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Curvature Collineation
A curvature collineation (often abbreviated to CC) is vector field which preserves the Riemann tensor in the sense that, :\mathcal_X R^a_=0 where R^a_ are the components of the Riemann tensor. The set of all smooth curvature collineations forms a Lie algebra under the Lie bracket operation (if the smoothness condition is dropped, the set of all curvature collineations need not form a Lie algebra). The Lie algebra is denoted by CC(M) and may be infinite-dimensional. Every affine vector field is a curvature collineation. See also * Conformal vector field * Homothetic vector field * Killing vector field * Matter collineation * Spacetime symmetries Spacetime symmetries are features of spacetime that can be described as exhibiting some form of symmetry. The role of symmetry in physics is important in simplifying solutions to many problems. Spacetime symmetries are used in the study of exact ... Mathematical methods in general relativity {{math-physics-stub ...
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Riemann Tensor
In the mathematical field of differential geometry, the Riemann curvature tensor or Riemann–Christoffel tensor (after Bernhard Riemann and Elwin Bruno Christoffel) is the most common way used to express the curvature of Riemannian manifolds. It assigns a tensor to each point of a Riemannian manifold (i.e., it is a tensor field). It is a local invariant of Riemannian metrics which measures the failure of the second covariant derivatives to commute. A Riemannian manifold has zero curvature if and only if it is ''flat'', i.e. locally isometric to the Euclidean space. The curvature tensor can also be defined for any pseudo-Riemannian manifold, or indeed any manifold equipped with an affine connection. It is a central mathematical tool in the theory of general relativity, the modern theory of gravity, and the curvature of spacetime is in principle observable via the geodesic deviation equation. The curvature tensor represents the tidal force experienced by a rigid body moving alo ...
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Set (mathematics)
A set is the mathematical model for a collection of different things; a set contains ''elements'' or ''members'', which can be mathematical objects of any kind: numbers, symbols, points in space, lines, other geometrical shapes, variables, or even other sets. The set with no element is the empty set; a set with a single element is a singleton. A set may have a finite number of elements or be an infinite set. Two sets are equal if they have precisely the same elements. Sets are ubiquitous in modern mathematics. Indeed, set theory, more specifically Zermelo–Fraenkel set theory, has been the standard way to provide rigorous foundations for all branches of mathematics since the first half of the 20th century. History The concept of a set emerged in mathematics at the end of the 19th century. The German word for set, ''Menge'', was coined by Bernard Bolzano in his work '' Paradoxes of the Infinite''. Georg Cantor, one of the founders of set theory, gave the following ...
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Smooth Function
In mathematical analysis, the smoothness of a function is a property measured by the number of continuous derivatives it has over some domain, called ''differentiability class''. At the very minimum, a function could be considered smooth if it is differentiable everywhere (hence continuous). At the other end, it might also possess derivatives of all orders in its domain, in which case it is said to be infinitely differentiable and referred to as a C-infinity function (or C^ function). 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 open set U on the real line and a function f defined on U with real values. Let ''k'' be a non-negative integer. The function f is said to be of differentiability class ''C^k'' if the derivatives f',f'',\dots,f^ exist and are continuous on U. If f is k-di ...
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Lie Algebra
In mathematics, a Lie algebra (pronounced ) is a vector space \mathfrak g together with an operation called the Lie bracket, an alternating bilinear map \mathfrak g \times \mathfrak g \rightarrow \mathfrak g, that satisfies the Jacobi identity. The Lie bracket of two vectors x and y is denoted ,y/math>. The vector space \mathfrak g together with this operation is a non-associative algebra, meaning that the Lie bracket is not necessarily associative. Lie algebras are closely related to Lie groups, which are groups that are also smooth manifolds: any Lie group gives rise to a Lie algebra, which is its tangent space at the identity. Conversely, to any finite-dimensional Lie algebra over real or complex numbers, there is a corresponding connected Lie group unique up to finite coverings ( Lie's third theorem). This correspondence allows one to study the structure and classification of Lie groups in terms of Lie algebras. In physics, Lie groups appear as symmetry grou ...
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Lie Bracket
In mathematics, a Lie algebra (pronounced ) is a vector space \mathfrak g together with an operation called the Lie bracket, an alternating bilinear map \mathfrak g \times \mathfrak g \rightarrow \mathfrak g, that satisfies the Jacobi identity. The Lie bracket of two vectors x and y is denoted ,y/math>. The vector space \mathfrak g together with this operation is a non-associative algebra, meaning that the Lie bracket is not necessarily associative. Lie algebras are closely related to Lie groups, which are groups that are also smooth manifolds: any Lie group gives rise to a Lie algebra, which is its tangent space at the identity. Conversely, to any finite-dimensional Lie algebra over real or complex numbers, there is a corresponding connected Lie group unique up to finite coverings ( Lie's third theorem). This correspondence allows one to study the structure and classification of Lie groups in terms of Lie algebras. In physics, Lie groups appear as symmetry groups of p ...
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Infinity
Infinity is that which is boundless, endless, or larger than any natural number. It is often denoted by the infinity symbol . Since the time of the ancient Greeks, the philosophical nature of infinity was the subject of many discussions among philosophers. In the 17th century, with the introduction of the infinity symbol and the infinitesimal calculus, mathematicians began to work with infinite series and what some mathematicians (including l'Hôpital and Bernoulli) regarded as infinitely small quantities, but infinity continued to be associated with endless processes. As mathematicians struggled with the foundation of calculus, it remained unclear whether infinity could be considered as a number or magnitude and, if so, how this could be done. At the end of the 19th century, Georg Cantor enlarged the mathematical study of infinity by studying infinite sets and infinite numbers, showing that they can be of various sizes. For example, if a line is viewed as the set of ...
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Dimension
In physics and mathematics, the dimension of a mathematical space (or object) is informally defined as the minimum number of coordinates needed to specify any point within it. Thus, a line has a dimension of one (1D) because only one coordinate is needed to specify a point on itfor example, the point at 5 on a number line. A surface, such as the boundary of a cylinder or sphere, has a dimension of two (2D) because two coordinates are needed to specify a point on itfor example, both a latitude and longitude are required to locate a point on the surface of a sphere. A two-dimensional Euclidean space is a two-dimensional space on the plane. The inside of a cube, a cylinder or a sphere is three-dimensional (3D) because three coordinates are needed to locate a point within these spaces. In classical mechanics, space and time are different categories and refer to absolute space and time. That conception of the world is a four-dimensional space but not the one that was fo ...
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Affine Vector Field
An affine vector field (sometimes affine collineation or affine) is a projective vector field preserving geodesics and preserving the affine parameter. Mathematically, this is expressed by the following condition: :(\mathcal_X g_)_=0 See also * Conformal vector field * Curvature collineation * Homothetic vector field * Killing vector field * Matter collineation * Spacetime symmetries Spacetime symmetries are features of spacetime that can be described as exhibiting some form of symmetry. The role of symmetry in physics is important in simplifying solutions to many problems. Spacetime symmetries are used in the study of exact ... Mathematical methods in general relativity {{math-physics-stub ...
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Conformal Vector Field
In conformal geometry, a conformal Killing vector field on a manifold of dimension ''n'' with (pseudo) Riemannian metric g (also called a conformal Killing vector, CKV, or conformal colineation), is a vector field X whose (locally defined) flow defines conformal transformations, that is, preserve g up to scale and preserve the conformal structure. Several equivalent formulations, called the conformal Killing equation, exist in terms of the Lie derivative of the flow e.g. \mathcal_g = \lambda g for some function \lambda on the manifold. For n \ne 2 there are a finite number of solutions, specifying the conformal symmetry of that space, but in two dimensions, there is an infinity of solutions. The name Killing refers to Wilhelm Killing, who first investigated Killing vector fields. Densitized metric tensor and Conformal Killing vectors A vector field X is a Killing vector field if and only if its flow preserves the metric tensor g (strictly speaking for each compact subsets ...
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Homothetic Vector Field
In physics, a homothetic vector field (sometimes homothetic collineation or homothety) is a projective vector field which satisfies the condition: :\mathcal_X g_=2c g_ where c is a real constant. Homothetic vector fields find application in the study of singularities in general relativity. They can also be used to generate new solutions for Einstein equations by similarity reduction. See also * Affine vector field * Conformal Killing vector field * Curvature collineation * Killing vector field * Matter collineation * Spacetime symmetries Spacetime symmetries are features of spacetime that can be described as exhibiting some form of symmetry. The role of symmetry in physics is important in simplifying solutions to many problems. Spacetime symmetries are used in the study of exact ... References Mathematical methods in general relativity {{math-physics-stub ...
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Killing Vector Field
In mathematics, a Killing vector field (often called a Killing field), named after Wilhelm Killing, is a vector field on a Riemannian manifold (or pseudo-Riemannian manifold) that preserves the metric. Killing fields are the infinitesimal generators of isometries; that is, flows generated by Killing fields are continuous isometries of the manifold. More simply, the flow generates a symmetry, in the sense that moving each point of an object the same distance in the direction of the Killing vector will not distort distances on the object. Definition Specifically, a vector field ''X'' is a Killing field if the Lie derivative with respect to ''X'' of the metric ''g'' vanishes: :\mathcal_ g = 0 \,. In terms of the Levi-Civita connection, this is :g\left(\nabla_Y X, Z\right) + g\left(Y, \nabla_Z X\right) = 0 \, for all vectors ''Y'' and ''Z''. In local coordinates, this amounts to the Killing equation :\nabla_\mu X_\nu + \nabla_ X_\mu = 0 \,. This condition is expressed ...
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