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BRIEF REVIEW OF GENERAL RELATIVITY

Miguel Alcubierre

in Introduction to 3+1 Numerical Relativity

Published in print: 2008 Published Online: Publisher: Oxford University Press
September 2008 DOI: 10.1093/
ISBN: 9780199205677 eISBN: 9780191709371 acprof:oso/9780199205677.003.0001
Item type: chapter

This chapter presents some of the basic concepts of general relativity.

Topics discussed include notation and conventions, special relativity,
manifolds and tensors, the metric tensor, Lie derivatives and Killing
fields, coordinate transformationsm, covariant derivatives and geodesics,
curvature, Bianchi identities and the Einstein tensor, general relativity,
matter and the stress-energy tensor, the Einstein field equations, weak
fields and gravitational waves, the Schwarzschild solution and black
holes, black holes with charge and angular momentum, and causal
structure, singularities and black holes.

THE 3+1 FORMALISM

Miguel Alcubierre

in Introduction to 3+1 Numerical Relativity

Published in print: 2008 Published Online: Publisher: Oxford University Press
September 2008 DOI: 10.1093/
ISBN: 9780199205677 eISBN: 9780191709371 acprof:oso/9780199205677.003.0002
Item type: chapter

There are several different approaches to the problem of separating the

Einstein field equations in a way that allows us to give certain initial data,
and from there obtain the subsequent evolution of the gravitational field.
Specific formalisms differ in the way in which this separation is carried
out. This chapter focuses on the 3+1 formalism, where spacetime is split
into three-dimensional space on the one hand, and time on the other.
The 3+1 formalism is the most commonly used in numerical relativity,
but it is certainly not the only one. Topics discussed include the 3+1
split of spacetime, extrinsic curvature, the Einstein constraints, the ADM
evolution equations, free versus constrained evolution, Hamiltonian

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formulation, the BSSNOK formulation, alternative formalisms, the
characteristic approach, and the conformal approach.

Einstein Equation and its Spherical Solution

Ta-Pei Cheng

in A College Course on Relativity and Cosmology

Published in print: 2015 Published Online: Publisher: Oxford University Press
August 2015 DOI: 10.1093/
ISBN: 9780199693405 eISBN: 9780191803130 acprof:oso/9780199693405.003.0006
Item type: chapter

The general relativity (GR) field equation relates spacetime

curvature to mass/energy distribution. Its solution is the metric,
determining spacetime geometry. This chapter introduces curvature
in differential geometry, and then shows that in the geometric theory
of gravitation, curvature has a physical interpretation as tidal gravity.
The nonrelativistic theory of tidal forces is reviewed in terms of the
Newtonian deviation equation. The symmetries and contractions of the
Riemann curvature are presented in a search for a symmetric rank-2
curvature tensor for the GR field equation. A spherically symmetric
metric involves two unknown scalar functions; they can be determined
by the Schwarzschild solution of the Einstein equation. Embedding
diagrams can be used to visualize such warped spaces. GR predicts solar
deflection of light that is twice as large as implied by the equivalence
principle alone. GPS and the precession of Mercury’s perihelion are
worked out as successful applications of GR.

INITIAL DATA
Miguel Alcubierre

in Introduction to 3+1 Numerical Relativity

Published in print: 2008 Published Online: Publisher: Oxford University Press
September 2008 DOI: 10.1093/
ISBN: 9780199205677 eISBN: 9780191709371 acprof:oso/9780199205677.003.0003
Item type: chapter

Only six out of ten Einstein field equations contain time derivatives
and therefore represent the true evolution equations of the spacetime
geometry. The remaining four equations are constraints that must
be satisfied at all times — these are the Hamiltonian and momentum
constraints. The constraints form a system of four coupled partial
differential equations of elliptic type, and in general they are difficult to
solve. There are several well-known procedures to solve these equations
in specific circumstances. This chapter considers both the conformal

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decomposition of York and Lichnerowicz and the so-called conformal
thin-sandwich approaches to the problem of finding initial data. It also
considers the special case of initial data for black hole spacetimes.

Equations of motion
in Advanced General Relativity: Gravity Waves, Spinning Particles, and Black
Holes
Published in print: 2013 Published Online: Publisher: Oxford University Press
September 2013 DOI: 10.1093/
ISBN: 9780199680696 eISBN: 9780191760662 acprof:oso/9780199680696.003.0003
Item type: chapter

A technique for extracting the relativistic equations of motion of

Schwarzschild, Reissner–Nordström, or Kerr particles moving in external
fields, from the vacuum Einstein or Einstein–Maxwell field equations, as
appropriate, is motivated and explained. The distinguishing features of
the technique are (1) the use of a coordinate system attached to the null
hypersurface histories of the wavefronts of the radiation produced by
the particle motion, (2) the emergence of the approximate equations of
motion of the particle from the field equations and the requirement that
the wavefronts are smoothly deformed spheres near the particle, and (3)
the absence of infinities arising in the process. The particular case of a
spinning particle or Kerr particle is described in detail. The particles are
not test particles although spinning test particles are also discussed.

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