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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.
The mean curvature is an extrinsic measure of curvature equal to half the sum of the principal curvatures, k 1 + k 2 / 2 . It has a dimension of length −1. Mean curvature is closely related to the first variation of surface area. In particular, a minimal surface such as a soap film has mean curvature zero and a soap bubble has
The only regular (of class C 2) closed surfaces in R 3 with constant positive Gaussian curvature are spheres. [2] If a sphere is deformed, it does not remain a sphere, proving that a sphere is rigid. A standard proof uses Hilbert's lemma that non-umbilical points of extreme principal curvature have non-positive Gaussian curvature. [3]
In mathematical physics, n-dimensional de Sitter space (often denoted dS n) is a maximally symmetric Lorentzian manifold with constant positive scalar curvature.It is the Lorentzian [further explanation needed] analogue of an n-sphere (with its canonical Riemannian metric).
The scalar curvature is the total trace of the Riemannian curvature tensor, a smooth function on the manifold (,), and in the Kähler case the condition that the scalar curvature is constant admits a transformation into an equation similar to the complex Monge–Ampere equation of the Kähler–Einstein setting.
The curvature of a Riemannian manifold can be described in various ways; the most standard one is the curvature tensor, given in terms of a Levi-Civita connection (or covariant differentiation) and Lie bracket [,] by the following formula: (,) = [,].
The scalar field behaves like a variable gravitational constant, in terms of modulating the coupling of electromagnetic stress–energy to spacetime curvature. The sign of in the metric is fixed by correspondence with 4D theory so that electromagnetic energy densities are positive. It is often assumed that the fifth coordinate is spacelike in ...
In particular, if M is a hypersurface of P, i.e. =, then there is only one mean curvature to speak of. The immersion is called minimal if all the H j {\displaystyle H_{j}} are identically zero. Observe that the mean curvature is a trace, or average, of the second fundamental form, for any given component.