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spaghetti3451
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Homework Statement
Let ##x##, ##y##, and ##z## be the usual cartesian coordinates in ##\mathbb{R}^{3}## and let ##u^{1} = r##, ##u^{2} = \theta## (colatitude), and ##u^{3} = \phi## be spherical coordinates.
- Compute the metric tensor components for the spherical coordinates ##g_{r\theta}:=g_{12}=\big\langle\frac{\partial}{\partial r}\ ,\ \frac{\partial}{\partial \theta}\big\rangle\ \text{etc.}##
- Compute the coefficients ##(\nabla\ f)^{j}## in ##\nabla\ f = (\nabla\ f)^{r}\frac{\partial}{\partial r}+(\nabla\ f)^{\theta}\frac{\partial}{\partial \theta}+(\nabla\ f)^{\phi}\frac{\partial}{\partial \phi}##.
- Verify that ##\frac{\partial}{\partial r}##, ##\frac{\partial}{\partial\theta}##, and ##\frac{\partial}{\partial\phi}## are orthogonal, but that not all are unit vectors. Define the unit vectors ##{\bf{e}}'_{j}=\frac{(\partial / \partial u^{j})}{||\partial / \partial u^{j}||}## and write ##\nabla\ f## in terms of this orthonormal set ##\nabla\ f = (\nabla\ f)'^{r}{\bf{e}}'_{r}+(\nabla\ f)'^{\theta}{\bf{e}}'_{\theta}+(\nabla\ f)'^{\phi}{\bf{e}}'_{\phi}##.
Homework Equations
The Attempt at a Solution
## g_{r\theta}:=g_{12}=\big\langle\frac{\partial}{\partial r}\ ,\ \frac{\partial}{\partial \theta}\big\rangle\\
= \big\langle\frac{\partial x}{\partial r}\frac{\partial}{\partial x}+\frac{\partial y}{\partial r}\frac{\partial}{\partial y}+\frac{\partial z}{\partial r}\frac{\partial}{\partial z}\ ,\ \frac{\partial x}{\partial \theta}\frac{\partial}{\partial x}+\frac{\partial y}{\partial \theta}\frac{\partial}{\partial y}+\frac{\partial z}{\partial \theta}\frac{\partial}{\partial z}\big\rangle\\
= \frac{\partial x}{\partial r}\frac{\partial x}{\partial \theta}+\frac{\partial y}{\partial r}\frac{\partial y}{\partial \theta}+\frac{\partial z}{\partial r}\frac{\partial z}{\partial \theta}\\
=(\text{sin}\ \theta\ \text{cos}\ \phi)(r\ \text{cos}\ \theta)(\text{cos}\ \theta)+(\text{sin}\ \theta\ \text{sin}\ \phi)(r\ \text{cos}\ \theta)(\text{sin}\ \phi)+(\text{cos}\ \theta)(-r\ \text{sin}\ \theta)\\
=0##
Am I correct so far?
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