Get Standard Units Flux Multiply c^2: Perfect Fluid/Einstein's Dust

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SUMMARY

The discussion focuses on the energy-momentum tensor components T^ij, specifically T^0i, in the context of perfect fluids and Einstein's dust. It establishes that to obtain standard units of flux, one must multiply by c^2 for momentum density and divide by c for energy flux components T^01, T^02, and T^03. The conversation also highlights the importance of conventions regarding four-velocity definitions, which can affect the interpretation of the tensor components. Ultimately, the energy density is expressed as T^{00} = ρ₀γ²c², while the energy current density is given by T^{j0} = ρ₀γ²cv^j.

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dsaun777
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TL;DR
Just clarification on components.
The T^0i the components of the energy momentum tensor that correspond to mass flux and/or momentum density. If I wanted to get standard units of flux I would just multiply by c^2 correct? It is the ith component of momentum across the kth surface? I am thinking of an example in particular that relates to either a perfect fluid or Einstein's "dust".
 
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Hi.
Starting from the formalism of T^ij for the case,
T^{ij}=\rho u^iu^j
, here I omit pressure for simple writing, all the components has dimension same as ##\rho##, energy per volume. If you want to give normal dimension to some components as momentum per volume or mass, i.e. energy/c^2, flux, how about dividing them by c?
 
mitochan said:
Hi.
Starting from the formalism of T^ij for the case,
T^{ij}=\rho u^iu^j
, here I omit pressure for simple writing, all the components has dimension same as ##\rho##, energy per volume. If you want to give normal dimension to some components as momentum per volume or mass, i.e. energy/c^2, flux, how about dividing them by c?
I want to Express flux across a surface on terms of the components of the tensor, how would I do this?
 
In order to get energy flux whose dimension is energy / area・time from corresponding T^ij components that I have set as energy/volume in my previous post, how about multiplying c ?
 
Not all the components but T^01,T^02 and T^03 which corresponds to energy flux. Other components correspond to energy density, momentum density and 3D stress tensor.
 
Just the T^0i components alone without multiplying by c factor give you momentum flux right
 
I'm not sure what you want to achieve since your equation gives the energy-momentum tensor of freely moving particles, where ##\rho## is the density of invariant mass (defined in the usual way as mass per spatial volume in the (local) rest frame of the particles).

It depends a bit on your conventions, concerning the factors of ##c^2##. It's not uniquely defined in the literature, what's meant by ##u^{\mu}##. In some textbooks one defines the four-velocity as having the dimension of a velocity ("length per time"). Then it's normalized as ##u_{\mu} u^{\mu}=c^2##. In other books one uses the (usually more convenient) definition ##\tilde{u}^{\mu}=u^{\mu}/c##, because then you can use it to project to local restframes simply without writing all the factors of ##c## since, of course, in this convention you have ##\tilde{u}_{\mu} \tilde{u}^{\mu}=1##.

Now let's write
$$T^{\mu \nu} = \rho_0(x) u^{\mu}(x) u^{\nu}(x).$$
In terms of the usual three-velocity ##\vec{v}## you have
$$u^{\mu}=\gamma \begin{pmatrix} c \\ \vec{v} \end{pmatrix}.$$
Now the time-time component is seen to be
$$T^{00}=\rho_0 \gamma^2 c^2$$
This is the energy density component in this reference frame, i.e.,
$$\epsilon=\rho_0 \gamma^2.$$
Then the space-time components are
$$T^{j0}=\rho_0 \gamma^2 c v^j=\epsilon/c v^j.$$
This is the energy current density, and thus
$$g^{j}=T^{j0}/c=\epsilon/c^2 v^j$$
the momentum current density.
 
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