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inottoe
Aug26-11, 12:09 PM
Hi. I can't find a source that shows how to superpose two metrics.

For example, superposing Schwarzchild metric

ds^2=\left(1-\frac{2M}{r}\right)dt^2-\frac{dr^2}{1-\frac{2M}{r}}-r^2d\Omega^2


with de Sitter metric

ds^2=\left(1-\frac{r^2}{\alpha^2}\right)dt^2-\frac{dr^2}{1-\frac{r^2}{\alpha^2}}-r^2d\Omega^2

yields de Sitter-Schwarzchild metric

ds^2=\left(1-\frac{2M}{r}-\frac{r^2}{\alpha^2}\right)dt^2-\frac{dr^2}{1-\frac{2M}{r}-\frac{r^2}{\alpha^2}}-r^2d\Omega^2

I've tried letting

g_{\mu\nu}=g_{\mu\nu}\left(Schwarzchild\right)+g_{ \mu\nu}\left(de Sitter\right)-\eta_{\mu\nu}

which works for the time component of the metric but not the radial. Any ideas?

WannabeNewton
Aug26-11, 12:21 PM
Can you even add them like that? The solutions aren't linear.

inottoe
Aug26-11, 12:30 PM
Can you even add them like that? The solutions aren't linear.

I'm pretty sure you can - you're just adding matrices.

WannabeNewton
Aug26-11, 12:40 PM
No what I mean is that linear superpositions of two metrics won't result in another solution to the EFEs so why do you want to add them like that.

inottoe
Aug26-11, 12:46 PM
No what I mean is that linear superpositions of two metrics won't result in another solution to the EFEs so why do you want to add them like that.

I didn't know that. I'm basically stuck as to how to superpose the two metric spaces. Maybe the answer is obvious and I'm being thick.

WannabeNewton
Aug26-11, 12:56 PM
It isn't easy to properly superpose two metrics. Unlike electric fields under maxwell's equations, which linearly superpose, in GR two interacting gravitational fields present a much, much more complicated interaction (release of gravitational waves etc.) because the gravitational field is coupled to itself. You can simply add the two matrices, sure, but that won't give you anything physically relevant; combining two metrics is non - trivial. There is a linearized form of the EFEs under which linear superposition does result in another solution but the linearized EFEs are only valid for weak fields (like low amplitude gravitational waves in vacuum).

inottoe
Aug26-11, 01:01 PM
OK, thanks very much for that.