The Einstein Field Equations : on semi-Riemannian manifolds, and the Schwarzschild solution

Semi-Riemannian manifolds is a subject popular in physics, with applications particularly to modern gravitational theory and electrodynamics. Semi-Riemannian geometry is a branch of differential geometry, similar to Riemannian geometry. In fact, Riemannian geometry is a special case of semi-Riemanni...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Leijon, Rasmus
Format: Others
Language:English
Published: Umeå universitet, Institutionen för matematik och matematisk statistik 2012
Subjects:
Online Access:http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-61321
Description
Summary:Semi-Riemannian manifolds is a subject popular in physics, with applications particularly to modern gravitational theory and electrodynamics. Semi-Riemannian geometry is a branch of differential geometry, similar to Riemannian geometry. In fact, Riemannian geometry is a special case of semi-Riemannian geometry where the scalar product of nonzero vectors is only allowed to be positive. This essay approaches the subject from a mathematical perspective, proving some of the main theorems of semi-Riemannian geometry such as the existence and uniqueness of the covariant derivative of Levi-Civita connection, and some properties of the curvature tensor. Finally, this essay aims to deal with the physical applications of semi-Riemannian geometry. In it, two key theorems are proven - the equivalenceof the Einstein field equations, the foundation of modern gravitational physics, and the Schwarzschild solution to the Einstein field equations. Examples of applications of these theorems are presented.