Two dimensional anti de Sitter space without cosmological constant?

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SUMMARY

The discussion centers on the calculation of the Einstein tensor in two-dimensional anti de Sitter (AdS) space, specifically using GRTensorII, a Maple package for tensor calculations. The original poster found a zero result for the Einstein tensor, which led to confusion regarding the necessity of a non-zero tensor due to the cosmological constant in AdS spacetimes. Other participants confirmed that the Einstein tensor indeed vanishes in 2D gravity, as established in theoretical physics literature, such as works by John David Brown and Roman Jackiw.

PREREQUISITES
  • Understanding of Einstein tensor calculations in general relativity
  • Familiarity with GRTensorII software for tensor computations
  • Knowledge of two-dimensional gravity concepts
  • Basic proficiency in Maple programming language
NEXT STEPS
  • Study the properties of the Einstein tensor in lower-dimensional gravity
  • Explore the GRTensorII documentation for advanced tensor calculations
  • Learn about the Riemann tensor and its implications in 2D spacetimes
  • Read "Lower dimensional gravity" by John David Brown for theoretical insights
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The discussion is beneficial for theoretical physicists, researchers in general relativity, and students exploring the intricacies of two-dimensional spacetime models.

implicitnone
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I have a spacetime which is (I think) AdS_2. The metric is,

whiixw.png


I'm trying to find the Einstein tensor, defined as,

c774f25c5cd752b2805b84a67ce9ac98.png


and the result is zero! I thought that, for the AdS spacetimes I needed to have a nonzero Einstein tensor which is caused by the cosmological constant.

What is wrong with my calculation? Or can you assure me that my result is correct and this metric is not AdS?

I'm using GRTensorII to do the calculations.
 
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hey check your calculations...I tried calculating it manually and I got a non-zero Einstein tensor. I got it as a diagonal matrix.
 
aashay said:
hey check your calculations...I tried calculating it manually and I got a non-zero Einstein tensor. I got it as a diagonal matrix.

Thank you for your efforts. I will do so. It will be the first time that grtensor confused me.
 
You are welcome..By the way, what is 'grtensor'?Is it some kind of software?
 
aashay said:
You are welcome..By the way, what is 'grtensor'?Is it some kind of software?

GRTensorII is a Maple package for tensor and GR calculations:

http://grtensor.org/
 
Very weird but I also tried with two other ways with computer. The internal packages of Maple and EinsteinTensor package of Mathematica library. They both gave zero Enstein tensor again!
 
I checked using Maxima and ctensor, and I verified that the Einstein tensor was zero:
Code:
load(ctensor);
dim:2;
ct_coords:[t,x];
lg:matrix([-(1+x^2),0],
          [0,1/(1+x^2)]);
cmetric();
einstein(true);
Maxima and ctensor are free and open-source, so anyone who wants to check this and play around with it can do so. E.g., if aashay has calculated the Riemann tensor, he/she could change the code so that it would output that, and we could compare and see if they're the same.

I would assume that spacetime curvature has a very simple characterization in 1+1 dimensions, e.g., there can only be one nonvanishing element in the Riemann tensor.
 
Thank you very much bcrowell!

Learning never ends :) It was my first deal with 1+1 gravity and now I checked with some books and saw that the Einstein tensor identically vanishes in 2D gravity because of the definition.

(See for example: "Lower dimensional gravity" by John David Brown or "Diverse topics in theoretical and mathematical physics" by Roman Jackiw. They are both available as Google books.)
 
implicitnone said:
Learning never ends :) It was my first deal with 1+1 gravity and now I checked with some books and saw that the Einstein tensor identically vanishes in 2D gravity because of the definition.

Ah, that's interesting. Kind of counterintuitive, since you *can* have intrinsic curvature in two spatial dimensions.
 
  • #10
bcrowell said:
Ah, that's interesting. Kind of counterintuitive, since you *can* have intrinsic curvature in two spatial dimensions.

It really is! Knowing that I can still count on GRTensorII feels good :)
 

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