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Given a Riemannian metric g, the scalar curvature Scal is defined as the trace of the Ricci curvature tensor with respect to the metric: [1] = . The scalar curvature cannot be computed directly from the Ricci curvature since the latter is a (0,2)-tensor field; the metric must be used to raise an index to obtain a (1,1)-tensor field in order to take the trace.
Notions of Ricci curvature on discrete manifolds have been defined on graphs and networks, where they quantify local divergence properties of edges. Ollivier's Ricci curvature is defined using optimal transport theory. [4] A different (and earlier) notion, Forman's Ricci curvature, is based on topological arguments. [5]
The variation formula computations above define the principal symbol of the mapping which sends a pseudo-Riemannian metric to its Riemann tensor, Ricci tensor, or scalar curvature.
Although individually, the Weyl tensor and Ricci tensor do not in general determine the full curvature tensor, the Riemann curvature tensor can be decomposed into a Weyl part and a Ricci part. This decomposition is known as the Ricci decomposition, and plays an important role in the conformal geometry of Riemannian manifolds.
The curvature tensor can also be defined for any pseudo-Riemannian manifold, or indeed any manifold equipped with an affine connection. It is a central mathematical tool in the theory of general relativity, the modern theory of gravity. The curvature of spacetime is in principle observable via the geodesic deviation equation.
This implies that the Ricci curvature is given by R jk = (n – 1)κg jk and the scalar curvature is n(n – 1)κ, where n is the dimension of the manifold. In particular, every Riemannian manifold of constant curvature is an Einstein manifold, thereby having constant scalar curvature.
With this convention, the Ricci tensor is a (0,2)-tensor field defined by R jk =g il R ijkl and the scalar curvature is defined by R=g jk R jk. (Note that this is the less common sign convention for the Ricci tensor; it is more standard to define it by contracting either the first and third or the second and fourth indices, which yields a Ricci ...
In differential geometry, the Einstein tensor (named after Albert Einstein; also known as the trace-reversed Ricci tensor) is used to express the curvature of a pseudo-Riemannian manifold. In general relativity , it occurs in the Einstein field equations for gravitation that describe spacetime curvature in a manner that is consistent with ...