General relativity: constant curvature, characterizing equation

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Homework Statement



Show, that a three-dimensional space with constant curvature K is charaterized by the following equation for the Riemann curvature tensor:

[tex]R_{abcd} = K \cdot \left(g_{ac}g_{bd}-g_{ad}g_{bc}\right)[/tex]

Homework Equations


The Attempt at a Solution



Hi folks,

I would like to give an own attempt, but I have no Idea how to start.

We haven't defined the curvature K in lecture. How is it defined?
Has anybody an idea, how to start?

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derivator
 
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Wald defines the Ricci tensor as

[tex]R_{ac}=R_{abc}{}^{b}[/tex]

And then the scalar curvature is the trace of the Ricci tensor

[tex]R=R_{a}{}^{a}[/tex]

Your text should have similar definitions.

So, I think want you want to do is to show that if [itex]R_{abcd} = K\left(g_{ac}g_{bd}-g_{ad}g_{bc}\right)[/itex], where [itex]K[/itex] is a constant, then the scalar curvature is [itex]R=K[/itex].
 
ah, thanks for your input.

i haven't seen this exercise from this point of view, but it makes sense.

I have found: R=6K, thus R is constant, thus we have a constant curvature.