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In general relativity, the metric tensor (in this context often abbreviated to simply the metric) is the fundamental object of study.The metric captures all the geometric and causal structure of spacetime, being used to define notions such as time, distance, volume, curvature, angle, and separation of the future and the past.
A metric tensor field g on M assigns to each point p of M a metric tensor g p in the tangent space at p in a way that varies smoothly with p. More precisely, given any open subset U of manifold M and any (smooth) vector fields X and Y on U , the real function g ( X , Y ) ( p ) = g p ( X p , Y p ) {\displaystyle g(X,Y)(p)=g_{p}(X_{p},Y_{p})} is ...
Also, sometimes η is replaced with −η, making the spatial terms produce negative contributions to the dot product or spacetime interval, while the time term makes a positive contribution. These differences can be used in any combination, so long as the choice of standards is followed completely throughout the computations performed.
Writing the coordinates in column vectors and the Minkowski metric η as a square matrix ′ = [′ ′ ′ ′], = [], = [] the spacetime interval takes the form (superscript T denotes transpose) = = ′ ′ and is invariant under a Lorentz transformation ′ = where Λ is a square matrix which can depend on parameters.
Specifying a metric tensor is part of the definition of any Lorentzian manifold. The simplest way to define this tensor is to define it in compatible local coordinate charts and verify that the same tensor is defined on the overlaps of the domains of the charts. In this article, we will only attempt to define the metric tensor in the domain of ...
Since the Rindler chart is a coordinate chart for Minkowski spacetime, we expect to find ten linearly independent Killing vector fields. Indeed, in the Cartesian chart we can readily find ten linearly independent Killing vector fields, generating respectively one parameter subgroups of time translation , three spatials, three rotations and ...
In these coordinates, the Euclidean metric tensor is given by = +. This can be seen via the change of variables formula for the metric tensor, or by computing the differential forms dx , dy via the exterior derivative of the 0-forms x = r cos( θ ) , y = r sin( θ ) and substituting them in the Euclidean metric tensor ds 2 = dx 2 + dy 2 .
Proper time is defined in general relativity as follows: Given a pseudo-Riemannian manifold with a local coordinates x μ and equipped with a metric tensor g μν, the proper time interval Δτ between two events along a timelike path P is given by the line integral [12]