative that exists and is continuous for a function. Consider an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brinkmann Coordinates with the same meaning as the surname Van den Brink: "(man) from the village green".Brinkman, Brinkmann, Brinckman, and Brinckmann are variations of a German and Dutch surname. It is toponymic surname A toponymic surname or habitational surname or byname is a surname or byname derived from a place name, at the Database of Surnames in The Netherlands Notable people with these surnames include: Brinkman * Baba ...[...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Metric Tensor
In the mathematical field of differential geometry, a metric tensor (or simply metric) is an additional structure on a manifold (such as a surface) that allows defining distances and angles, just as the inner product on a Euclidean space allows defining distances and angles there. More precisely, a metric tensor at a point of is a bilinear form defined on the tangent space at (that is, a bilinear function that maps pairs of tangent vectors to real numbers), and a metric field on consists of a metric tensor at each point of that varies smoothly with . A metric tensor is ''positive-definite'' if for every nonzero vector . A manifold equipped with a positive-definite metric tensor is known as a Riemannian manifold. Such a metric tensor can be thought of as specifying ''infinitesimal'' distance on the manifold. On a Riemannian manifold , the length of a smooth curve between two points and can be defined by integration, and the distance between and can be defined as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lorentzian Manifold
In mathematical physics, a pseudo-Riemannian manifold, also called a semi-Riemannian manifold, is a differentiable manifold with a metric tensor that is everywhere non-degenerate bilinear form, nondegenerate. This is a generalization of a Riemannian manifold in which the requirement of Positive-definite bilinear form, positive-definiteness is relaxed. Every tangent space of a pseudo-Riemannian manifold is a pseudo-Euclidean vector space. A special case used in general relativity is a four-dimensional Lorentzian manifold for modeling spacetime, where tangent vectors can be classified as Causal structure, timelike, null, and spacelike. Introduction Manifolds In differential geometry, a differentiable manifold is a space that is locally similar to a Euclidean space. In an ''n''-dimensional Euclidean space any point can be specified by ''n'' real numbers. These are called the coordinates of the point. An ''n''-dimensional differentiable manifold is a generalisation of '' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nathan Rosen
Nathan Rosen (; March 22, 1909 – December 18, 1995) was an American and Israeli physicist noted for his study on the structure of the hydrogen molecule and his collaboration with Albert Einstein and Boris Podolsky on entangled wave functions and the EPR paradox. He is also remembered for the Einstein–Rosen bridge, the first known kind of wormhole. Background Nathan Rosen was born into a Jewish family in Brooklyn, New York (state), New York. He attended MIT during the Great Depression, where he received a bachelor's degree in electromechanical engineering and later a master's and a doctorate in physics. As a student he published several papers of note, one being "The Neutron," which attempted to explain the structure of the atomic nucleus a year before their discovery by James Chadwick. He also developed an interest in wave functions, and later, gravitation, when he worked as a fellow at the University of Michigan and Princeton University. State of science At the beginning of t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
