Sign of Levi-Civita Symbol in spherical coordinates

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the sign of the Levi-Civita symbol when transitioning from Cartesian to spherical coordinates in the context of deriving an instanton solution in 4D Euclidean space. Participants explore the implications of the Jacobian of the coordinate transformation on the sign of the Levi-Civita symbol and its effect on integrals in the derivation.

Discussion Character

  • Technical explanation
  • Debate/contested
  • Mathematical reasoning

Main Points Raised

  • One participant notes that the Levi-Civita symbol in Cartesian coordinates is defined as \(\epsilon^{1234}=+1\), while they find that in spherical coordinates, it appears to be \(\epsilon^{\rho \chi \psi \phi}=-1\) based on the Jacobian calculation.
  • Another participant challenges the first participant's Jacobian calculation, suggesting that it should be computed differently and provides a matrix for the Jacobian.
  • A follow-up question is raised regarding the transition from equation 93.16 to 93.17, specifically how the signs of the Levi-Civita symbols affect the integral transformation and whether a minus sign cancels out in the process.
  • One participant expresses confusion about the final steps of the derivation and seeks clarification on how to properly apply the divergence theorem in this context.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants do not reach a consensus on the sign of the Levi-Civita symbol under the coordinate transformation, as there are differing calculations and interpretations presented. The discussion remains unresolved regarding the implications of these signs on the integral transformations.

Contextual Notes

Participants express uncertainty about the correctness of their Jacobian calculations and the implications for the Levi-Civita symbol. There are unresolved steps in the mathematical derivation that depend on the interpretation of the signs in the context of the transformation.

cedricyu803
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Hi, I am going through the derivation of an instanton solution (n=1) in Srednicki Chp. 93.

Specifically, I went through eqn.s 93.29-93.38.
However the sign of the Levi-Civita Symbol is bugging me:

It says that in 4D Euclidean space,
\epsilon^{1234}=+1 in Cartesian coordinates
implies
\epsilon^{\rho \chi \psi \phi}=-1
in spherical coordinates
below eqn 93.17, by computing the Jacobian of coordinate change.
But from my calculation, the Jacobian is positive, simply
\rho^3 sin^2 \chi sin\psi

In the simplest case, e.g. 2D or 3D, it seems to me that the Levi-Civita symbol doesn't change sign either under this coordinate transformation.
Can anyone explain why the sign of the Levi-Civita symbol is changed?

Thanks!
 
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Your Jacobian should be...

J = \begin{pmatrix} \sin \chi ~ \sin \psi ~ \cos \phi & \rho \cos \chi ~ \sin \psi ~ \cos \phi & \rho \sin \chi ~ \cos \psi ~ \cos \phi& - \rho \sin \chi ~ \sin \psi ~ \sin \phi \\ \sin \chi~ \sin \psi~ \sin \phi & \rho \cos \chi~ \sin \psi~ \sin \phi & \rho \sin \chi~ \cos \psi~ \sin \phi & \rho \sin \chi~ \sin \psi~ \cos \phi \\ \sin \chi ~ \cos \psi & \rho \cos \chi ~ \cos \psi & - \rho \sin \chi ~ \sin \psi & 0 \\ \cos \chi & -\rho \sin \chi & 0 & 0 \end{pmatrix}

Then, are you sure about your calculated determinant? Because I found:

- \rho^3 \sin \psi ~ \sin^2 \chi

Jac.jpg
 
Last edited:
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Ahh right, now I got it. Thanks a lot
 
Followup question:
I am struggling to move from eq. 93.16 to 93.17.
Now that

n=\frac{1}{16 \pi^2} \int d^4x Tr(F_{\mu \nu}\tilde{F}^{\mu \nu})
=\frac{1}{16 \pi^2} \int d^4x \partial _\mu Tr(\epsilon^{\mu \nu \sigma \tau} (A_\nu F_{\sigma \tau}+\frac{2i}{3} A_\nu A_\sigma A_\tau))
\equiv \frac{1}{16 \pi^2} \int d^4x \partial _\mu Tr(\epsilon^{\mu \nu \sigma \tau} K_{\nu \sigma \tau})
n=\frac{1}{16 \pi^2} \int dS_\mu Tr(\epsilon^{\mu \nu \sigma \tau} K_{\nu \sigma \tau})
This is eq. 93.17.
So,
n=\frac{1}{16 \pi^2} \int (abs|J|) d\rho d\chi d\psi d\phi (\frac{1}{-(abs|J|)} \epsilon^{\delta \alpha \beta \gamma}) \partial_\delta Tr(K_{ \alpha \beta \gamma})
=\frac{-1}{16 \pi^2} \int d\rho d\chi d\psi d\phi ~ \epsilon^{\delta \alpha \beta \gamma} \partial_\delta Tr(K_{ \alpha \beta \gamma})
where \alpha, \beta, \gamma, \delta are spherical coordinates
abs(|J|)\equiv<br /> + \rho^3 \sin \psi ~ \sin^2 \chi<br />
But how precisely should I do the final step of changing the volume integral to surface integral to get 93.16?
I know by divergence theorem, but it seems to me that
from
\epsilon^{\delta \alpha \beta \gamma}
\epsilon^{\rho \chi \psi \phi}=-1
to
\epsilon^{\alpha \beta \gamma}
\epsilon^{\chi \psi \phi}=+1

Eq. 93.16 is:
n=\frac{-1}{16 \pi^2} \int d\chi d\psi d\phi ~ \epsilon^{\alpha \beta \gamma} Tr(K_{ \alpha \beta \gamma})

the minus sign from the previous step gets canceled out, giving no minus sign in the end (93.16).
Can you illustrate how to do it?
Thanks
 
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