Undergrad ADM Formalism: Intro-to-Intermediate Explanation

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The discussion focuses on the Alcubierre warp drive and the challenges faced in understanding it due to a lack of familiarity with the ADM formalism. Participants suggest that resources explaining the 3+1 split of the ADM formalism are particularly useful for undergraduates who have a basic grasp of general relativity. Recommendations include numerical relativity books and Wald's discussions on the initial value formulation in general relativity, which are deemed accessible. The importance of seeking out specific texts, such as those by Alcubierre, is emphasized for better comprehension. Overall, targeted resources can significantly aid in grasping the ADM formalism and its application to the Alcubierre drive.
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TL;DR
Looking for a description of the ADM formalism for somebody who as studied some GR
So I'm reading about the Alcubierre warp drive. And it's presented in the ADM formalism.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcubierre_drive
And I realize that understanding it is being slowed by my not having studied the ADM formalism. So, is there a good text or website or such, that does a good explanation of the ADM formalism? I have been through the basics of GR but didn't do that. Basically I got up to Oppenheimer-Schneider dust clouds, and interior solutions for spherically symmetric stars and such like topics. So I'm looking for something that an undergrad 3rd or 4th year could use.
 
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What you need is the 3+1split rather than all of the ADM formalism. You could take a look at any numerical relativity book, including Alcubierre's.
 
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I just took a look at Wald's discussion of the GR initial value formulation. It may not be totally out reach. It does not seem to require as much high level math as some other sections in Wald do.
 
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martinbn said:
What you need is the 3+1split rather than all of the ADM formalism. You could take a look at any numerical relativity book, including Alcubierre's.

Now, why didn't I think of looking for a book by Alcubierre? I never got off Arxiv.org. Thanks!
 
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