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Assignment-2 PHY 4104

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1. Show the following


(a) The covariant derivative for a linear combination of two tensors of the same rank
is the same as linear combination of the covariant derivatives.

∇µ αT µ1 ···µp ν1 ···νq + βW µ1 ···µp ν1 ···νq = α∇µ T µ1 ···µp ν1 ···νq + β∇µ W µ1 ···µp ν1 ···νq


(b) The covariant derivative of the direct product of two tensors of arbitrary rank follows
the Leibnitz rule

∇µ T µ1 ···µp ν1 ···νq W ρ1 ···ρm σ1 ···σn = ∇µ T µ1 ···µp ν1 ···νq W ρ1 ···ρm σ1 ···σn


 

+ T µ1 ···µp ν1 ···νq (∇µ W ρ1 ···ρm σ1 ···σn )

(c) Covariant derivative of a contracted tensor is the same as contraction of the covari-
ant derivative

∇µ T ρµ1 µ2 ···µP ρν1 ν2 ···νq = ∂µ T ρµ1 µ2 ···µP ρν1 ν2 ···νq + Γµµσ1 T ρσµ2 ···µP ρν1 ν2 ···νq + · · · + Γµµσp T ρµ1 µ2 ···σ ρν1 ν2 ···νq
− Γσµν1 T ρµ1 µ2 ···µP ρσν2 ···νq − · · · − Γσµνq T ρµ1 µ2 ···µP ρν1 ν2 ···σ

2. Consider two tensors of rank (2,1) T µν ρ and rank (1,2) W µ νρ . How does the components
of the above tensors change under a parallel transport from xµ to xµ + dxµ . Consider a
tensor of rank (1,1) defined by contracting the two tensors as below.

V µ ν = T µρ σ W σ νρ

From the change in the components of the tensors “T” and “W” under parallel transport,
find the change in components of V µ ν under parallel transport. Show that it is consistent
with how a tensor of rank (1,1) should change under parallel transport.

3. (a) For slight deviation from the identity matrix M = I + , show that det M =
1 + Tr().
(b) Using the above result, show that when a matrix M is changed slightly by δM ,
then the quantity ln det M changes as below.

δ ln det M = TrM −1 δM

4. For a generic tensor of rank (2,0), show the following


1 √
∇µ T µν = √ ∂µ −gT µν + Γνρσ T ρσ

−g
Generalize the above result to a contravariant tensor of arbitrary rank i.e obtain ∇µ T µν1 ···νp .

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PHY-4104

5. Given a completely anti-symmetric covariant tensor of rank (0,q) Tµ1 ···µq , show the fol-
lowing

∇[µ Tµ1 ···µq ] = ∂[µ Tµ1 ···µq ]

6. The action for electromagnetic field interacting with gravity and an external current
4-vector is given as follows
√ √
Z Z
1
S=− d x −gFµν F − d4 x −gAµ J µ
4 µν
4
(a) Find the Maxwells equation by varying the above action w.r.t Aµ .
(b) Show that the gauge invariance of the above action leads to the conservation law
∇µ J µ = 0. Show that this conservation law is indeed obeyed from the Maxwell’s
equation derived above.
(c) A point particle
R of charge “q” couples to an electromagnetic field by the action
Sint = −q Aµ dxµ . Compare this with the action given in part (a) of this ques-
tion and obtain the current 4-vector J µ due to a single point particle of charge q.
Generalize this to obtain the current 4-vector J µ for multiple particles of charge
qn , where 1 ≤ n ≤ N and N is the number of particles. Explicitly show that the
current 4-vector J µ satisfies the conservation law ∇µ J µ = 0.

7. The Riemann tensor is defined as follows

Rµ νρσ = ∂σ Γµ νρ − ∂ρ Γµ νσ + Γανρ Γµασ − Γανσ Γµαρ (1)

Show that under g.c.t, Rµ νρσ transforms like a tensor

8. Define Rµνρσ ≡ gµλ Rλ νρσ . Show

1 ∂ 2 gµρ ∂ 2 gνρ ∂ 2 gµσ ∂ 2 gνσ


 
Rµνρσ = − − +
2 ∂xν ∂xσ ∂xµ ∂xσ ∂xν ∂xρ ∂xµ ∂xρ
+ gαβ Γαµρ Γβνσ − Γαµσ Γβνρ
 

9. The metric for a flat spacetime in an arbitrary coordinate system y µ , related to the
Cartesian coordinate system xµ , is given as follows
∂xα ∂xβ
gµν = ηαβ
∂y µ ∂y ν
Show that all the components of the Riemann tensor Rµ νρσ calculated for the above
metric are zero.

10. Show the following:

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PHY-4104

(a)

[∇µ , ∇ν ] Vρ = Vσ Rσ ρµν

(b)

[∇µ , ∇ν ] V ρ = −Rρ σµν V σ

(c)

[∇µ , ∇ν ] V ρ1 ···ρp σ1 ···σq = −Rρ1 σµν V σρ2 ···ρp σ1 ···σq − · · · − Rρp σµν V ρ1 ···ρp−1 σ σ1 ···σq
+ V ρ1 ···ρp σσ2 ···σq Rσ σ1 µν + · · · + V ρ1 ···ρp σ1 ···σq−1 σ Rσ σq µν

Where, Rµ νρσ is the Riemann tensor defined in (1)

11. Show that in 3-dimensions, Riemann tensor is related to Ricci tensor and Ricci scalar
by the following equation
R
Rµνρσ = (Rµρ gνσ − Rνρ gµσ − Rµσ gνρ + Rνσ gµρ ) − (gµρ gνσ − gµσ gνρ )
2

12. The geodesic deviation equation is given as

d2 δxµ µ
ν
σ dx dx
ρ
µ dxν dδxρ
+ ∂ σ Γνρ (x(τ ))δx + 2Γ νρ (x(τ )) =0
dτ 2 dτ dτ dτ dτ
(a) Show that the above equation can be written as

D2 δxµ µ dxν dxσ ρ


= R νρσ δx
Dτ 2 dτ dτ
(b) Consider a metric that represents a weak and static gravity as shown below

ds2 = −(1 + 2φ)dt2 + gij dxi dxj

In Cartesian coordinates gij = δij + hij . Static condition implies ∂0 φ = ∂0 hij = 0


and weak gravity means |φ|, |hij | << 1. Show that the geodesic deviation equation
for a non relativistic particle in weak and static gravity in Cartesian coordinates
gives us the following tidal equation

d2 δxi
= −(∂i ∂j φ)δxj
dt2
(c) The quantity aij = −∂i ∂j φ is known as the tidal acceleration tensor. Find the tidal
acceleration tensor in the gravitational field of a spherical mass “M”

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(d) Write down the tidal equation in spherical polar coordinates. Discuss how radial
separation and angular separation evolves with time. What will be the behaviour
of an initial spherical droplet. Will it remain spherical or will its shape change?

13. The gravitational field outside a non-rotating star is given by a static and spherically
symmetric metric. The most general ansatz for a static and spherically symmetric metric
is given as follows, in the spherical polar coordinate system

ds2 = −f (r)dt2 + g(r)dr2 + h(r)(dθ2 + sin2 θdφ2 )

(a) Show that, by a coordinate transformation, one can bring the above metric to the
following form

ds2 = −F (r)dt2 + G(r)dr2 + r2 (dθ2 + sin2 θdφ2 ) (2)

(b) Find the non zero components of Christoffel connection, Riemann tensor and Ricci
tensor for the above metric.

14. Recall how vectors and tensors transform under g.c.t. Let us take an infinitesimal general
coordinate transformation x0µ = xµ − µ (x).
(a) To first order in , show the following

δVµ = ρ ∂ρ Vµ + Vρ ∂µ ρ
δV µ = ρ ∂ρ V µ − V ρ ∂ρ µ
δTµν = ρ ∂ρ Tµν + Tρν ∂µ ρ + Tµρ ∂ν ρ

Where δT ··· ··· is defined, for any tensor of any rank (p,q), as δT ··· ··· = T 0··· ··· (x) −
T ··· ··· (x).
(b) Using the results from above show the following for metric tensor gµν

δgµν = ∇µ ν + ∇ν µ

where the covariant derivatives and raising/lowering are w.r.t the old metric gµν
(c) The infinitesimal coordinate transformation given by a particular µ is said to be
the isometry of the metric if δgµν = 0. The corresponding µ are called Killing
vectors. For the metric given in (2), show that µ = λξ µ , for the following ξ µ , are
the Killing vectors. Here λ is a small constant parameter.

ξ (1) = (1, 0, 0, 0)
ξ (2) = (0, 0, 0, 1)
ξ (3) = (0, 0, sin φ, cot θ cos φ)
ξ (4) = (0, 0, − cos φ, cot θ sin φ)

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The components given above should be read as (ξ t , ξ r , ξ θ , ξ φ ). The superscripts


inside the “()” braces above are used just to distinguish the vectors from each
other.
(d) Define differential operators Li = ξ (i)µ ∂µ , where 1 ≤ i ≤ 4. Find the commutation
relations [Li , Lj ]. Do the operators close under this commutation?

15. Consider a system of “n” charged particles of mass mi and charge qi , where 1 ≤ i ≤ n.
In the presence of gravity, we defined the following energy-momentum tensor for the
system of masses as well as the Eelectromagnetic field:
n
dxµi dxνi (4)
Z
µν 1 X
TM =√ mi δ (x − xi (τi ))dτi
−g i=1 dτi dτi
µν 1
TEM = F µ ρ F νρ − g µν Fρσ F ρσ
4
µν µν
Show that ∇µ (TM + TEM ) = 0.

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