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Assignment 2: February 6, 2020

The document outlines 11 problems related to tensors and general relativity for Assignment 2: 1. Show that the sum of any two orthogonal space-like vectors is space-like. 2. Show that a time-like vector and a null vector cannot be orthogonal. 3. Analyze vector fields U and D in some reference frame, determining if D is a suitable 4-velocity like U, finding spatial velocities, and calculating derivatives. 4. Derive an expression for the Christoffel symbols involving the metric determinant and its derivative. 5. Prove the Riemann tensor vanishes for polar coordinates in Euclidean plane. The remaining problems involve properties of tensors, coordinate

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Ankush Roy
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29 views

Assignment 2: February 6, 2020

The document outlines 11 problems related to tensors and general relativity for Assignment 2: 1. Show that the sum of any two orthogonal space-like vectors is space-like. 2. Show that a time-like vector and a null vector cannot be orthogonal. 3. Analyze vector fields U and D in some reference frame, determining if D is a suitable 4-velocity like U, finding spatial velocities, and calculating derivatives. 4. Derive an expression for the Christoffel symbols involving the metric determinant and its derivative. 5. Prove the Riemann tensor vanishes for polar coordinates in Euclidean plane. The remaining problems involve properties of tensors, coordinate

Uploaded by

Ankush Roy
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Assignment 2

February 6, 2020

1. Show that the sum of any two orthogonal space-like vectors is space-like.

2. Show that a time-like vector and a null vector cannot be orthogonal.


3. In some reference frame, the vector fields U~ and D ~ have the components
√
U α = (1 + t2 , t2 , 2t, 0)
√
Dα = (x, 5tx, 2t, 0)

~ is suitable as a 4-velocity. Is D
(a) Show that U ~ ?
~ , for
(b) Find the spatial velocity v of a particle whose 4-velocity is U
arbitrary t. Describe the motion in the limits t = 0 and t → ∞.
(c) Find ∂β (U α Dβ ), for all α.
(d) Find ∂α U α and Uα ∂β (U α Dβ ). Why they are similar?

4. Show that
1 √
Γα
µα = √ ∂µ g
g
where g is the determinant of the metric gµν .
α
5. Prove that Rβµν = 0 for polar coordinates in Euclidean plane.
6. Prove
g αβ ∂ν gβµ = −∂ν (g αβ )gβµ

7. Define a tensor
µ
Tαβ = Γµαβ − Γµβα
Show that it is a (1,2) tensor.
8. Show that
∇ρ Rαβµν + ∇µ Rαβνρ + ∇ν Rαβρµ = 0

9. Show that the properties of symmetry and anti-symmetry of a tensor


remains invariant under coordinate transformation.

1
10. Find transformation law for det(gµν )
11. Find an expression for

∇µ ∇ν Tβα − ∇ν ∇µ Tβα

in terms of Riemann tensor.

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