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Coframe
In mathematics, a coframe or coframe field on a smooth manifold M is a system of one-forms or covectors which form a basis of the cotangent bundle at every point. In the exterior algebra of M, one has a natural map from v_k:\bigoplus^kT^*M\to\bigwedge^kT^*M, given by v_k:(\rho_1,\ldots,\rho_k)\mapsto \rho_1\wedge\ldots\wedge\rho_k. If M is n dimensional a coframe is given by a section \sigma of \bigoplus^nT^*M such that v_n\circ\sigma\neq 0. The inverse image under v_n of the complement of the zero section of \bigwedge^nT^*M forms a GL(n) principal bundle over M, which is called the coframe bundle. References * See also * Frame fields in general relativity * Moving frame In mathematics, a moving frame is a flexible generalization of the notion of an ordered basis of a vector space often used to study the extrinsic differential geometry of smooth manifolds embedded in a homogeneous space. Introduction In lay te ... Differential geometry {{differential-geome ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Frame Fields In General Relativity
A frame field in general relativity (also called a tetrad or vierbein) is a set of four pointwise-orthonormal vector fields, one timelike and three spacelike, defined on a Lorentzian manifold that is physically interpreted as a model of spacetime. The timelike unit vector field is often denoted by \vec_0 and the three spacelike unit vector fields by \vec_1, \vec_2, \, \vec_3. All tensorial quantities defined on the manifold can be expressed using the frame field and its dual coframe field. Frame were introduced into general relativity by Albert Einstein in 1928 and by Hermann Weyl in 1929.Hermann Weyl "Elektron und Gravitation I", ''Zeitschrift Physik'', 56, p330–352, 1929. The index notation for tetrads is explained in tetrad (index notation). Physical interpretation Frame fields of a Lorentzian manifold always correspond to a family of ideal observers immersed in the given spacetime; the integral curves of the timelike unit vector field are the worldlines of these observe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Moving Frame
In mathematics, a moving frame is a flexible generalization of the notion of an ordered basis of a vector space often used to study the extrinsic differential geometry of smooth manifolds embedded in a homogeneous space. Introduction In lay terms, a ''frame of reference'' is a system of measuring rods used by an observer to measure the surrounding space by providing coordinates. A moving frame is then a frame of reference which moves with the observer along a trajectory (a curve). The method of the moving frame, in this simple example, seeks to produce a "preferred" moving frame out of the kinematic properties of the observer. In a geometrical setting, this problem was solved in the mid 19th century by Jean Frédéric Frenet and Joseph Alfred Serret. The Frenet–Serret frame is a moving frame defined on a curve which can be constructed purely from the velocity and acceleration of the curve. The Frenet–Serret frame plays a key role in the differential geometry of curves, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mathematics
Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics with the major subdisciplines of number theory, algebra, geometry, and analysis, respectively. There is no general consensus among mathematicians about a common definition for their academic discipline. Most mathematical activity involves the discovery of properties of abstract objects and the use of pure reason to prove them. These objects consist of either abstractions from nature orin modern mathematicsentities that are stipulated to have certain properties, called axioms. A ''proof'' consists of a succession of applications of deductive rules to already established results. These results include previously proved theorems, axioms, andin case of abstraction from naturesome basic properties that are considered true starting points of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Smooth Manifold
In mathematics, a differentiable manifold (also differential manifold) is a type of manifold that is locally similar enough to a vector space to allow one to apply calculus. Any manifold can be described by a collection of charts (atlas). One may then apply ideas from calculus while working within the individual charts, since each chart lies within a vector space to which the usual rules of calculus apply. If the charts are suitably compatible (namely, the transition from one chart to another is differentiable), then computations done in one chart are valid in any other differentiable chart. In formal terms, a differentiable manifold is a topological manifold with a globally defined differential structure. Any topological manifold can be given a differential structure locally by using the homeomorphisms in its atlas and the standard differential structure on a vector space. To induce a global differential structure on the local coordinate systems induced by the homeomorphisms, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
One-form
In differential geometry, a one-form on a differentiable manifold is a smooth section of the cotangent bundle. Equivalently, a one-form on a manifold M is a smooth mapping of the total space of the tangent bundle of M to \R whose restriction to each fibre is a linear functional on the tangent space. Symbolically, \alpha : TM \rightarrow ,\quad \alpha_x = \alpha, _: T_xM \rightarrow , where \alpha_x is linear. Often one-forms are described locally, particularly in local coordinates. In a local coordinate system, a one-form is a linear combination of the differentials of the coordinates: \alpha_x = f_1(x) \, dx_1 + f_2(x) \, dx_2 + \cdots + f_n(x) \, dx_n , where the f_i are smooth functions. From this perspective, a one-form has a covariant transformation law on passing from one coordinate system to another. Thus a one-form is an order 1 covariant tensor field. Examples The most basic non-trivial differential one-form is the "change in angle" form d\theta. This is defined as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Covector
In mathematics, a linear form (also known as a linear functional, a one-form, or a covector) is a linear map from a vector space to its field of scalars (often, the real numbers or the complex numbers). If is a vector space over a field , the set of all linear functionals from to is itself a vector space over with addition and scalar multiplication defined pointwise. This space is called the dual space of , or sometimes the algebraic dual space, when a topological dual space is also considered. It is often denoted , p. 19, §3.1 or, when the field is understood, V^*; other notations are also used, such as V', V^ or V^. When vectors are represented by column vectors (as is common when a basis is fixed), then linear functionals are represented as row vectors, and their values on specific vectors are given by matrix products (with the row vector on the left). Examples * The constant zero function, mapping every vector to zero, is trivially a linear functional. * Indexing int ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vector Space
In mathematics and physics, a vector space (also called a linear space) is a set whose elements, often called ''vectors'', may be added together and multiplied ("scaled") by numbers called '' scalars''. Scalars are often real numbers, but can be complex numbers or, more generally, elements of any field. The operations of vector addition and scalar multiplication must satisfy certain requirements, called ''vector axioms''. The terms real vector space and complex vector space are often used to specify the nature of the scalars: real coordinate space or complex coordinate space. Vector spaces generalize Euclidean vectors, which allow modeling of physical quantities, such as forces and velocity, that have not only a magnitude, but also a direction. The concept of vector spaces is fundamental for linear algebra, together with the concept of matrix, which allows computing in vector spaces. This provides a concise and synthetic way for manipulating and studying systems of linear eq ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cotangent Bundle
In mathematics, especially differential geometry, the cotangent bundle of a smooth manifold is the vector bundle of all the cotangent spaces at every point in the manifold. It may be described also as the dual bundle to the tangent bundle. This may be generalized to categories with more structure than smooth manifolds, such as complex manifolds, or (in the form of cotangent sheaf) algebraic varieties or schemes. In the smooth case, any Riemannian metric or symplectic form gives an isomorphism between the cotangent bundle and the tangent bundle, but they are not in general isomorphic in other categories. Formal Definition Let ''M'' be a smooth manifold and let ''M''×''M'' be the Cartesian product of ''M'' with itself. The diagonal mapping Δ sends a point ''p'' in ''M'' to the point (''p'',''p'') of ''M''×''M''. The image of Δ is called the diagonal. Let \mathcal be the sheaf of germs of smooth functions on ''M''×''M'' which vanish on the diagona ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Exterior Algebra
In mathematics, the exterior algebra, or Grassmann algebra, named after Hermann Grassmann, is an algebra that uses the exterior product or wedge product as its multiplication. In mathematics, the exterior product or wedge product of vectors is an algebraic construction used in geometry to study areas, volumes, and their higher-dimensional analogues. The exterior product of two vectors u and v, denoted by u \wedge v, is called a bivector and lives in a space called the ''exterior square'', a vector space that is distinct from the original space of vectors. The magnitude of u \wedge v can be interpreted as the area of the parallelogram with sides u and v, which in three dimensions can also be computed using the cross product of the two vectors. More generally, all parallel plane surfaces with the same orientation and area have the same bivector as a measure of their oriented area. Like the cross product, the exterior product is anticommutative, meaning t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Principal Bundle
In mathematics, a principal bundle is a mathematical object that formalizes some of the essential features of the Cartesian product X \times G of a space X with a group G. In the same way as with the Cartesian product, a principal bundle P is equipped with # An action of G on P, analogous to (x, g)h = (x, gh) for a product space. # A projection onto X. For a product space, this is just the projection onto the first factor, (x,g) \mapsto x. Unlike a product space, principal bundles lack a preferred choice of identity cross-section; they have no preferred analog of (x,e). Likewise, there is not generally a projection onto G generalizing the projection onto the second factor, X \times G \to G that exists for the Cartesian product. They may also have a complicated topology that prevents them from being realized as a product space even if a number of arbitrary choices are made to try to define such a structure by defining it on smaller pieces of the space. A common example of a principal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Frame Bundle
In mathematics, a frame bundle is a principal fiber bundle F(''E'') associated to any vector bundle ''E''. The fiber of F(''E'') over a point ''x'' is the set of all ordered bases, or ''frames'', for ''E''''x''. The general linear group acts naturally on F(''E'') via a change of basis, giving the frame bundle the structure of a principal GL(''k'', R)-bundle (where ''k'' is the rank of ''E''). The frame bundle of a smooth manifold is the one associated to its tangent bundle. For this reason it is sometimes called the tangent frame bundle. Definition and construction Let ''E'' → ''X'' be a real vector bundle of rank ''k'' over a topological space ''X''. A frame at a point ''x'' ∈ ''X'' is an ordered basis for the vector space ''E''''x''. Equivalently, a frame can be viewed as a linear isomorphism :p : \mathbf^k \to E_x. The set of all frames at ''x'', denoted ''F''''x'', has a natural right action by the general linear group GL(''k'', R) of invertible ''k'' × ''k'' matrices: a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
