Minkowski metric - to sperical coordinates transformation

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around transforming Cartesian coordinates to spherical coordinates within the context of the Minkowski metric. Participants are focused on the mathematical formulation of the metric and the calculation of Christoffel symbols, exploring both the transformation process and the resulting metric components.

Discussion Character

  • Technical explanation
  • Mathematical reasoning
  • Exploratory

Main Points Raised

  • One participant expresses uncertainty about the transformation process and suggests using the chain rule and the symmetry of Christoffel symbols.
  • Another participant provides the spherical form of the Minkowski metric and lists the metric components, indicating their values for \( g_{tt}, g_{rr}, g_{\theta\theta}, g_{\phi\phi} \).
  • A third participant calculates the metric components and Christoffel symbols, reporting different values than those previously stated, specifically noting all components as -1 or 1, and providing specific values for the Christoffel symbols.
  • A later reply mentions finding a paper that confirms the correctness of their results, suggesting that the calculations align with established literature.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

There is no consensus on the values of the metric components and Christoffel symbols, as participants report differing results. The discussion remains unresolved regarding the accuracy of these calculations.

Contextual Notes

Participants reference specific mathematical formulas and external sources, but there are indications of missing assumptions or definitions that could affect the transformation and calculations.

soi
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I need to transform cartesian coordinates to spherical ones for Minkowski metric.
Taking:
(x0, x1, x2, x3) = (t, r, α, β)

And than write down all Christoffel symbols for it.

I really have no clue, but from other examples I've seen i should use chain rule in first and symmetry of Christoffel symbol Tab=Tba
 
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soi said:
I need to transform cartesian coordinates to spherical ones for Minkowski metric.
Taking:
(x0, x1, x2, x3) = (t, r, α, β)

And than write down all Christoffel symbols for it.

I really have no clue, but from other examples I've seen i should use chain rule in first and symmetry of Christoffel symbol Tab=Tba

The spherical form of the Minkowsky metric is just

[itex]ds^{2} = c^2 dt^2 - dr^2 - r^2 d\theta^2 - r^2 sin^2(\theta) d\phi^2[/itex]

So the metric components are
[itex]g_{tt} = c^2[/itex]
[itex]g_{rr} = -1[/itex]
[itex]g_{\theta\theta} = -r^2[/itex]
[itex]g_{\phi\phi} = -r^2 sin^2(\theta)[/itex]

The connection coefficients [itex]\Gamma_{uvw}[/itex] are computed in terms of the metric components via:

[itex]\Gamma_{uvw} = \frac{1}{2} (\partial_{v} g_{uw} + \partial_{w} g_{vu} - \partial_{u} g_{vw})[/itex]
 
OK, great thanks for your help.

To look if I understand it, i calculated it using formula
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/math/f/f/d/ffdb897152259f912ad9c4d5ab3d474d.png

And i got what you got (not surprisingly) but with -1 everywhere:

gtt=-1
grr=1
gθθ=r^2
gββ=r^2(sinθ)^2

And Christoffel symbols (nonzoro, numering metric matrix from 0 to 3):
T221=1/r
T122=-r
T331=1/r
T332=1/2(rsinθ)^2
T133=-r (sinθ)^2
T233=(sin2θ)/2

Is it okay?
 

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