You are on page 1of 53

Gravitation 1st Edition Prasanna

Visit to download the full and correct content document:


https://textbookfull.com/product/gravitation-1st-edition-prasanna/
More products digital (pdf, epub, mobi) instant
download maybe you interests ...

Projects. 9 th edition Edition Prasanna Chandra

https://textbookfull.com/product/projects-9-th-edition-edition-
prasanna-chandra/

Gravitation From Newton to Einstein Pierre Fleury

https://textbookfull.com/product/gravitation-from-newton-to-
einstein-pierre-fleury/

Financial Management: Theory and Practice 10th 10th


Edition Prasanna Chandra

https://textbookfull.com/product/financial-management-theory-and-
practice-10th-10th-edition-prasanna-chandra/

Principles of cosmology and gravitation First Issued In


Hardback Edition Berry

https://textbookfull.com/product/principles-of-cosmology-and-
gravitation-first-issued-in-hardback-edition-berry/
Acute Neuro Care Focused Approach to Neuroemergencies
Prasanna Udupi Bidkar

https://textbookfull.com/product/acute-neuro-care-focused-
approach-to-neuroemergencies-prasanna-udupi-bidkar/

PROJECTS: Planning, Analysis, Selection, Financing,


Implementation, and Review 9th Edition Prasanna Chandra

https://textbookfull.com/product/projects-planning-analysis-
selection-financing-implementation-and-review-9th-edition-
prasanna-chandra/

Building the general relativity and gravitation


community during the Cold War Lalli

https://textbookfull.com/product/building-the-general-relativity-
and-gravitation-community-during-the-cold-war-lalli/

Chemokines 1st Edition Handel

https://textbookfull.com/product/chemokines-1st-edition-handel/

Alamein 1st Edition Ball

https://textbookfull.com/product/alamein-1st-edition-ball/
GRAVITATION
GRAVITATION

A R Prasanna
Physical Research Laboratory
Ahmedabad, India
CRC Press
Taylor & Francis Group
6000 Broken Sound Parkway NW, Suite 300
Boca Raton, FL 33487-2742
© 2017 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
CRC Press is an imprint of Taylor & Francis Group, an Informa business

No claim to original U.S. Government works

Printed on acid-free paper


Version Date: 20161109

International Standard Book Number-13: 978-1-4987-4664-9 (Hardback)

This book contains information obtained from authentic and highly regarded sources. Reasonable
efforts have been made to publish reliable data and information, but the author and publisher cannot
assume responsibility for the validity of all materials or the consequences of their use. The authors and
publishers have attempted to trace the copyright holders of all material reproduced in this publication
and apologize to copyright holders if permission to publish in this form has not been obtained. If any
copyright material has not been acknowledged please write and let us know so we may rectify in any
future reprint.

Except as permitted under U.S. Copyright Law, no part of this book may be reprinted, reproduced,
transmitted, or utilized in any form by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or
hereafter invented, including photocopying, microfilming, and recording, or in any information stor-
age or retrieval system, without written permission from the publishers.

For permission to photocopy or use material electronically from this work, please access www.copy-
right.com (http://www.copyright.com/) or contact the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc. (CCC), 222
Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, 978-750-8400. CCC is a not-for-profit organization that pro-
vides licenses and registration for a variety of users. For organizations that have been granted a photo-
copy license by the CCC, a separate system of payment has been arranged.

Trademark Notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are
used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
Visit the Taylor & Francis Web site at
http://www.taylorandfrancis.com
and the CRC Press Web site at
http://www.crcpress.com
Dedicated to the Memory of My parents,
Srimati Ramarao & Professor A.Ramarao
Contents

List of Figures xiii

List of Tables xix

Foreword xxi

Preface xxiii

1 Mathematical Preliminaries 1

1.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.1.1 Vectors, differential forms and tensors . . . . . . . . . 2
1.1.1.1 Vector algebra and calculus . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.1.2 Covectors and Differential forms . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.1.2.1 Algebra and calculus of forms . . . . . . . . 5
1.1.2.2 Exterior differentiation . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.1.2.3 Mapping of forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.1.3 Tensors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.1.3.1 Tensor algebra . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1.2 Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1.3 Variational calculus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
1.3.0.1 The brachistrochrone . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
1.4 Geometry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
1.4.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
1.4.2 Conic sections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
1.4.2.1 Ellipse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
1.4.2.2 Parabola . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
1.4.2.3 Hyperbola . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
1.4.3 Metric, connection and curvature . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
1.4.3.1 Curvature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

2 Prerelativity Physics 35

2.1 Classical mechanics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35


2.1.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

vii
viii Contents

2.1.2 Concept of inertia and laws of motion . . . . . . . . . 36


2.1.3 Particle mechanics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
2.1.3.1 Momentum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
2.1.4 Kepler’s laws of planetary motion . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
2.1.4.1 Velocity and acceleration in polar coordinates 41
2.1.4.2 Projectile motion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
2.1.4.3 Energy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
2.1.4.4 System of particles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
2.1.5 Lagrangian mechanics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
2.1.5.1 Euler–Lagrange equations . . . . . . . . . . . 52
2.1.6 Symmetry and conservation laws . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
2.1.6.1 Effective potential . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
2.2 Optics and electrodynamics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
2.2.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
2.2.2 Light–Its speed and nature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
2.2.2.1 Michelson–Morley experiment . . . . . . . . 59
2.2.3 Electromagnetism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
2.2.3.1 Maxwell’s equations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
2.2.3.2 Wave equation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
2.3 Plasma physics and fluid dynamics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
2.3.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
2.3.2 Fluid dynamics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
2.3.2.1 Equations of motion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
2.3.2.2 Equations of state . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
2.3.2.3 Integration of Euler’s equations . . . . . . . 71
2.3.2.4 General fluids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
2.3.2.5 Viscous fluids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
2.3.2.6 Rayleigh criterion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
2.3.3 Plasma physics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
2.3.3.1 Single particle approach and guiding center
approximation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
2.3.4 Magnetohydrodynamics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

3 Special Relativity 83

3.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
3.2 Postulates and kinematics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
3.2.1 Light cone and its structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
3.2.1.1 Minkowski metric and Lorentz transforma-
tions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
3.2.2 Lorentz transformations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
3.2.3 Kinematics of special relativity . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
3.2.3.1 Time dilation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
3.2.3.2 Length contraction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Contents ix

3.2.4 Addition of velocities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96


3.2.5 Transverse Doppler effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
3.2.6 Acceleration in special relativity . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
3.2.7 Geometrical representation of Lorentz transformations 100
3.3 Relativistic mechanics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
3.3.1 Four–momentum conservation and Noether’s theorem 104
3.4 Relativistic electrodynamics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
3.4.1 Gauge invariance and current conservation . . . . . . 107
3.4.2 Field equations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
3.5 Relativistic hydrodynamics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112

4 General Relativity 115

4.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115


4.2 Foundations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
4.2.1 Principle of equivalence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
4.2.1.1 Eotvos’s experiment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
4.2.1.2 Gravity and its influence on light . . . . . . . 118
4.2.2 Principle of covariance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
4.3 Space-time geometry for gravitation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
4.3.1 Relative acceleration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
4.4 Field equations of gravity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
4.4.1 Isometry and Killing vectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
4.4.2 Field equations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
4.5 Lagrangian formalism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
4.5.1 Formal derivation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
4.5.2 Equations for gravity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
4.6 Electrodynamics on curved space–time . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
4.6.1 Dynamics of a charged particle . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
4.6.2 Wave equation on curved space–time . . . . . . . . . . 146
4.6.2.1 Nonminimal coupling of electromagnetism and
gravity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
4.6.3 Geometrical optics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
4.7 General relativistic hydrodynamics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
4.7.1 Tetrads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
4.7.2 Fluid tensor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
4.7.3 Perfect fluid distribution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
4.7.4 Viscous fluids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158

5 Exact Solutions and Applications 161

5.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161


5.2 Static solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
x Contents

5.2.1 Scwarzschild solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162


5.2.2 Reissner–Nordstrom solution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
5.2.3 Einstein universe and the cosmological constant . . . . 170
5.2.3.1 deSitter universe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
5.3 Classical tests of general relativity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
5.3.1 Einstein redshift . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
5.3.2 Particle orbits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
5.3.3 Precession of planetary orbits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
5.3.4 Photon trajectory and light bending . . . . . . . . . . 179
5.3.5 Radar reflection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
5.3.6 GPS, Global Positioning System . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
5.4 Post–Newtonian approximation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
5.4.1 The framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
5.5 Nonstatic solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190
5.5.1 Cosmological models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190
5.5.2 Vaidya solution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195

6 Astrophysical Applications 199

6.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199


6.2 Spherically symmetric models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200
6.3 Coordinates and their implications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
6.4 Gravitational collapse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
6.4.1 Standard solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
6.4.2 Rotation and consequences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211
6.5 Kerr solution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
6.5.1 Petrov classification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
6.5.1.1 (a) Matrix method of classification . . . . . . 214
6.5.1.2 (b) Tensor method of classification . . . . . . 216
6.5.2 Kerr solution–continued . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217
6.5.3 Some physical features of Kerr metric . . . . . . . . . 221
6.5.3.1 Motion of test particles . . . . . . . . . . . . 224
6.5.3.2 Spinning particles in general relativity . . . . 226
6.5.3.3 Gravity probe B experiment . . . . . . . . . 228
6.5.4 Kerr–Newman solution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
6.6 Gravitational waves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230
6.6.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230
6.6.2 Linearised gravity, plane gravitational waves . . . . . 230
6.6.3 Generation of gravitational waves . . . . . . . . . . . . 236
6.6.4 Detection of gravitational waves . . . . . . . . . . . . 239
6.6.5 Binary systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242
6.6.6 Gravitational waves on curved background . . . . . . 247
6.6.6.1 WKB formalism for multicomponent fields . 247
6.6.7 Perturbations of Einstein’s equations with nonzero T ij 250
Contents xi

6.6.7.1 Perfect fluid distribution . . . . . . . . . . . 250


6.6.7.2 Transport of amplitudes . . . . . . . . . . . . 254
6.6.7.3 Dissipative fluid with viscosity . . . . . . . . 256
6.6.7.4 Amplitude transport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257
6.7 Gravitational lensing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258
6.7.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258
6.7.2 Lensing geometry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259
Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264

7 Accretion Dynamics 271

7.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271


7.1.1 Physics of accretion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272
7.1.1.1 Emitted spectrum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273
7.1.2 Accretion theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274
7.1.2.1 Relativistic considerations . . . . . . . . . . . 278
7.1.2.2 Role of magnetic fields . . . . . . . . . . . . 280
7.1.2.3 Slowly rotating dipole . . . . . . . . . . . . . 288
7.1.2.4 Motion off the equatorial plane–meridional
motion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293
7.1.2.5 Particle orbits in a toroidal field . . . . . . . 295
7.1.2.6 Motion around charged blackholes . . . . . . 297
7.2 Accretion discs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299
7.2.1 Thick accretion discs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 308
7.2.2 Discs with magnetic fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311
7.2.3 Accretion in binary systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 314
7.2.4 Relativistic accretion discs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 318
7.2.5 Accretion by a slowly rotating compact object . . . . 322
7.2.6 Perfect fluid discs with self–consistent electromagnetic
fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 324
7.2.7 Advection dominated accretion discs, ADAF . . . . . 337
7.2.8 Coriolis force and accretion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 342
Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 345

8 Inertial Forces in General Relativity 351

8.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 351


8.2 Formalism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 352
8.2.1 ADM slicing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 355
8.3 Specific examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 356
8.3.1 Schwarzschild geometry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 356
8.3.1.1 Rayleigh criterion and action of viscosity . . 357
8.3.1.2 Behaviour of ellipticity . . . . . . . . . . . . 359
8.3.1.3 Centrifugal force reversal and behaviour of el-
lipticity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 361
xii Contents

8.3.2 Kerr Geometry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 365


8.3.3 Role of Coriolis force . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 366
8.4 Centrifugal force and fluid flow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 371
Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 373

9 Gravity as a Gauge Theory 375

9.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 375


9.2 Einstein–Cartan theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 378
9.2.0.1 Some basic formulae . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 378
9.2.1 Field equations outside matter distribution . . . . . . 381
9.2.2 Gravitational field in the presence of Fermionic matter 385
9.2.3 Role of torsion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 388
9.2.3.1 Torsion and birefringence . . . . . . . . . . . 388
Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 390

Index 393
List of Figures

1.1 Pictorial representation of a differential manifold. . . . . . . 2


1.2 Rotation of axes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
1.3 Function and its variation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
1.4 The brachistrochrone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
1.5 The brachistrochrone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
1.6 Conic sections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
1.7 Ellipse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
1.8 Parabola . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
1.9 Hyperbola . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
1.10 Transport of a vector [12] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
1.11 Curvature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
1.12 Vector transport along a closed curve [12] . . . . . . . . . . 30

2.1 Particle in a curved path . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40


2.2 Particle in a circular path [14] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
2.3 Particle in a curvilinear trajectory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
2.4 Two masses (M,m) and their center of mass (C) . . . . . . . 44
2.5 Projectile motion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
2.6 Plot of Vef f . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
2.7 Michelson–Morley interferometer[14] . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
2.8 Thomson and Meadows [14] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

3.1 Signal reception [7] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87


3.2 Light like trajectories [7] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
3.3 Null cone and trajectories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
3.4 Two frames in relative motion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
3.5 Rotation in (x, t) space . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101

4.1 Torsion balance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117


4.2 Freely falling spaceship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
4.3 S–T diagram for light signal [10] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
4.4 Two coins in the freely falling elevator [10] . . . . . . . . . . 123
4.5 Two freely falling particles [10] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
4.6 Congruence of world lines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
2
5.1 Plot of Vef f as a function of r in Schwarzschild geometry . . 177

xiii
xiv List of Figures

5.2 Plot of Vef f for photon as a function of r in Schwarzschild


geometry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180
5.3 Bending of star light [11] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
5.4 Radar reflection from planets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183

6.1 Penrose diagram for Petrov classification,where classification


is carried out with arrows pointing in the direction of increased
specialisation. From I to O, the march is from anisotropy to
isotropy [70] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216
6.2 Kerr geometry with different surfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
6.3 Gravitational wave passing thrugh a ring of particles. (a) Be-
fore, (b)wave with + polarisation, and (c) wave with x polar-
isation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233
6.4 Typical wave form computed numerically using the post–
Newtonian approach and the calculations are stopped just
before the merger stage [118] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241
6.5 Orbital decay of PSR 1913+16 during 1975 to 2003 [103] . . 244
6.6 The three modes of perfect fluid perturbations [46] . . . . . 252
6.7 Gravitational lensing geometry. (a) S source, S1 and S2 , im-
ages, L, lensing object. The photon trajectories are shown as
hyperbolic paths. (b) Angles and distances in the geometry
[102] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260
6.8 Einstein ring, Hubble image. The Einstein Ring LRG 3-757
was discovered in 2007 in data from the Sloan Digital Sky Sur-
vey (SDSS). The image shown above is a follow-up observation
taken with the Hubble Space Telescope’s Wide Field Camera
3. Strong gravitational lenses like LRG 3-757 are more than
oddities –their multiple properties could allow astronomers to
determine the mass and dark matter content of the foreground
galaxy lenses. (Wikimedia Commons, [116]) . . . . . . . . . 261
6.9 First find of gravitational lensing, double quasar 0957+561,
also known as the Twin Quasar, which is located about 14
billion light-years from earth [101] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262
6.10 Abell 2218 is a rich galaxy cluster that contains more than
10,000 galaxies, located some 2.35 billion light-years away
(redshift 0.18) in the northern constellation of Draco. A beau-
tiful example of gravitational lensing showing ring structure of
lensed background objects [117] (Image Credit: NASA, ESA,
and Johan Richard (Caltech, USA) Davide de Martin, and
James Long (ESA/Hubble) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264

7.1 Plot of v − vs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276


7.2 Plots of Vn and Vgr . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279
7.3 Plots of Vef f . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283
7.4 Plots of Vef f . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284
List of Figures xv

7.5 Equatorial plots of a charged particle in a dipole field on


Schwarzschild background [80] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285
7.6 Equatorial plots of charged particle orbits in a dipole field on
Kerr background [81] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287
7.7 Equatorial plots of charged particle orbits in a dipole field on
Kerr background in LNRF. [72] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 288
7.8 Plots of Vef f for a dipole magnetic field on linearised Kerr
background for different sets of parameters. (a) λ = 100, J
= 0.310, L = 40 (solidline),= 70 (dots), = 100 (dash), = 130
(dash dot), b) L = 70, J = 0.310, λ = 25 (solid line), =
100 (dots), = 175 (dash), = 250 (dash dot), c) J = 0.310,
λ = 3.1010 , L = 109 , = 1.25x109, = 1.5x109, = 1.75x109., d) λ
= 100, L = 70.78, J = 0 (solid ), = 0.271(dots), = 0.541(dash),
= 0.813(dash dot). e) Each curve represents two different sets
of values, J = 0, L = ± 130, λ = ±100, for the solid line, J
= ± 0.31, L =± 130,λ = ± 100, (J < 0, L and λ >0 and
vice versa) for the dashed line, and all the three positive or
negative for the dotted curve. [77] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 290
7.9 Equatorial plots of charged particle orbits in a uniform mag-
netic field on Kerr background. (a) α = 0.9, λ = 150, ρ0 =
3.654, ρ1 = 3.13043, ρ2 = 4.15418, E = 150, L = 1000, (b)α =
0.99, λ = 1000, ρ0 = 1.5421, ρ1 = 1.48561, ρ2 = 1.60200, E =
350, L = 1000. (b1), B-L frame, (b2), LNRF. [81], [72] . . . 292
7.10 Equatorial plots of charged particle orbits in a uniform mag-
netic field of Ernst background. (a) bound orbit (b) capture
orbit [40] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293
7.11 Projection of the r θ motion of a positively charged particle in
a dipole field on Schwarzschild background off the equatorial
plane [80] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294
7.12 Projection of the particle motion, of a charged particle in a
dipole field on Hartle-Thorne background off the equatorial
plane, on both the (X,Y) (a) and (X,Z)(b) planes,[77] . . . . 295
7.13 Projections of the particle trajectories in a purely toroidal(λt )
magnetic field , (a) E = 2, L = 10, λt = 50, ρ0 = 3.5, (dθ/dσ)0
= 0, (dϕ/dσ)0 = -1.92 ( b) E = 5, L = 20, λt = 25, ρ0 = 10,
(dθ/dσ)0 = 0.3, (dϕ/dσ)0 = -3.714 (c) E = 5, L = 20, λt =
50, ρ0 = 3.5, (dθ/dσ)0 = 0.3, (dϕ/dσ)0 = 3.17 [78] . . . . . 296
7.14 Projections of the particle trajectories in a combined
toroidal(λt ) + poloidal(λp ) magnetic field , (a) E = 2, L
= 91.76, λt = 8, λp = 80, ρ0 = 2.5, (dθ/dσ)0 = 0.3, (dρ/dσ)0
= -1.92 b) E = 5, L = 9.4, λt = 4, λp = 80, ρ0 = 10, (dθ/dσ)0
= 0, (dρ/dσ)0 = -4.91 c) E = 5, L = 41.38, λt = 400,λp = 80,
ρ0 = 3.5, (dθ/dσ)0 = 0.3, (dρ/dσ)0 = 4.9 [78] . . . . . . . . 297
xvi List of Figures

7.15 Effective potential plots for charged particles in extreme (Q


= m) R–N geometry. e/m0 varying from 2 to -2, as shown in
plots 1 to 5. U indicates unstable orbit [41][88] . . . . . . . . 298
7.16 Equatorial temperature profile for the case M = 10M⊙ (the
upper) and 108 M⊙ (the lower)[10] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 306
7.17 Surface density Σ profiles for the same cases as above [10] . 307
7.18 Sequence of standard disc accretion models for different
masses of the blackhole [10] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307
7.19 Limit cycle, M = 10 M⊙ , α = 1, R = 5Rg [10] . . . . . . . . 308
7.20 Sketch of a thick accretion disc [10] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309
7.21 Jaroszynski angular momentum distributions [13] . . . . . . 312
7.22 A binary star configuration [10] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315
7.23 Sections in the orbital plane of the Roche equipotentials, φR =
const. for a binary with mass ratio q = 0.25. For more details
refer [10] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 316
7.24 Meridional sections of the disc (dashed line Newtonian, solid
line general relativistic) [35] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 321
7.25 Pressure profiles for a thin disc, (a) ρout = 10−4 g/cc, B0 =
7.108 G, N = 12, xin = 15m , (b) k = 0, (c) N = 6, xin = 9m
[96] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 327
7.26 Pressure profiles for thick discs. (a) B0 = 109 G, n =
0.1, (b)B0 = 5.108 G, (c)k = 0, B0 = 109 G [96] . . . . . . . . . 328
7.27 Profiles for thin discs. (a) B0 = 109 G, l = 1, ρ0 =
10−8 ; (b)B0 = 109 G, l = 1, ρ0 = 10−8 ; (c)B0 = 1010 G, l =
1, ρ0 = 10−8 ; (d)B0 = 1010 G, ρ0 = 10−7 , l = 1; (e)B0 =
1010 G, l = 1, ρ0 = 10−7 ; (f )l = 1, α = 0.2, ρ0 = 10−7 [25] . . 329
7.28 Density and pressure profiles for discs with varying density
(a)density, (f) pressure with values B0 = 109 G, l = 1, ρ0 =
10−7 , γ = 4/3, vs = 0.5; (b)B0 = 109 G, l = 1, ρ0 = 10−7 , α =
0.2, vs = 0.5; (c)B0 = 109 G, l = 1ρ0 = 10−7 , α = 0.2, γ =
4/3; (d)B0 = 109 G, vs = 0.5, ρ0 = 10−7 , α = 0.2, γ =
4/3; (e)B0 = 109 G, l = 1, vs = 0.5, α = 0.2, γ = 4/3 [25] . . . 330
7.29 (a) The parameter space (α, β). The area subtended below
the dashed curve shows the allowed region restricted by (i).
The area below the solid cutve is the allowed region by (ii)
and the area below the dashed line is the allowed region by
(iii). The shaded portion is the allowed parameter space. (b)
Density profile along the meridional direction, (θ = 0 − π) for
β = 0, and three values for α [17] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 332
7.30 Pressure profiles for the meridional section for (a) β = 0,
varying α and (b) for α = 2 varying β [17] . . . . . . . . . . 333
7.31 Magnetic field line projections [17] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 333
7.32 Parameter space (α, β) at r̃ = 6 for quasi Keplerian azimuthal
velocity and (b) βmax as a function of r̃ [18] . . . . . . . . . 335
List of Figures xvii

7.33 (a) αmin as a function of r̃, and (b) Pressure profiles as a func-
tion of θ at r̃ = 6, α = 4, [18] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 336
7.34 Plots for the ratios of perturbed quantities to those from self–
similar solution,as functions of α. γ = 1.5[27] . . . . . . . . . 340
7.35 same as figure 7.34, but for γ = 1.55 plots indicate singular
behaviour around α = 0.35[27] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 341
7.36 (i) Bernoulli parameter b as a function of f for (a) and (c),
a=0 (solid line),= 0.25(dotted), = 0.5 (dashes); (b) and (d) a
= -0.1 (solid), = -0.2 (dots), = -0.25 (dashes). (ii) Plots of b
(a) and (b) as a function of a, for f = 0.1(solid),= 0.33(dots),
= 1(dashes); (iii) as a function of a, for γ = 1.5 (solid), = 1.3
(dots) ,= 1.001 (dashes) and (iv) as a function of γ, for a = 0
(solid),= 1(dots), = - 0.24,(dashes) [82] . . . . . . . . . . . . 344

8.1 The ellipticity of the boundary. ε is plotted against R/Rs and


measured in the units of (G2 J 2 /Rs4 c2 ) [15] . . . . . . . . . . 360
8.2 Four different plots for ellipticity ε̄, as a function of R/Rs ,
measured in the units of (cJ/GM 2 )2 [11] . . . . . . . . . . . 362
8.3 (a) Plot for centrifugal force F̃cf for different values of R in
units of 2m. (b) Plots for the ellipticity, where the solid curve
is for ε̄ in ORG, while the dotted curve is for [15]. Both curves
are in units of (G2 J 2 /c6 Rs4 ). [18] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 364
8.4 (a)The behaviour of the centrifugal force for different values
of a from [21] (b) location of R (solidline), prograde pho-
ton orbit(-.-.-.-) and retrograde photon orbit(- - -), (c,d) be-
haviours of Cfr(solid line) and Cor(—-) for the case a = 0.5m,
along the retrograde(c) and prograde (d) photon orbits [6] . 367
8.5 (a, b) The behaviour of the cumulative drag index C as a
function of Ω for fixed a and R. (c,d) Plots of the centrifugal
force for non circular orbits. for different values of a, but for
the same value of E and l [6] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 369
List of Tables

6.1 Measured Orbital Parameters for B 1913 + 16 System . . . 243

8.1 Location of Centrifugal Reversal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 366


8.2 Required Adjustment for ω . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 370

xix
Foreword

Prasanna’s Gravitation is a solid book about Albert Einstein’s theory of gen-


eral relativity, suitable as a university course text, or as a helpful resource for
individual study. The book has a clear logical line and certain pedagogical
merits. While the Author’s choices are obviously dictated by his own research
preferences and interests, the book represents a balanced, comprehensible mix-
ture of pure mathematics and practical astrophysical applications that are so
very characteristic to the modern content and style of Einstein’s theory.

1. Pure mathematics: After introducing special relativity in 1905, which re-


jected the Newtonian concept of absolute time and absolute space, and instead
introduced space–time as the most rudimentary fabric of physical reality, Al-
bert Einstein had a novel brilliant, idea that the phenomenon of gravity is due
to the curvature of space–time. Expressing the idea in proper mathematical
terms took him a whole decade (1905–1915) of laborious and painful efforts.
The grand finale was an enormous success, often regarded as the greatest
intellectual achievement of mankind. Einstein’s theory of general relativity,
formulated in 1915, opened minds to more things in heaven and earth than
were dreamt of in our philosophy: black holes, the Big Bang singularity, ex-
pansion of the Universe, gravitational waves.
Overwhelmingly beautiful, profound and difficult mathematics is the back-
bone of Einstein’s theory. One should forcefully stress that the mathematics
of Einstein’s theory of general relativity is not at all simple. It demands, from
those studying it, a solid background in tensor calculus, differential geome-
try, and classical dynamics, but also other spiritual virtues, a true scientific
curiosity, dedication,and patience; some say that 10,000 hours of studies are
necessary to become an expert in any field of general relativity. Prasanna’s
book is a good introduction to these marvellous mathematical treasures.

2. Astrophysical applications: At the beginning of the past cen-


tury,mathematical depth and beauty were the sole motivations for a small
community of dedicated scholars who were working on general relativity.
The situation changed at the legendary first Texas Symposium, where it was
recognized that general relativity was necessary to handle many aspects of
astrophysical reality. From that moment on, Einstein’s ideas helped ratio-
nalise some of the most spectacular objects and phenomena that occur in the
Universe. Black hole accretion is a key process that governs most of these.

xxi
xxii Foreword

Prasanna’s book offers a good introduction to these important issues. The


book also outlines some useful techniques used in astrophysical research,such
as optical geometry, which have previously only been described in their origi-
nal research articles.

I read Prasanna’s book with interest. It will reside in my library as a useful


reference.

Dr Marek A. Abramowicz, Professor Emeritus


Göteborg University, Physics Department
SE-412-96 Göteborg, Sweden
Preface

It is one hundred years since the theory of general relativity was put forward
by Albert Einstein, and in these hundred years the theory has advanced to
a level where it has become essential for physicists and astronomers to learn
the subject from basics. Again in these hundred years almost one hundred
books might have been written to cater to varied audiences, from laymen to
experts. One may ask why another book. I was first introduced to the sub-
ject when I was in higher secondary, more out of curiosity, by reading two
very readable titles, (i) ABC of Relativity by Bertrand Russel and (ii) Uni-
verse and Dr Einstein by Lincoln Barnett. Subsequently, after my masters in
mathematics, I took to the subject seriously and went on to pursue research
under the guidance of Professor V.V. Narlikar along with some unofficial guid-
ance from Professor P.C.Vaidya (he used to refer to me as his Eklavya). Over
the last fifty years, I have had the opportunity to interact with various top
ranking relativists and learn a little. About an year and half ago, when the
CRC Press, Taylor & Francis group, inquired whether I would like to write a
book on gravitation, I basically decided to put forth an account of the subject
without any advanced topics (as there are several by experts), but stick to
an elementary treatment of the subject accessible to graduate students and
also cover some topics on aspects of my own research of the past thirty odd
years in the context of the theory of relativity and its applications. As such, I
owe this treatise to all my collaborators, students, postdoctorals and several
senior colleagues.

The treatment of the subject tries to bring in a bit of historical develop-


ments, along with some familiar notions from prerelativity physics so that the
transition to special and general relativity is continuous. The book aims at
introducing the theory of general relativity, as an important background for
doing astrophysics, and covers mainly a few aspects like accretion dynamics,
inertial forces, and some basic discussion of gravity as a gauge theory.

Starting from a brief discussion of the various mathematical concepts re-


quired for doing general relativity, the first chapter introduces the language
needed for the geometric description of gravity. Considering the notions of
metric, connection, and curvature, the importance of covariant and Lie deriva-
tives are presented. A brief discussion of the variational principle leading to
the notion of geodesics and the constants of motion as given by Noether‘s

xxiii
xxiv Preface

theorem are presented.

Giving a brief historical perspective to classical mechanics and electrody-


namics, an attempt is made to establish the necessity of special relativity as
propounded by Einstein, which is then extended to general relativity, a theory
of gravity on the Riemannian manifold. The classical solutions and tests, as
well as other significant tests associated with the binary pulsar, the gravity
probe B, and gravitational lensing are briefly discussed. As the detection of
gravitational waves was announced by the LIGO team just recently, I found it
necessary to include some discussion on this topic concerning the generaton,
propagation and detection of gravitational waves.

Highly energetic cosmic sources like quasars and AGNs require a much
stronger source of energetics, than one is accustomed to in stars, and is ob-
tainable from accretion of matter onto highly compact objects. Both spherical
accretion, accretion disks and their dynamics are discussed with a few ex-
amples and models. The role of general relativity in the discussion of these
phenomena is pointed out, through a discussion of charged particle orbits in
electromagnetic fields on a curved background in general as well as in the
dynamics of disks.

As the Newtonian concept of inertial forces is perhaps more familiar, to the


astrophysical community, the concept of 3+1 formalism of GR is introduced
and the geodesic equation is interpreted in terms of the familiar, gravitational,
centrifugal, and Coriolis forces, and applying this onto familiar solutions, some
new features are pointed out.

Finally, to keep in line with the other fundamental forces, gravity is treated
as a gauge field of the Lorentz group or the Poincare group. It is emphasised
that gravity as a Poincare gauge theory, discussed in Einstein–Cartan theory,
seems to be more presentable, as it brings in the geometrisation of spin along
with energy momentum, successfully giving a dynamical role to torsion, the
antisymmetric part of the connection. As the energy momentum represents
curvature of the manifold, and torsion the spin, this appears a better generali-
sation of special theory of relativity, for geometrising gravity on a Space–time
manifold.

None of the modern aspects in cosmology or quantum related topics are


considered, since there are ample books and reviews by topic experts covering
these areas. In this context it is useful to point out that excellent set of re-
views are available in Living reviews in Relativity, brought out by the Albert
Einstein institute regularly.

Regarding the support I have received in my endeavour, thanks first


and foremost to my family, my wife Shanti, children Kartik and Tanusri,
Preface xxv

their spouses Bidisha and Fahim, and lovely grandchildren Ananya, Sophia,
Anoushka and Rehan. As for my collaborators, thanks are due to Profes-
sors Jurgen Ehlers, Marek Abramowicz, Ram K. Varma, C.V.Vishveswara,
A.C. Das, S. Mohanty, former students and postdocs, Drs B. Banerjee, P.
Bhaskaran, D.K. Chakraborty, Anshu Gupta, S.C.Tripthy, K.S.Virbhadra; Sai
Iyer, B. Mukhopadhyay, J.R. Bhatt, S. Ray, S. Barve, A. Mishra, and other
collaborators, Proffesor N. Kumar, Drs S.K. Chakraborty, B.K. Datta, N.
Dadhich, S. Goswami, S. Hassan, G. Lambiase, H. Misra, P.K. Sahu, S. Sen-
gupta and R.P. Sinha.

As I was using LaTeX for the first time, I needed help and in this context
Dr. Shashi Prabhakar, Dr. Gulab Bhambania, and Dr.J Banerjee, of PRL and
Mr. Shashi Kumar of CRC Press, contributed immensely and I am grateful to
all of them. In spite of my best efforts, I might have faltered in acknowledging
the material sources by either oversight or not being able to remember (or find)
the exact reference. For such omissions I apologise and would be grateful to
anyone who will point it out to me. Also in case of any mistakes found in the
treatment of the topics, I would appreciate readers pointing them out to me
on my e–mail account provided below.
I would like to express special thanks to the Physical Research Labora-
tory and its Directors, for all the logistic support provided to me for the past
ten years, and specially would like to mention the library staff, Mrs. Nishta
Anilkumar, and her able associates for finding me the references whenever I
wanted, many times even from outside PRL sources.

I am also thankful to Ms. Aastha Sharma and her colleagues at CRC Press
(and Taylor & Francis Group) for their patience and understanding shown
during the preparation of the manuscript.

A.R.Prasanna
Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad. India
e–mail: prasanna@prl.res.in; aragam@gmail.com
Chapter 1
Mathematical Preliminaries

1.1 Introduction
Physics deals with observation and measurements of events that occur, be
it in nature or in a laboratory experiment, and comparing notes with differ-
ent observers and drawing conclusions regarding the laws that govern nature.
As events occur in space and time, and are measured by any observer by
identifying the location of the event and the time of occurrence, in order to
represent the event, one requires four numbers identifying the space and time
coordinates of the event. This requires a mathematical structure on which
all the events can be identified as seen by different observers and be able to
link different observers with one another for comparing their notes. Such a
structure which can support unique definitions of frames of references of dif-
ferent observers in general is called in general a manifold. In order to define
a manifold, one requires several basic concepts like set, function or mapping,
continuity, and differentiability, topology, and morphisms which are explained
in standard references ([14],[3],[13]), and can be referred to.The frame of ref-
erence, mentioned above, needs the notion of a coordinate chart which will be
defined below.
Let Rn denote the Euclidean space of dimension n, the set of all n-tuples
(x , x2 , . . . , xn ), (−∞ < xi < ∞), with the usual topology. If O and O ′
1

are open sets in Rn , a mapping φ of O to O ′ is said to be of class C r , if


the coordinates (x′1 , x′2 , . . . , x′n ) of the image point φ(p) ⊂ O ′ , are r times
continuously differentiable functions of the coordinates (x1 , x2 , . . . , xn ) of P
in O. Usually we will work with r = ∞, i.e., functions that are infinitely
differentiable.
A C ∞ -differentiable manifold M of dimension n is basically a Hausdorff
topological space which is locally Euclidean, in the sense that it is equipped
with a collection {(ui , φi )} where the ui are open subsets of M and φi is a
homeomorphism (i.e. a continuous one–one map with continuous inverse) of
the corresponding ui to an open subset of Rn , satisfying the conditions:

(i) {ui } covers M , i.e., M = ∪i ui .

(ii) In every non empty intersection (ui ∩ uj ), the functions φi and φj are

1
2 Gravitation

infinitely differentiable functions of each other, which means that (φi ◦ φ−1
j ) is
a C ∞ map of an open subset of Rn onto another open subset of Rn namely,
φi ◦φ−1
j
φj (ui ∩ uj ) −−−−−→ φi (ui ∩ uj ).
Each pair (ui , φi ) is called a coordinate chart. A manifold may be depicted
pictorially as follows:

FIGURE 1.1: Pictorial representation of a differential manifold.

In practice, we will assume that our differentiable manifolds are con-


nected and oriented. one may recall that a topological space is said to be
connected if it cannot be expressed as a disjoint union of nonempty open
subsets. A manifold M is oriented if for every pair of coordinate charts,
(u, φ = (xi )), (v, φ′ = (x′α )), the determinant of the n × n Jacobian matrix
′α
( ∂x
∂xi )α,i is positive.

1.1.1 Vectors, differential forms and tensors


A curve λ(τ ) is defined to be a mapping of any open interval in R1 into
M , with τ representing the path parameter. In a coordinate system, (u, xi )
the curve is described by n–functions, xi = xi (τ ), which are assumed to be
differentiable. If f is a function on M , as one moves along the curve from a
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
Other Historic Sites in the Park
Cades Cove and
Oconaluftee are the
primary locations of
historic structures in the
national park, but
elsewhere there are a
few interesting buildings
to see.
From Gatlinburg head
south on Airport Road,
which runs into
Cherokee Orchard
Road in the park. Soon
you come to Noah On the way to and from
“Bud” Ogle’s place. Sugarlands you can take side
Ogle and his wife, trips to (below) Mingus Mill, Little
Cindy, started farming Greenbrier School, and Bud
here on 160 hectares Ogle’s place at Roaring Fork.
(400 acres) in 1879. Plan on devoting nearly a full day
Here you can see a log to visit isolated Cataloochee,
house, log barn, and where you can see (right) the
restored tub mill. Caldwell home, schoolhouse,
Palmer Chapel, and several other
South of the Ogle place
structures.
you come to Roaring
Fork Auto Tour. On this
one-way 8-kilometer (5-mile) tour you can see that nature has
reclaimed most of the Roaring Fork community. Among the few
remaining buildings are Jim Bales’ corncrib and barn, plus a log
house that was moved here.
Home for Ephraim
Bales, his wife, and nine
children consisted of
two joined log cabins.
The smaller one was
the kitchen, and in front
of its hearth is a “tater
hole.” Family members
could lift up a floor
board, remove some
potatoes from storage,
and toss them on the
fire to bake. Other
structures here include National Park Service
a corncrib and barn.
A log house and mill are
the only structures that
remain of the many that
belonged to Alfred
Reagan, one of Roaring
Fork’s more talented
residents. He was a
farmer, blacksmith,
preacher, miller,
storekeeper, and
carpenter. His house
was more refined than
most in the Smokies.
The Roaring Fork Auto
Tour road is open from mid-April to mid-November.
In the Oconaluftee Valley just north of the Pioneer Farmstead is
Mingus Mill, built for Abraham Mingus in the 1870s by Sion Thomas
Early. This gristmill, the finest and most advanced in the Smokies,
has a water-powered turbine beneath it. Water flows down a millrace
and flume to the mill, and, when the flume gate is raised, fills the
penstock to power the turbine. The mill has two sets of grinding
stones, one for corn and one for wheat. The mill was in operation
until 1936, reopened for a few months in 1940, and reconditioned by
the Great Smoky Mountains Natural History Association in 1968. It is
open daily from May through October with a miller usually on duty to
explain its workings.
North of Mingus Mill is Smokemont. All that
remains of this small community is the
Oconaluftee Baptist Church, a frame structure
that sits high on a bluff.
Just off Little River Road between Sugarlands
and Tremont is Little Greenbrier School (see
pages 85 and 144). In the summer an interpreter
often is on hand to help children, and adults,
understand what going to school was like in the
Smokies. The road to the school is narrow and
unpaved and not the easiest to negotiate in
inclement weather, so you may want to walk in.
Several buildings are still standing in the isolated
Cataloochee area on the North Carolina side of
the park. They include Palmer Chapel, Beech
Grove School, and the Jarvis Palmer, Hiram
Caldwell, and Steve Woody homes. Most of the
buildings are open, and a ranger is on duty to
answer your questions. The fields are mowed to
maintain the cove effect from early settlement
days. Reaching Cataloochee from the north
means a lengthy trip on unpaved road; from the south it’s a bit
easier. If you have the time, visiting Cataloochee is worth the extra
effort.
Related Nearby Sites
A number of nearby sites are related in one way or the other to the
history of the Great Smoky Mountains. Here are a few that you might
visit while vacationing in the Smokies:
The arts, crafts, and lifeways of the Cherokees are portrayed by the
tribe at the Qualla Reservation, adjacent to the North Carolina side
of the park. The Museum of the Cherokee Indian displays a
collection of artifacts, and the Oconaluftee Living Indian Village
shows typical early Cherokee life in log structures. The play “Unto
These Hills” tells the story of the Cherokees and their encounters
with Europeans settling in the Smokies and of the forced removal of
most of the tribe to Oklahoma in 1838. About 4,000 Cherokees live
on the Qualla Reservation today.
The Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts in Gatlinburg has done
much to perpetuate the pottery, weaving, and other skills indicative
of the Smokies people. The school displays and sells objects created
by local artisans.
The Museum of Appalachia in Norris, Tennessee, just north of
Knoxville, has 30 restored pioneer log structures, a representative
farmstead, and more than 200,000 artifacts of mountain life.
The Blue Ridge Parkway, administered by the National Park Service,
has several log houses, a gristmill, a reconstructed farm, and other
early American buildings. Much of the 755-kilometer (469-mile),
parkway, which adjoins Great Smoky Mountains National Park near
Oconaluftee and runs north into Virginia, is quite far from the park,
but some of the historic points of interest are in the southern portion.
The Folk Art Center, at milepost 382, displays traditional crafts of the
Southern Highlands.
Armchair Explorations
General histories of the Great Smoky Mountains:
Elizabeth Skaggs Bowman, Land of High Horizons, 1938
Carlos C. Campbell, Birth of a National Park, 1960
Michael Frome, Strangers in High Places, 1980
Horace Kephart, Our Southern Highlanders, 1922
Horace Kephart, Journals at Western Carolina University
Robert Lindsay Mason, The Lure of the Great Smokies,
1927
Roderick Peattie, ed., The Great Smokies and the Blue
Ridge, 1943
Laura Thornborough, The Great Smoky Mountains, 1937
Cherokee history:
James Adair, The History of the American Indians, 1775
William Bartram, Travels, 1792
John P. Brown, Old Frontiers, 1938
William H. Gilbert, The Eastern Cherokees, 1943
Henry T. Malone, Cherokees of the Old South, 1956
James Mooney, Myths of the Cherokees, 1900
Charles C. Royce, The Cherokee Nation of Indians, 1887
William L. Smith, The Story of the Cherokees, 1927
Henry Timberlake, Memoirs, 1765
Grace Steele Woodward, The Cherokees, 1963
Other historical works:
W. C. Allen, The Annals of Haywood County, 1935
John Preston Arthur, Western North Carolina, 1914
John C. Campbell, The Southern Highlander and His
Homeland, 1921
Wilma Dykeman, The French Broad, 1955
Allen H. Eaton, Handicrafts of the Southern Highlands,
1937
Paul Fink, “Early Explorers in the Great Smokies,” East
Tennessee Historical Society Bulletin, 1933
Joseph S. Hall, Smoky Mountain Folks and Their Lore,
1960
Joseph S. Hall, Yarns and Tales from the Great Smokies,
1978
Archibald Henderson, The Conquest of the Old
Southwest, 1920
Charles Lanman, Letters from the Alleghany Mountains,
1849
Ruth W. O’Dell, Over the Misty Blue Hills: The Story of
Cocke County, Tennessee, 1950
John Parris, articles in The Asheville Citizen-Times
Randolph Shields, “Cades Cove,” Tennessee Historical
Quarterly, 1965
Randolph Shields, The Cades Cove Story, 1977
Foster A. Sondley, A History of Buncombe County, 1930
Wilbur Zeigler and Ben Grosscup, The Heart of the
Alleghanies, 1883
Robert Woody, “Life on Little Cataloochee,” South Atlantic
Quarterly, 1950
Index
Numbers in italics refer to photographs, illustrations, or maps.

Abbott, Rhodie, 11, 94-95


Adair, James, 39
American Revolution, 45, 47
Animals, 18, 91-92, 98
Appalachian National Park Association, 114
Appalachian Trail, 122
Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, 130, 131, 156
Arthur, John Preston, 83, 84, 86
Attakullakulla, 42, 44
Ayunini (Swimmer), 40-41, 46

Bartram, William, 42, 75


Beck, John, 49, 56, 57
Bell, Hazel, 78
Big Greenbrier Cove, 50, 86
Blount, John Gray, 19
Bohanan, Dave, 135
Boone, Daniel, 45, 58
Boudinot, Elias, 63, 65, 66, 67, 68
Bradley family, 49
Brainerd Mission, 63
Bryson City, 109
Buckley, S. B., 75
Burns, John, 134
Burrell, Elsie, 144

Cable Mill, 152, 153


Cades Cove, 51, 52, 56, 136, 137, 141, 148, 152-53
Caldwell family, George H., 22-23
Caldwell family, Levi, 20, 21
Caldwell family, Lush, 21
Caldwell home, 155
Cameron, Alexander, 45
Cammerer, Arno B., 116-17, 118
Campbell, Aunt Sophie, 58
Cardwell, Columbus “Clum”, 123
Carver, Aden, 6, 140
Cataloochee, 17, 18-29, 155
Champion Coated Paper (Fibre) Company, 98, 119
Chapman, David C., 114, 116, 117, 118
Charlie’s Bunion, 105
Cherokee Indians:
alphabet, 63-64;
Civil War, 74, 79;
community and homelife, 40-41, 43, 63, 150;
Eastern Band (Qualla Reservation), 71, 127-30, 156;
government, 37, 39, 65;
photos, 34, 38, 44, 46, 62, 64, 65, 66, 67, 69, 71, 128;
removal, 65-70;
rituals and religion, 39, 42, 43, 57, 63, 127-29;
settlement, 17, 19, 35-37, 49-52, 70;
treaties, 45, 47, 68
Chickamauga Indians, 47
Chota, 37, 47
Churches, 26, 56-57, 63, 86-87, 126, 152-53, 154, 155
Civil War, 77-79, 82-83
Civilian Conservation Corps, 114, 121-22, 123, 140
Clark, Dick, 27
Clingman, Thomas Lanier, 76
Clingmans Dome, 18, 76, 103, 105
Collins family, 49
Community life, 26, 27, 29
Conner family, 49
Cove Creek Gap, 118
Crestmont, 98, 102
Crockett, Davy, 67
Cuming, Alexander, 44

Davis, John, 150


Davis, Willis P., 114, 116, 118
Deep Creek, 49-50
DeSoto, Hernando, 36
Dowdle family, Alfred, 126
Dragging Canoe, 47
Duckett, Kate, 81
Dwight Mission, 65

Eakin, J. Ross, 106, 121, 122


Economy, 77, 98-99
Education, 65, 84-87, 85, 130-31, 140-41, 145, 155. See also
Little Greenbrier School House
Elkmont, 17, 98, 99
Enloe family, Abraham, 49, 56, 57
Enloe, Mrs. Clem, 83
Environmental Education Center, 140-41, 145

Farming, 52, 54, 151


Fences, 27, 30-33, 91
Floyd family, 49
Folk Art Center, 156
Folk culture, 57. See also Homelife
Fontana, 98
Forge, iron, 51-52
Forney Creek, 49, 105
Foute, David, 51
French and Indian War, 44-45

Gatlin, Radford, 78-79


Gatlinburg, 50, 78, 123, 130, 148
Geology, 17-18
Gibson, Wiley, 60, 61
Ginatiyun tihi (Stephen Tehee), 69
Gold, 66
Granny’s College, 86
Great Smoky Mountain Conservation Area, 116
Great Smoky Mountains National Park:
accommodations, 149;
founding, 18, 29, 114, 116-17, 119, 123, 126;
map, 14-15;
nearby sites, 156;
officials, 106, 107, 118, 119;
safety and health, 149;
site, 148;
size, 17;
visitor centers, 148, 149
Great Smoky Mountains Natural History Association, 155
Greenbrier, 17
Gregg-Cable house, 152, 153
Gregory, Russell, 52
Gregory Bald, 52
Guyot, Arnold, 76-77
Guyot, Mount, 102, 105

Handicrafts, 94-95, 131-35, 156


Hearon, Tom and Jerry, 134-35
Higinbotham, Phyllis, 131
Hill, Martha, 130
Homelife, 52, 53-55, 78, 79, 80-81, 83-84, 87, 88-89, 90, 94-95,
150-51
Housing, 4-5, 12-13, 16, 21, 40-41, 91, 136, 150, 152, 153, 154-
55
Huff, Andy, 97, 105
Hughes family, Ralph, 49, 56
Huskey, Claude, 134

Jackson, Andrew, 66-67


Jefferson, Thomas, 65
Job Corps, 140
Jones, John, 134

Kephart, Horace, 107-110, 112, 114, 119, 138;


photo, 108
Kituwah, 36, 37

Lamon, George, 51
Language, 92-93
Lanman, Charles, 75
Little Greenbrier Cove, 123, 125
Little Greenbrier School House, 84, 85, 144, 148, 154
Little River Lumber Company, 97, 99, 117, 140
Love, Robert, 20
Lumber industry, 29, 97-105, 117;
photos, 96, 100-101, 103, 104. See also Little River Lumber
Company
Lyttleton, William Henry, 44

Mabry mill, 156


McCarter, Mack, 132-33, 134
McFalls, Neddy, 27
Marshall, John, 67
Maps, 14-15, 36, 70
Matthews, Herman, 85
Medlin, 108
Meigs, Return Jonathan, 65
Messer family, E.J., 21
Messer, Milas, 90-91, 150
Messer, Will, 27
Mingus, Abraham, 31
Mingus family, John Jacob, 49, 56
Mingus mill, 148, 154-55
Mitchell, Elisha, 76
Mitchell, Mount, 36, 76
Music, 87, 91, 115
Myers, Dan, 26
Myers, Sherman, 31

Newman, Grace, 115

Oakley family, Wiley, 111


Oakley, Becky, 94
Oconaluftee, 49, 56, 148, 150-51
Ogle family, Martha Huskey, 50
Ogle, Mollie McCarter, 48
Ogle family, 88-89
Ogle home, Noah “Bud”, 154
Oliver family, John and Lurena, 33, 51, 52, 136, 152-53
Ownby, Celia, 80
Ownby, Giles and Lenard, 19
Ownby, Humphry John, 86
Ownby, Lillie Whaley, 86
Ownby, Matt, 60
Ownby, Mrs. Matt, 132
Ownby family, Tilman, 142-43

Palmer family, George, 20, 21, 27, 28


Palmer, Lafayette, 21, 27
Palmer, Jesse, 21
Parson’s Bald, 52
Payne, John Howard, 64, 68
Plants, 18, 75; medicinal, 57-58, 84
Proctor, 98
Proffitt, Jim, 115

Qualla Arts and Crafts Mutual, 130

Ravensford, 98
Reagan family, Richard, 50, 78
Ridge, John, 63, 67
Ridge, Major, 67, 68
Rifle, long, 58, 59-61
Roads, 21, 26, 27, 56, 59, 79, 148
Robertson, James, 45
Rockefeller, Jr., John D., 117
Roosevelt, Franklin D., 119, 121
Roosevelt, Theodore, 97, 116
Rose, Aquilla, 110, 112, 113
Ross, John, 65, 66, 68

Schermerhorn, J.D., 68
Scott, Winfield, 68, 71
Sequoyah (George Gist), 63-65;
portrait, 64
Settlers, white, 42-52, 152
Sherrill family, Samuel, 49, 56
Shields family, Robert, 52
Shults, George Washington, 104
Siler’s Bald, 105
Smokemont, 17, 98
Swaniger, Aaron, 72

Thomas, William, 79
Thomason, W.W., 111, 112
Tipton, William, 51
Tremont, 137-38
Tryon, William, 45
Tsali, 70, 71
Tsiskwa-kaluya (Bird Chopper), 71

Van Buren, Martin, 68


Vance, Zebulon B., 77

Walker, William “Black Bill”, 137-38, 139


Walker, John, 81, 120, 123
Walker, Nancy, 137, 138
Walker sisters, 123-127;
photos, 81, 124
Walini, 62
Welsh, Samson, 128
Whaley family, 50
Whitepath, 66, 69
Whisky, 91, 111, 112-14
Wiggins family, Abraham, 50
Worcester, Samuel Austin, 63, 65, 67
Work, Hubert, 116

✩ GPO: 1984—421-611/10001
Handbook 125
The cover photograph was taken by Ed Cooper. The rest of the color
photography, unless otherwise credited, was taken by William A.
Bake of Boone, North Carolina. Nearly all of the black-and-white
photographs come from the files of Great Smoky Mountains National
Park. About half of them were taken in the 1930s for historic
recording purposes by Edouard E. Exline and Charles S. Grossman
on behalf of the National Park Service. Exline was a landscape
architect with the Civilian Conservation Corps and a photographer by
avocation. Grossman was a structural architect for the park who was
in charge of the cultural preservation program. The other
photographers who have been identified are Laura Thornborough,
who resided in the Smokies and wrote the book The Great Smoky
Mountains; Joseph S. Hall, who has studied and written about
linguistics of the Smokies since the 1930s; Harry M. Jennison, a
research botanist from the University of Tennessee who worked in
the park from 1935 to 1940; H.C. Wilburn, a CCC history technician
who collected and purchased artifacts of mountain life; Maurice
Sullivan, a CCC wildlife technician who subsequently became a Park
Service naturalist; Alden Stevens, a museum specialist for the Park
Service; Jim Shelton, husband of one of the Walker sisters, Sarah
Caroline; George Masa, who established the Asheville Photo Service
shortly after World War I; Burton Wolcott; and National Park Service
photographers George A. Grant, Alan Rinehart, Fred R. Bell, M.
Woodbridge Williams, and Clair Burket.
Many of the logging photographs were donated to the park by the
Little River Lumber Company. Most of the photographs of Cherokees
come from the National Anthropological Archives at the Smithsonian
Institution; many of them were taken by James Mooney in the
Smokies area in 1888.
National Park Service
U.S. Department of the Interior
As the Nation’s principal conservation agency, the Department of the
Interior has responsibility for most of our nationally owned public
lands and natural resources. This includes fostering the wisest use
of our land and water resources, protecting our fish and wildlife,
preserving the environmental and cultural values of our national
parks and historical places, and providing for the enjoyment of life
through outdoor recreation. The Department assesses our energy
and mineral resources and works to assure that their development is
in the best interest of all our people. The Department also has a
major responsibility for American Indian reservation communities
and for people who live in Island Territories under U.S.
administration.
At Home
In the Smokies
ISBN 0—912627-22-0
Transcriber’s note
In the original captions for photographs/drawings
were often on a separate page from its image. In
these versions, they have been placed under the
image.
Directional words for the phototgraphs, i.e., below,
right, etc. are linked in this version and point to the
correct photographs.
Minor punctuation errors have been changed
without notice. Inconsistencies in hyphenation have
been standardized. Spelling has been retained as
published.
Index entries that were out of alphabetical order has
been corrected. Also, in this version page numbers
have been changed to reflect any captions that have
been moved.
The name Jim Proffitt/Proffit was spelled once each
way in the text. Both spellings have been retained.
The following Printer errors have been changed.
CHANGED FROM TO
“particularly “particularly
Page 17:
signifcant” significant”
“Humphy John “Humphry John
Page 86:
Ownby” Ownby”
“fibers with a “fibers with a
Page 95:
spining” spinning”
Page 158: “Park Assocation” “Park Association”

You might also like