quantum123
- 306
- 1
Has anyone evaluated the Einstein Field Equation purely in partial derivatives wrt x,y,z,t? What does it look like?
The discussion revolves around the evaluation of the Einstein Field Equation (EFE) expressed purely in terms of partial derivatives with respect to the coordinates x, y, z, and t. Participants explore various forms and implications of the EFE, including its representation as a system of partial differential equations (PDEs) and the challenges associated with solving them.
Participants express varying degrees of understanding and approaches to the EFE, with no clear consensus on a single method or solution. Multiple competing views and interpretations of the equations and their implications remain present throughout the discussion.
Limitations include the dependence on the choice of coordinate systems and the specific forms of the stress-energy tensor used in the equations. The discussion also highlights the complexity of the EFE and the challenges in finding solutions, particularly in the context of initial value problems.
quantum123 said:Has anyone evaluated the Einstein Field Equation purely in partial derivatives wrt x,y,z,t? What does it look like?
quantum123 said:But how many degree and how many order is this EFE PDE?
quantum123 said:I know is has just 4 independent variables (x,y,z,t) and 10 (16-6 due to symmetric matrix) dependent variables right?
quantum123 said:Has anyone evaluated the Einstein Field Equation purely in partial derivatives wrt x,y,z,t? What does it look like?
pervect said:I think we need to step back some, here.
I think what the topic of disucsson is what's known in the literature as "the intial value formulation of General relativity".
One starts by specifying a 3-d spatial metric (this is the metric induced on some particular spatial hypersurface by the full 4-d metric for the Lorentz interval) on some particular 3-d hypersurface which is a "surface of constant time". One also needs to specify something equivalent to the "time derivative" of the metric on this hypersurface. Defining this is a bit tricky, but it's discussed in the textbooks.
So the dynamical variables in this theory are the metric coefficients - more particularly, the spatial metric coefficients.
Given these initial conditions, one can calculate how the metric coefficients change as a function of time (which is a global coordinate).
I do see from my textbook that one winds up with results similar to coalquay404's, but I'm not quite sure where \Phi enters the picture or what it represents.
pervect said:OK, I see that by totally neglecting the constraint equations I glossed over some points which turn out to be crucial.
On some further reading, it looks like \phi^2 = \Omega, where the conformal transformation is g'_{ab} = \Omega^2 g_{ab}, so your equation for \phi (which also appears in Wald) is the equation for the square root of the conformal factor.
pervect said:Given that the the conformal factor satisfies the above diffeq, I guess it's supposed to be "easy" to solve for the time evolution of \dot{g}_{ij}, though I'm not quite sure I understand all the details. If I'm interpreting the equations correctly, the requirement is that K_{ab} = \dot{g}_{ab} be traceles and also satisfy \nabla^a K_{ab} = 0. Wald writes a D rather than an \nabla, so I might be misinterpreting something.
pervect said:Wald writes a D rather than an \nabla, so I might be misinterpreting something.
coalquay404 said:Note, however, that the extrinsic curvature is given more correctly in terms of \dot{g}_{ij} as
K_{ij} = -\frac{1}{2N}(\dot{g}_{ij} - 2\nabla_{(i}N_{j)})
where N is the lapse and N^i is the shift.
pervect said:Aha! - that clears up some of the lose ends that were puzzling me, Wald mentioned that the shift & lapse functions weren't considered to be part of the dynamics, now I understand better how they are eliminated by the right gauge choice.
wandering.the.cosmos said:Actually, I have a basic question of my own. Within this ADM formalism, what sort of gauge choices are possible? With and without coupling to matter? For GR, how does one decide whether a particular choice of gauge is legitimate, ADM or not?
wandering.the.cosmos said:Also, I've thought that the lapse function and shift vector are not part of the dynamics simply because there are no time derivatives of them in the lagrangian. I think it's not necessary to gauge them away to see this?