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Equation of Geodesic Deviation: Notes For GR-I - CCD

This document derives the equation of geodesic deviation in 3 steps: 1) It considers two nearby geodesics and expands the Christoffel symbols along one geodesic in terms of the separation between the geodesics. 2) It takes the covariant derivative of the separation vector between the geodesics along their affine parameters. 3) It relates the second covariant derivative of the separation vector to the Riemann curvature tensor, arriving at the equation of geodesic deviation.

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51 views2 pages

Equation of Geodesic Deviation: Notes For GR-I - CCD

This document derives the equation of geodesic deviation in 3 steps: 1) It considers two nearby geodesics and expands the Christoffel symbols along one geodesic in terms of the separation between the geodesics. 2) It takes the covariant derivative of the separation vector between the geodesics along their affine parameters. 3) It relates the second covariant derivative of the separation vector to the Riemann curvature tensor, arriving at the equation of geodesic deviation.

Uploaded by

ahmedsarwar
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Equation of Geodesic Deviation

Notes for GR-I - CCD

u a Q va P ua

Figure 1: Deviation between two geodesics. Consider two geodesic curves, , and , which are diverging from each other. Suppose that along each geodesic we choose an ane parameter . Take P and Q to be points on and , and adjust the ane parameter along each curve so that P and Q have the same value for . Suppose that the curve is described by the coordinate functions xa ( ) and the curve is described by the coordinate functions x a ( ). Let the vector connecting P to Q be v a ( ) so that we have (1) x a ( ) = xa ( ) + v a ( ) and we will use over-bars to denote quantities evaluated at Q. To simplify the calculations, we will choose the coordinates at P to be geodesic coora dinates, so that bc = 0 at P . Since we have taken to be a geodesic, this means that the geodesic equation for at P is very simple, that is x a = 0, and we use over-dots to indicate ordinary dierentiation with respect to . Since is also a geodesic, at Q, the relevant geodesic equation is: a a b x c = 0 (2) x + bc x

c Charles C. Dyer

a a To evaluate bc at Q, we will use a Taylor expansion of bc about the point P , and recalling that a bc vanishes at P , we can write:

a = a v e + bc bc|e where we drop higher order terms. The geodesic equation at Q then becomes:
a e b c x + a x =0 bc|e v x

(3)

(4)

a a as the two to lowest order. Since x a = 0, we have x =v a . Dening ua = x a and u a = x tangent vectors, we have, to lowest order, e b c v a = a bc|e v u u

(5)

where we have replaced u a by ua , since their dierence, v a , does not contribute to relevant order on the right hand side. D Let D represent the total covariant derivative along a curve, so that we have: D va b a a c c b = va ub = v a + a ||b u = v |b + bc v bc v u D Then D2 v a D c b = v a + a bc v u 2 D D a c b m = v a |m + (bc v u )|m u + term
m a c b m = v a |m u + (bc v u )|m u + term m a c b m = v a |m u + bc|m v u u + terms c b m = v a + a bc|m v u u

(6)

(7) (8) (9) (10) (11)

when evaluated at P . Using our previously derived expression for v a , we then have D2 v a m b c a c b m = a bc|m v u u + bc|m v u u D 2 a = v c ub um a bc|m bm|c Using the expression
a Rabmc = a bc|m bm|c

(12) (13) (14)

for the curvature tensor in geodesic coordinates, we have D2 v a = Rabmc ub um v c 2 D which is called the equation of geodesic deviation. (15)

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