Coordinate Tetrads: Other than Cartesian?

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SUMMARY

The discussion centers on the existence of coordinate tetrads in spacetime beyond the Cartesian basis. It establishes that while Cartesian coordinates provide an orthogonal tetrad basis due to their metric signature of (+1, -1, -1, -1), other coordinate systems like spherical and cylindrical can also have orthogonal basis vectors. However, these non-Cartesian systems are classified as anholonomic due to their spatial coordinate basis vectors varying with location, which disqualifies them as coordinate tetrads. The conclusion drawn is that Cartesian coordinates are the only true holonomic tetrads in this context.

PREREQUISITES
  • Understanding of tetrads in the context of Lorentzian geometry
  • Familiarity with orthogonal coordinate systems
  • Knowledge of spherical and cylindrical coordinate systems
  • Basic concepts of holonomic and anholonomic systems
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This discussion is beneficial for physicists, mathematicians, and students studying general relativity, particularly those interested in the geometric foundations of spacetime and the role of coordinate systems in theoretical physics.

Worldline
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Dear Friends
Is there any coordinate tetrad in spacetime except Cartesian basis ?
since tetrad basis should be orthogonal (( In Lorentzian description ))and the only orthogonal basis is Cartesian ( the metric is (+1,-1,-1,-1 ) but in any other coordinate basis like Spherical metric is ( +1,-1,-r,-rsino ) and they aren't coordiante tetrad .
 
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Worldline said:
Dear Friends
Is there any coordinate tetrad in spacetime except Cartesian basis ?
since tetrad basis should be orthogonal (( In Lorentzian description ))and the only orthogonal basis is Cartesian ( the metric is (+1,-1,-1,-1 ) but in any other coordinate basis like Spherical metric is ( +1,-1,-r,-rsino ) and they aren't coordiante tetrad .

The tetrad refers to the coordinate basis vectors, rather than the coordinates. The 4 coordinate basis vectors for Spherical coordinates are all orthogonal to one another, as are the coordinate basis vectors for cylindrical coordinates. But, in cylindrical and spherical coordinates, some of the 3 spatial coordinate basis vectors vary with spatial location.
 
I know that but i mean are the only holonomic tetrad basis Cartesian basis ?
unit vector basis in spherical coordinate are tetrads but coordiante basis isn't .and the relations between tetrads and basis coordiante are :
e[itex]_{r}[/itex]=∂[itex]_{r}[/itex]
e[itex]_{\theta}[/itex]=[itex]\frac{1}{r}[/itex]∂[itex]_{\theta}[/itex]
e[itex]_{\varphi}[/itex]=[itex]\frac{1}{rsin\varphi}[/itex]∂[itex]_{\varphi}[/itex]
e[itex]_{0}[/itex]=∂[itex]_{r}[/itex]=[itex]\frac{∂}{∂t}[/itex]
and we can see those unit vectors have non vanishing Lie's bracket (( so they are anholonomic or non coordiante basis ))
so i thought the cartecian basis are the only the coordinate tetrads (( or holonomic tetrads ))
 

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