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26 Package ctensor


26.1 Introduction to ctensor

ctensor is a component tensor manipulation package. To use the ctensor package, type load("ctensor"). To begin an interactive session with ctensor, type csetup(). You are first asked to specify the dimension of the manifold. If the dimension is 2, 3 or 4 then the list of coordinates defaults to [x,y], [x,y,z] or [x,y,z,t] respectively. These names may be changed by assigning a new list of coordinates to the variable ct_coords (described below) and the user is queried about this. Care must be taken to avoid the coordinate names conflicting with other object definitions.

Next, the user enters the metric either directly or from a file by specifying its ordinal position. The metric is stored in the matrix lg. Finally, the metric inverse is computed and stored in the matrix ug. One has the option of carrying out all calculations in a power series.

A sample protocol is begun below for the static, spherically symmetric metric (standard coordinates) which will be applied to the problem of deriving Einstein’s vacuum equations (which lead to the Schwarzschild solution) as an example. Many of the functions in ctensor will be displayed for the standard metric as examples.

(%i1) load("ctensor");
(%o1)      /share/tensor/ctensor.mac
(%i2) csetup();
Enter the dimension of the coordinate system:
4;
Do you wish to change the coordinate names?
n;
Do you want to
1. Enter a new metric?

2. Enter a metric from a file?

3. Approximate a metric with a Taylor series?
1;

Is the matrix  1. Diagonal  2. Symmetric  3. Antisymmetric  4. General
Answer 1, 2, 3 or 4
1;
Row 1 Column 1:
a;
Row 2 Column 2:
x^2;
Row 3 Column 3:
x^2*sin(y)^2;
Row 4 Column 4:
-d;

Matrix entered.
Enter functional dependencies with the DEPENDS function or 'N' if none
depends([a,d],x);
Do you wish to see the metric?
y;
                          [ a  0       0        0  ]
                          [                        ]
                          [     2                  ]
                          [ 0  x       0        0  ]
                          [                        ]
                          [         2    2         ]
                          [ 0  0   x  sin (y)   0  ]
                          [                        ]
                          [ 0  0       0       - d ]
(%o2)                                done
(%i3) christof(mcs);
                                            a
                                             x
(%t3)                          mcs        = ---
                                  1, 1, 1   2 a

                                             1
(%t4)                           mcs        = -
                                   1, 2, 2   x

                                             1
(%t5)                           mcs        = -
                                   1, 3, 3   x

                                            d
                                             x
(%t6)                          mcs        = ---
                                  1, 4, 4   2 d

                                              x
(%t7)                          mcs        = - -
                                  2, 2, 1     a

                                           cos(y)
(%t8)                         mcs        = ------
                                 2, 3, 3   sin(y)

                                               2
                                          x sin (y)
(%t9)                      mcs        = - ---------
                              3, 3, 1         a

(%t10)                   mcs        = - cos(y) sin(y)
                            3, 3, 2

                                            d
                                             x
(%t11)                         mcs        = ---
                                  4, 4, 1   2 a
(%o11)                               done

Categories: Tensors · Share packages · Package ctensor ·

26.2 Functions and Variables for ctensor

26.2.1 Initialization and setup

Function: csetup ()

A function in the ctensor (component tensor) package which initializes the package and allows the user to enter a metric interactively. See ctensor for more details.

Categories: Package ctensor ·
Function: cmetric
    cmetric (dis)
    cmetric ()

A function in the ctensor (component tensor) package that computes the metric inverse and sets up the package for further calculations.

If cframe_flag is false, the function computes the inverse metric ug from the (user-defined) matrix lg. The metric determinant is also computed and stored in the variable gdet. Furthermore, the package determines if the metric is diagonal and sets the value of diagmetric accordingly. If the optional argument dis is present and not equal to false, the user is prompted to see the metric inverse.

If cframe_flag is true, the function expects that the values of fri (the inverse frame matrix) and lfg (the frame metric) are defined. From these, the frame matrix fr and the inverse frame metric ufg are computed.

Categories: Package ctensor ·
Function: ct_coordsys
    ct_coordsys (coordinate_system, extra_arg)
    ct_coordsys (coordinate_system)

Sets up a predefined coordinate system and metric. The argument coordinate_system can be one of the following symbols:


 SYMBOL             Dim Coordinates     Description/comments
 ------------------------------------------------------------------
 cartesian2d           2  [x,y]             Cartesian 2D coordinate
                                            system
 polar                 2  [r,phi]           Polar coordinate system
 elliptic              2  [u,v]             Elliptic coord. system
 confocalelliptic      2  [u,v]             Confocal elliptic
                                            coordinates
 bipolar               2  [u,v]             Bipolar coord. system
 parabolic             2  [u,v]             Parabolic coord. system
 cartesian3d           3  [x,y,z]           Cartesian 3D coordinate
                                            system
 polarcylindrical      3  [r,theta,z]       Polar 2D with
                                            cylindrical z
 ellipticcylindrical   3  [u,v,z]           Elliptic 2D with
                                            cylindrical z
 confocalellipsoidal   3  [u,v,w]           Confocal ellipsoidal
 bipolarcylindrical    3  [u,v,z]           Bipolar 2D with
                                            cylindrical z
 paraboliccylindrical  3  [u,v,z]           Parabolic 2D with
                                            cylindrical z
 paraboloidal          3  [u,v,phi]         Paraboloidal coords.
 conical               3  [u,v,w]           Conical coordinates
 toroidal              3  [phi,u,v]         Toroidal coordinates
 spherical             3  [r,theta,phi]     Spherical coord. system
 oblatespheroidal      3  [u,v,phi]         Oblate spheroidal
                                            coordinates
 oblatespheroidalsqrt  3  [u,v,phi]
 prolatespheroidal     3  [u,v,phi]         Prolate spheroidal
                                            coordinates
 prolatespheroidalsqrt 3  [u,v,phi]
 ellipsoidal           3  [r,theta,phi]     Ellipsoidal coordinates
 cartesian4d           4  [x,y,z,t]         Cartesian 4D coordinate
                                            system
 spherical4d           4  [r,theta,eta,phi] Spherical 4D coordinate
                                            system
 exteriorschwarzschild 4  [t,r,theta,phi]   Schwarzschild metric
 interiorschwarzschild 4  [t,z,u,v]         Interior Schwarzschild
                                            metric
 kerr_newman           4  [t,r,theta,phi]   Charged axially
                                            symmetric metric

coordinate_system can also be a list of transformation functions, followed by a list containing the coordinate variables. For instance, you can specify a spherical metric as follows:


(%i1) load("ctensor");
(%o1)       /share/tensor/ctensor.mac
(%i2) ct_coordsys([r*cos(theta)*cos(phi),r*cos(theta)*sin(phi),
      r*sin(theta),[r,theta,phi]]);
(%o2)                                done
(%i3) lg:trigsimp(lg);
                           [ 1  0         0        ]
                           [                       ]
                           [     2                 ]
(%o3)                      [ 0  r         0        ]
                           [                       ]
                           [         2    2        ]
                           [ 0  0   r  cos (theta) ]
(%i4) ct_coords;
(%o4)                           [r, theta, phi]
(%i5) dim;
(%o5)                                  3

Transformation functions can also be used when cframe_flag is true:


(%i1) load("ctensor");
(%o1)       /share/tensor/ctensor.mac
(%i2) cframe_flag:true;
(%o2)                                true
(%i3) ct_coordsys([r*cos(theta)*cos(phi),r*cos(theta)*sin(phi),
      r*sin(theta),[r,theta,phi]]);
(%o3)                                done
(%i4) fri;
(%o4)
 [cos(phi)cos(theta) -cos(phi) r sin(theta) -sin(phi) r cos(theta)]
 [                                                                ]
 [sin(phi)cos(theta) -sin(phi) r sin(theta)  cos(phi) r cos(theta)]
 [                                                                ]
 [    sin(theta)           r cos(theta)                0          ]

(%i5) cmetric();
(%o5)                                false
(%i6) lg:trigsimp(lg);
                           [ 1  0         0        ]
                           [                       ]
                           [     2                 ]
(%o6)                      [ 0  r         0        ]
                           [                       ]
                           [         2    2        ]
                           [ 0  0   r  cos (theta) ]

The optional argument extra_arg can be any one of the following:

cylindrical tells ct_coordsys to attach an additional cylindrical coordinate.

minkowski tells ct_coordsys to attach an additional coordinate with negative metric signature.

all tells ct_coordsys to call cmetric and christof(false) after setting up the metric.

If the global variable verbose is set to true, ct_coordsys displays the values of dim, ct_coords, and either lg or lfg and fri, depending on the value of cframe_flag.

Categories: Package ctensor ·
Function: init_ctensor ()

Initializes the ctensor package.

The init_ctensor function reinitializes the ctensor package. It removes all arrays and matrices used by ctensor, resets all flags, resets dim to 4, and resets the frame metric to the Lorentz-frame.

Categories: Package ctensor ·

26.2.2 The tensors of curved space

The main purpose of the ctensor package is to compute the tensors of curved space(time), most notably the tensors used in general relativity.

When a metric base is used, ctensor can compute the following tensors:


 lg  -- ug
   \      \
    lcs -- mcs -- ric -- uric
              \      \       \
               \      tracer - ein -- lein
                \
                 riem -- lriem -- weyl
                     \
                      uriem


ctensor can also work using moving frames. When cframe_flag is set to true, the following tensors can be calculated:


 lfg -- ufg
     \
 fri -- fr -- lcs -- mcs -- lriem -- ric -- uric
      \                       |  \      \       \
       lg -- ug               |   weyl   tracer - ein -- lein
                              |\
                              | riem
                              |
                              \uriem

Function: christof (dis)

A function in the ctensor (component tensor) package. It computes the Christoffel symbols of both kinds. The argument dis determines which results are to be immediately displayed. The Christoffel symbols of the first and second kinds are stored in the arrays lcs[i,j,k] and mcs[i,j,k] respectively and defined to be symmetric in the first two indices. If the argument to christof is lcs or mcs then the unique non-zero values of lcs[i,j,k] or mcs[i,j,k], respectively, will be displayed. If the argument is all then the unique non-zero values of lcs[i,j,k] and mcs[i,j,k] will be displayed. If the argument is false then the display of the elements will not occur. The array elements mcs[i,j,k] are defined in such a manner that the final index is contravariant.

Categories: Package ctensor ·
Function: ricci (dis)

A function in the ctensor (component tensor) package. ricci computes the covariant (symmetric) components ric[i,j] of the Ricci tensor. If the argument dis is true, then the non-zero components are displayed.

Categories: Package ctensor ·
Function: uricci (dis)

This function first computes the covariant components ric[i,j] of the Ricci tensor. Then the mixed Ricci tensor is computed using the contravariant metric tensor. If the value of the argument dis is true, then these mixed components, uric[i,j] (the index i is covariant and the index j is contravariant), will be displayed directly. Otherwise, ricci(false) will simply compute the entries of the array uric[i,j] without displaying the results.

Categories: Package ctensor ·
Function: scurvature ()

Returns the scalar curvature (obtained by contracting the Ricci tensor) of the Riemannian manifold with the given metric.

Categories: Package ctensor ·
Function: einstein (dis)

A function in the ctensor (component tensor) package. einstein computes the mixed Einstein tensor after the Christoffel symbols and Ricci tensor have been obtained (with the functions christof and ricci). If the argument dis is true, then the non-zero values of the mixed Einstein tensor ein[i,j] will be displayed where j is the contravariant index. The variable rateinstein will cause the rational simplification on these components. If ratfac is true then the components will also be factored.

Categories: Package ctensor ·
Function: leinstein (dis)

Covariant Einstein-tensor. leinstein stores the values of the covariant Einstein tensor in the array lein. The covariant Einstein-tensor is computed from the mixed Einstein tensor ein by multiplying it with the metric tensor. If the argument dis is true, then the non-zero values of the covariant Einstein tensor are displayed.

Categories: Package ctensor ·
Function: riemann (dis)

A function in the ctensor (component tensor) package. riemann computes the Riemann curvature tensor from the given metric and the corresponding Christoffel symbols. The following index conventions are used:

                l      _l       _l       _l   _m    _l   _m
 R[i,j,k,l] =  R    = |      - |      + |    |   - |    |
                ijk     ij,k     ik,j     mk   ij    mj   ik

This notation is consistent with the notation used by the itensor package and its icurvature function. If the optional argument dis is true, the unique non-zero components riem[i,j,k,l] will be displayed. As with the Einstein tensor, various switches set by the user control the simplification of the components of the Riemann tensor. If ratriemann is true, then rational simplification will be done. If ratfac is true then each of the components will also be factored.

If the variable cframe_flag is false, the Riemann tensor is computed directly from the Christoffel-symbols. If cframe_flag is true, the covariant Riemann-tensor is computed first from the frame field coefficients.

Categories: Package ctensor ·
Function: lriemann (dis)

Covariant Riemann-tensor (lriem[]).

Computes the covariant Riemann-tensor as the array lriem. If the argument dis is true, unique non-zero values are displayed.

If the variable cframe_flag is true, the covariant Riemann tensor is computed directly from the frame field coefficients. Otherwise, the (3,1) Riemann tensor is computed first.

For information on index ordering, see riemann.

Categories: Package ctensor ·
Function: uriemann (dis)

Computes the contravariant components of the Riemann curvature tensor as array elements uriem[i,j,k,l]. These are displayed if dis is true.

Categories: Package ctensor ·
Function: rinvariant ()

Forms the Kretschmann-invariant (kinvariant) obtained by contracting the tensors

lriem[i,j,k,l]*uriem[i,j,k,l].

This object is not automatically simplified since it can be very large.

Categories: Package ctensor ·
Function: weyl (dis)

Computes the Weyl conformal tensor. If the argument dis is true, the non-zero components weyl[i,j,k,l] will be displayed to the user. Otherwise, these components will simply be computed and stored. If the switch ratweyl is set to true, then the components will be rationally simplified; if ratfac is true then the results will be factored as well.

Categories: Package ctensor ·

26.2.3 Taylor series expansion

The ctensor package has the ability to truncate results by assuming that they are Taylor-series approximations. This behavior is controlled by the ctayswitch variable; when set to true, ctensor makes use internally of the function ctaylor when simplifying results.

The ctaylor function is invoked by the following ctensor functions:


    Function     Comments
    ---------------------------------
    christof()   For mcs only
    ricci()
    uricci()
    einstein()
    riemann()
    weyl()
    checkdiv()
Function: ctaylor ()

The ctaylor function truncates its argument by converting it to a Taylor-series using taylor, and then calling ratdisrep. This has the combined effect of dropping terms higher order in the expansion variable ctayvar. The order of terms that should be dropped is defined by ctaypov; the point around which the series expansion is carried out is specified in ctaypt.

As an example, consider a simple metric that is a perturbation of the Minkowski metric. Without further restrictions, even a diagonal metric produces expressions for the Einstein tensor that are far too complex:


(%i1) load("ctensor");
(%o1)       /share/tensor/ctensor.mac
(%i2) ratfac:true;
(%o2)                                true
(%i3) derivabbrev:true;
(%o3)                                true
(%i4) ct_coords:[t,r,theta,phi];
(%o4)                         [t, r, theta, phi]
(%i5) lg:matrix([-1,0,0,0],[0,1,0,0],[0,0,r^2,0],
                [0,0,0,r^2*sin(theta)^2]);
                        [ - 1  0  0         0        ]
                        [                            ]
                        [  0   1  0         0        ]
                        [                            ]
(%o5)                   [          2                 ]
                        [  0   0  r         0        ]
                        [                            ]
                        [              2    2        ]
                        [  0   0  0   r  sin (theta) ]
(%i6) h:matrix([h11,0,0,0],[0,h22,0,0],[0,0,h33,0],[0,0,0,h44]);
                            [ h11   0    0    0  ]
                            [                    ]
                            [  0   h22   0    0  ]
(%o6)                       [                    ]
                            [  0    0   h33   0  ]
                            [                    ]
                            [  0    0    0   h44 ]
(%i7) depends(l,r);
(%o7)                               [l(r)]
(%i8) lg:lg+l*h;
      [ h11 l - 1      0          0                 0            ]
      [                                                          ]
      [     0      h22 l + 1      0                 0            ]
      [                                                          ]
(%o8) [                        2                                 ]
      [     0          0      r  + h33 l            0            ]
      [                                                          ]
      [                                    2    2                ]
      [     0          0          0       r  sin (theta) + h44 l ]
(%i9) cmetric(false);
(%o9)                                done
(%i10) einstein(false);
(%o10)                               done
(%i11) ntermst(ein);
[[1, 1], 62]
[[1, 2], 0]
[[1, 3], 0]
[[1, 4], 0]
[[2, 1], 0]
[[2, 2], 24]
[[2, 3], 0]
[[2, 4], 0]
[[3, 1], 0]
[[3, 2], 0]
[[3, 3], 46]
[[3, 4], 0]
[[4, 1], 0]
[[4, 2], 0]
[[4, 3], 0]
[[4, 4], 46]
(%o12)                               done

However, if we recompute this example as an approximation that is linear in the variable l, we get much simpler expressions:


(%i14) ctayswitch:true;
(%o14)                               true
(%i15) ctayvar:l;
(%o15)                                 l
(%i16) ctaypov:1;
(%o16)                                 1
(%i17) ctaypt:0;
(%o17)                                 0
(%i18) christof(false);
(%o18)                               done
(%i19) ricci(false);
(%o19)                               done
(%i20) einstein(false);
(%o20)                               done
(%i21) ntermst(ein);
[[1, 1], 6]
[[1, 2], 0]
[[1, 3], 0]
[[1, 4], 0]
[[2, 1], 0]
[[2, 2], 13]
[[2, 3], 2]
[[2, 4], 0]
[[3, 1], 0]
[[3, 2], 2]
[[3, 3], 9]
[[3, 4], 0]
[[4, 1], 0]
[[4, 2], 0]
[[4, 3], 0]
[[4, 4], 9]
(%o21)                               done
(%i22) ratsimp(ein[1,1]);
                         2      2  4               2     2
(%o22) - (((h11 h22 - h11 ) (l )  r  - 2 h33 l    r ) sin (theta)
                              r               r r

                            2               2      4    2
              - 2 h44 l    r  - h33 h44 (l ) )/(4 r  sin (theta))
                       r r                r



This capability can be useful, for instance, when working in the weak field limit far from a gravitational source.

Categories: Package ctensor ·

26.2.4 Frame fields

When the variable cframe_flag is set to true, the ctensor package performs its calculations using a moving frame.

Function: frame_bracket (fr, fri, diagframe)

The frame bracket (fb[]).

Computes the frame bracket according to the following definition:

   c          c         c        d     e
ifb   = ( ifri    - ifri    ) ifr   ifr
   ab         d,e       e,d      a     b
Categories: Package ctensor ·

26.2.5 Algebraic classification

A new feature (as of November, 2004) of ctensor is its ability to compute the Petrov classification of a 4-dimensional spacetime metric. For a demonstration of this capability, see the file share/tensor/petrov.dem.

Function: nptetrad ()

Computes a Newman-Penrose null tetrad (np) and its raised-index counterpart (npi). See petrov for an example.

The null tetrad is constructed on the assumption that a four-dimensional orthonormal frame metric with metric signature (-,+,+,+) is being used. The components of the null tetrad are related to the inverse frame matrix as follows:


np  = (fri  + fri ) / sqrt(2)
  1       1      2

np  = (fri  - fri ) / sqrt(2)
  2       1      2

np  = (fri  + %i fri ) / sqrt(2)
  3       3         4

np  = (fri  - %i fri ) / sqrt(2)
  4       3         4

Categories: Package ctensor ·
Function: psi (dis)

Computes the five Newman-Penrose coefficients psi[0]...psi[4]. If dis is set to true, the coefficients are displayed. See petrov for an example.

These coefficients are computed from the Weyl-tensor in a coordinate base. If a frame base is used, the Weyl-tensor is first converted to a coordinate base, which can be a computationally expensive procedure. For this reason, in some cases it may be more advantageous to use a coordinate base in the first place before the Weyl tensor is computed. Note however, that constructing a Newman-Penrose null tetrad requires a frame base. Therefore, a meaningful computation sequence may begin with a frame base, which is then used to compute lg (computed automatically by cmetric) and then ug. See petrov for an example. At this point, you can switch back to a coordinate base by setting cframe_flag to false before beginning to compute the Christoffel symbols. Changing to a frame base at a later stage could yield inconsistent results, as you may end up with a mixed bag of tensors, some computed in a frame base, some in a coordinate base, with no means to distinguish between the two.

Categories: Package ctensor ·
Function: petrov ()

Computes the Petrov classification of the metric characterized by psi[0]...psi[4].

For example, the following demonstrates how to obtain the Petrov-classification of the Kerr metric:

(%i1) load("ctensor");
(%o1)       /share/tensor/ctensor.mac
(%i2) (cframe_flag:true,gcd:spmod,ctrgsimp:true,ratfac:true);
(%o2)                                true
(%i3) ct_coordsys(exteriorschwarzschild,all);
(%o3)                                done
(%i4) ug:invert(lg)$
(%i5) weyl(false);
(%o5)                                done
(%i6) nptetrad(true);
(%t6) np =

[ sqrt(r - 2 m)           sqrt(r)                                 ]
[---------------   ---------------------    0            0        ]
[sqrt(2) sqrt(r)   sqrt(2) sqrt(r - 2 m)                          ]
[                                                                 ]
[ sqrt(r - 2 m)            sqrt(r)                                ]
[---------------  - ---------------------   0            0        ]
[sqrt(2) sqrt(r)    sqrt(2) sqrt(r - 2 m)                         ]
[                                                                 ]
[                                          r      %i r sin(theta) ]
[       0                    0          -------   --------------- ]
[                                       sqrt(2)       sqrt(2)     ]
[                                                                 ]
[                                          r       %i r sin(theta)]
[       0                    0          -------  - ---------------]
[                                       sqrt(2)        sqrt(2)    ]

                             sqrt(r)         sqrt(r - 2 m)
(%t7) npi = matrix([- ---------------------,---------------, 0, 0],
                      sqrt(2) sqrt(r - 2 m) sqrt(2) sqrt(r)

          sqrt(r)            sqrt(r - 2 m)
[- ---------------------, - ---------------, 0, 0],
   sqrt(2) sqrt(r - 2 m)    sqrt(2) sqrt(r)

           1               %i
[0, 0, ---------, --------------------],
       sqrt(2) r  sqrt(2) r sin(theta)

           1                 %i
[0, 0, ---------, - --------------------])
       sqrt(2) r    sqrt(2) r sin(theta)

(%o7)                                done
(%i7) psi(true);
(%t8)                              psi  = 0
                                      0

(%t9)                              psi  = 0
                                      1

                                          m
(%t10)                             psi  = --
                                      2    3
                                          r

(%t11)                             psi  = 0
                                      3

(%t12)                             psi  = 0
                                      4
(%o12)                               done
(%i12) petrov();
(%o12)                                 D

The Petrov classification function is based on the algorithm published in "Classifying geometries in general relativity: III Classification in practice" by Pollney, Skea, and d’Inverno, Class. Quant. Grav. 17 2885-2902 (2000). Except for some simple test cases, the implementation is untested as of December 19, 2004, and is likely to contain errors.

Categories: Package ctensor ·

26.2.6 Torsion and nonmetricity

ctensor has the ability to compute and include torsion and nonmetricity coefficients in the connection coefficients.

The torsion coefficients are calculated from a user-supplied tensor tr, which should be a rank (2,1) tensor. From this, the torsion coefficients kt are computed according to the following formulae:


              m          m      m
       - g  tr   - g   tr   - tr   g
          im  kj    jm   ki     ij  km
kt   = -------------------------------
  ijk                 2


  k     km
kt   = g   kt
  ij         ijm

Note that only the mixed-index tensor is calculated and stored in the array kt.

The nonmetricity coefficients are calculated from the user-supplied nonmetricity vector nm. From this, the nonmetricity coefficients nmc are computed as follows:


             k    k        km
       -nm  D  - D  nm  + g   nm  g
   k      i  j    i   j         m  ij
nmc  = ------------------------------
   ij                2

where D stands for the Kronecker-delta.

When ctorsion_flag is set to true, the values of kt are subtracted from the mixed-indexed connection coefficients computed by christof and stored in mcs. Similarly, if cnonmet_flag is set to true, the values of nmc are subtracted from the mixed-indexed connection coefficients.

If necessary, christof calls the functions contortion and nonmetricity in order to compute kt and nm.

Function: contortion (tr)

Computes the (2,1) contortion coefficients from the torsion tensor tr.

Categories: Package ctensor ·
Function: nonmetricity (nm)

Computes the (2,1) nonmetricity coefficients from the nonmetricity vector nm.

Categories: Package ctensor ·

26.2.7 Miscellaneous features

Function: ctransform (M)

A function in the ctensor (component tensor) package which will perform a coordinate transformation upon an arbitrary square symmetric matrix M. The user must input the functions which define the transformation. (Formerly called transform.) These may also be supplied in the form of a list as an optional second argument.

Categories: Package ctensor ·
Function: findde (A, n)

returns a list of the unique differential equations (expressions) corresponding to the elements of the n dimensional square array A. Presently, n may be 2 or 3. deindex is a global list containing the indices of A corresponding to these unique differential equations. For the Einstein tensor (ein), which is a two dimensional array, if computed for the metric in the example below, findde gives the following independent differential equations:

(%i1) load("ctensor");
(%o1)       /share/tensor/ctensor.mac
(%i2) derivabbrev:true;
(%o2)                                true
(%i3) dim:4;
(%o3)                                  4
(%i4) lg:matrix([a, 0, 0, 0], [ 0, x^2, 0, 0],
                              [0, 0, x^2*sin(y)^2, 0], [0,0,0,-d]);
                          [ a  0       0        0  ]
                          [                        ]
                          [     2                  ]
                          [ 0  x       0        0  ]
(%o4)                     [                        ]
                          [         2    2         ]
                          [ 0  0   x  sin (y)   0  ]
                          [                        ]
                          [ 0  0       0       - d ]
(%i5) depends([a,d],x);
(%o5)                            [a(x), d(x)]
(%i6) ct_coords:[x,y,z,t];
(%o6)                            [x, y, z, t]
(%i7) cmetric();
(%o7)                                done
(%i8) einstein(false);
(%o8)                                done
(%i9) findde(ein,2);
                                            2
(%o9) [d  x - a d + d, 2 a d d    x - a (d )  x - a  d d  x
        x                     x x         x        x    x

                                              2          2
                          + 2 a d d   - 2 a  d , a  x + a  - a]
                                   x       x      x
(%i10) deindex;
(%o10)                     [[1, 1], [2, 2], [4, 4]]
Categories: Package ctensor ·
Function: cograd ()

Computes the covariant gradient of a scalar function allowing the user to choose the corresponding vector name as the example under contragrad illustrates.

Categories: Package ctensor ·
Function: contragrad ()

Computes the contravariant gradient of a scalar function allowing the user to choose the corresponding vector name as the example below for the Schwarzschild metric illustrates:

(%i1) load("ctensor");
(%o1)       /share/tensor/ctensor.mac
(%i2) derivabbrev:true;
(%o2)                                true
(%i3) ct_coordsys(exteriorschwarzschild,all);
(%o3)                                done
(%i4) depends(f,r);
(%o4)                               [f(r)]
(%i5) cograd(f,g1);
(%o5)                                done
(%i6) listarray(g1);
(%o6)                            [0, f , 0, 0]
                                      r
(%i7) contragrad(f,g2);
(%o7)                                done
(%i8) listarray(g2);
                               f  r - 2 f  m
                                r        r
(%o8)                      [0, -------------, 0, 0]
                                     r
Categories: Package ctensor ·
Function: dscalar ()

computes the tensor d’Alembertian of the scalar function once dependencies have been declared upon the function. For example:

(%i1) load("ctensor");
(%o1)       /share/tensor/ctensor.mac
(%i2) derivabbrev:true;
(%o2)                                true
(%i3) ct_coordsys(exteriorschwarzschild,all);
(%o3)                                done
(%i4) depends(p,r);
(%o4)                               [p(r)]
(%i5) factor(dscalar(p));
                          2
                    p    r  - 2 m p    r + 2 p  r - 2 m p
                     r r           r r        r          r
(%o5)               --------------------------------------
                                       2
                                      r
Categories: Package ctensor ·
Function: checkdiv ()

computes the covariant divergence of the mixed second rank tensor (whose first index must be covariant) by printing the corresponding n components of the vector field (the divergence) where n = dim. If the argument to the function is g then the divergence of the Einstein tensor will be formed and must be zero. In addition, the divergence (vector) is given the array name div.

Categories: Package ctensor ·
Function: cgeodesic (dis)

A function in the ctensor (component tensor) package. cgeodesic computes the geodesic equations of motion for a given metric. They are stored in the array geod[i]. If the argument dis is true then these equations are displayed.

Categories: Package ctensor ·
Function: bdvac (f)

generates the covariant components of the vacuum field equations of the Brans- Dicke gravitational theory. The scalar field is specified by the argument f, which should be a (quoted) function name with functional dependencies, e.g., 'p(x).

The components of the second rank covariant field tensor are represented by the array bd.

Categories: Package ctensor ·
Function: invariant1 ()

generates the mixed Euler- Lagrange tensor (field equations) for the invariant density of R^2. The field equations are the components of an array named inv1.

Categories: Package ctensor ·
Function: invariant2 ()

*** NOT YET IMPLEMENTED ***

generates the mixed Euler- Lagrange tensor (field equations) for the invariant density of ric[i,j]*uriem[i,j]. The field equations are the components of an array named inv2.

Categories: Package ctensor ·
Function: bimetric ()

*** NOT YET IMPLEMENTED ***

generates the field equations of Rosen’s bimetric theory. The field equations are the components of an array named rosen.

Categories: Package ctensor ·

26.2.8 Utility functions

Function: diagmatrixp (M,n)

Returns true if the first n rows and n columns of M form a diagonal matrix or (2D) array.

Function: symmetricp (M, n)

Returns true if M is a n by n symmetric matrix or two-dimensional array, otherwise false.

If n is less than the size of M, symmetricp considers only the n by n submatrix (respectively, subarray) comprising rows 1 through n and columns 1 through n.

Function: ntermst (f)

gives the user a quick picture of the "size" of the doubly subscripted tensor (array) f. It prints two element lists where the second element corresponds to NTERMS of the components specified by the first elements. In this way, it is possible to quickly find the non-zero expressions and attempt simplification.

Categories: Package ctensor ·
Function: cdisplay (ten)

displays all the elements of the tensor ten, as represented by a multidimensional array. Tensors of rank 0 and 1, as well as other types of variables, are displayed as with ldisplay. Tensors of rank 2 are displayed as 2-dimensional matrices, while tensors of higher rank are displayed as a list of 2-dimensional matrices. For instance, the Riemann-tensor of the Schwarzschild metric can be viewed as:

(%i1) load("ctensor");
(%o1)       /share/tensor/ctensor.mac
(%i2) ratfac:true;
(%o2)                                true
(%i3) ct_coordsys(exteriorschwarzschild,all);
(%o3)                                done
(%i4) riemann(false);
(%o4)                                done
(%i5) cdisplay(riem);
          [ 0               0                   0           0     ]
          [                                                       ]
          [                              2                        ]
          [      3 m (r - 2 m)   m    2 m                         ]
          [ 0  - ------------- + -- - ----      0           0     ]
          [            4          3     4                         ]
          [           r          r     r                          ]
          [                                                       ]
riem    = [                                m (r - 2 m)            ]
    1, 1  [ 0               0              -----------      0     ]
          [                                     4                 ]
          [                                    r                  ]
          [                                                       ]
          [                                           m (r - 2 m) ]
          [ 0               0                   0     ----------- ]
          [                                                4      ]
          [                                               r       ]

                                [    2 m (r - 2 m)       ]
                                [ 0  -------------  0  0 ]
                                [          4             ]
                                [         r              ]
                     riem     = [                        ]
                         1, 2   [ 0        0        0  0 ]
                                [                        ]
                                [ 0        0        0  0 ]
                                [                        ]
                                [ 0        0        0  0 ]

                                [         m (r - 2 m)    ]
                                [ 0  0  - -----------  0 ]
                                [              4         ]
                                [             r          ]
                     riem     = [                        ]
                         1, 3   [ 0  0        0        0 ]
                                [                        ]
                                [ 0  0        0        0 ]
                                [                        ]
                                [ 0  0        0        0 ]

                                [            m (r - 2 m) ]
                                [ 0  0  0  - ----------- ]
                                [                 4      ]
                                [                r       ]
                     riem     = [                        ]
                         1, 4   [ 0  0  0        0       ]
                                [                        ]
                                [ 0  0  0        0       ]
                                [                        ]
                                [ 0  0  0        0       ]

                               [       0         0  0  0 ]
                               [                         ]
                               [       2 m               ]
                               [ - ------------  0  0  0 ]
                    riem     = [    2                    ]
                        2, 1   [   r  (r - 2 m)          ]
                               [                         ]
                               [       0         0  0  0 ]
                               [                         ]
                               [       0         0  0  0 ]

             [     2 m                                         ]
             [ ------------  0        0               0        ]
             [  2                                              ]
             [ r  (r - 2 m)                                    ]
             [                                                 ]
             [      0        0        0               0        ]
             [                                                 ]
  riem     = [                         m                       ]
      2, 2   [      0        0  - ------------        0        ]
             [                     2                           ]
             [                    r  (r - 2 m)                 ]
             [                                                 ]
             [                                         m       ]
             [      0        0        0         - ------------ ]
             [                                     2           ]
             [                                    r  (r - 2 m) ]

                                [ 0  0       0        0 ]
                                [                       ]
                                [            m          ]
                                [ 0  0  ------------  0 ]
                     riem     = [        2              ]
                         2, 3   [       r  (r - 2 m)    ]
                                [                       ]
                                [ 0  0       0        0 ]
                                [                       ]
                                [ 0  0       0        0 ]

                                [ 0  0  0       0       ]
                                [                       ]
                                [               m       ]
                                [ 0  0  0  ------------ ]
                     riem     = [           2           ]
                         2, 4   [          r  (r - 2 m) ]
                                [                       ]
                                [ 0  0  0       0       ]
                                [                       ]
                                [ 0  0  0       0       ]

                                      [ 0  0  0  0 ]
                                      [            ]
                                      [ 0  0  0  0 ]
                                      [            ]
                           riem     = [ m          ]
                               3, 1   [ -  0  0  0 ]
                                      [ r          ]
                                      [            ]
                                      [ 0  0  0  0 ]

                                      [ 0  0  0  0 ]
                                      [            ]
                                      [ 0  0  0  0 ]
                                      [            ]
                           riem     = [    m       ]
                               3, 2   [ 0  -  0  0 ]
                                      [    r       ]
                                      [            ]
                                      [ 0  0  0  0 ]

                               [   m                      ]
                               [ - -   0   0       0      ]
                               [   r                      ]
                               [                          ]
                               [        m                 ]
                               [  0   - -  0       0      ]
                    riem     = [        r                 ]
                        3, 3   [                          ]
                               [  0    0   0       0      ]
                               [                          ]
                               [              2 m - r     ]
                               [  0    0   0  ------- + 1 ]
                               [                 r        ]

                                    [ 0  0  0    0   ]
                                    [                ]
                                    [ 0  0  0    0   ]
                                    [                ]
                         riem     = [            2 m ]
                             3, 4   [ 0  0  0  - --- ]
                                    [             r  ]
                                    [                ]
                                    [ 0  0  0    0   ]

                                [       0        0  0  0 ]
                                [                        ]
                                [       0        0  0  0 ]
                                [                        ]
                     riem     = [       0        0  0  0 ]
                         4, 1   [                        ]
                                [      2                 ]
                                [ m sin (theta)          ]
                                [ -------------  0  0  0 ]
                                [       r                ]

                                [ 0        0        0  0 ]
                                [                        ]
                                [ 0        0        0  0 ]
                                [                        ]
                     riem     = [ 0        0        0  0 ]
                         4, 2   [                        ]
                                [         2              ]
                                [    m sin (theta)       ]
                                [ 0  -------------  0  0 ]
                                [          r             ]

                              [ 0  0          0          0 ]
                              [                            ]
                              [ 0  0          0          0 ]
                              [                            ]
                   riem     = [ 0  0          0          0 ]
                       4, 3   [                            ]
                              [                2           ]
                              [         2 m sin (theta)    ]
                              [ 0  0  - ---------------  0 ]
                              [                r           ]

           [        2                                             ]
           [   m sin (theta)                                      ]
           [ - -------------         0                0         0 ]
           [         r                                            ]
           [                                                      ]
           [                         2                            ]
           [                    m sin (theta)                     ]
riem     = [        0         - -------------         0         0 ]
    4, 4   [                          r                           ]
           [                                                      ]
           [                                          2           ]
           [                                   2 m sin (theta)    ]
           [        0                0         ---------------  0 ]
           [                                          r           ]
           [                                                      ]
           [        0                0                0         0 ]

(%o5)                                done

Categories: Package ctensor ·
Function: deleten (L, n)

Returns a new list consisting of L with the n’th element deleted.

Categories: Package ctensor ·

26.2.9 Variables used by ctensor

Option variable: dim

Default value: 4

An option in the ctensor (component tensor) package. dim is the dimension of the manifold with the default 4. The command dim: n will reset the dimension to any other value n.

Categories: Package ctensor ·
Option variable: diagmetric

Default value: false

An option in the ctensor (component tensor) package. If diagmetric is true special routines compute all geometrical objects (which contain the metric tensor explicitly) by taking into consideration the diagonality of the metric. Reduced run times will, of course, result. Note: this option is set automatically by csetup if a diagonal metric is specified.

Categories: Package ctensor ·
Option variable: ctrgsimp

Causes trigonometric simplifications to be used when tensors are computed. Presently, ctrgsimp affects only computations involving a moving frame.

Option variable: cframe_flag

Causes computations to be performed relative to a moving frame as opposed to a holonomic metric. The frame is defined by the inverse frame array fri and the frame metric lfg. For computations using a Cartesian frame, lfg should be the unit matrix of the appropriate dimension; for computations in a Lorentz frame, lfg should have the appropriate signature.

Categories: Package ctensor ·
Option variable: ctorsion_flag

Causes the contortion tensor to be included in the computation of the connection coefficients. The contortion tensor itself is computed by contortion from the user-supplied tensor tr.

Categories: Package ctensor ·
Option variable: cnonmet_flag

Causes the nonmetricity coefficients to be included in the computation of the connection coefficients. The nonmetricity coefficients are computed from the user-supplied nonmetricity vector nm by the function nonmetricity.

Categories: Package ctensor ·
Option variable: ctayswitch

If set to true, causes some ctensor computations to be carried out using Taylor-series expansions. Presently, christof, ricci, uricci, einstein, and weyl take into account this setting.

Categories: Package ctensor ·
Option variable: ctayvar

Variable used for Taylor-series expansion if ctayswitch is set to true.

Categories: Package ctensor ·
Option variable: ctaypov

Maximum power used in Taylor-series expansion when ctayswitch is set to true.

Categories: Package ctensor ·
Option variable: ctaypt

Point around which Taylor-series expansion is carried out when ctayswitch is set to true.

Categories: Package ctensor ·
System variable: gdet

The determinant of the metric tensor lg. Computed by cmetric when cframe_flag is set to false.

Categories: Package ctensor ·
Option variable: ratchristof

Causes rational simplification to be applied by christof.

Categories: Package ctensor ·
Option variable: rateinstein

Default value: true

If true rational simplification will be performed on the non-zero components of Einstein tensors; if ratfac is true then the components will also be factored.

Categories: Package ctensor ·
Option variable: ratriemann

Default value: true

One of the switches which controls simplification of Riemann tensors; if true, then rational simplification will be done; if ratfac is true then each of the components will also be factored.

Categories: Package ctensor ·
Option variable: ratweyl

Default value: true

If true, this switch causes the weyl function to apply rational simplification to the values of the Weyl tensor. If ratfac is true, then the components will also be factored.

Categories: Package ctensor ·
Variable: lfg

The covariant frame metric. By default, it is initialized to the 4-dimensional Lorentz frame with signature (+,+,+,-). Used when cframe_flag is true.

Categories: Package ctensor ·
Variable: ufg

The inverse frame metric. Computed from lfg when cmetric is called while cframe_flag is set to true.

Categories: Package ctensor ·
Variable: riem

The (3,1) Riemann tensor. Computed when the function riemann is invoked. For information about index ordering, see the description of riemann.

If cframe_flag is true, riem is computed from the covariant Riemann-tensor lriem.

Categories: Package ctensor ·
Variable: lriem

The covariant Riemann tensor. Computed by lriemann.

Categories: Package ctensor ·
Variable: uriem

The contravariant Riemann tensor. Computed by uriemann.

Categories: Package ctensor ·
Variable: ric

The covariant Ricci-tensor. Computed by ricci.

Categories: Package ctensor ·
Variable: uric

The mixed-index Ricci-tensor. Computed by uricci.

Categories: Package ctensor ·
Variable: lg

The metric tensor. This tensor must be specified (as a dim by dim matrix) before other computations can be performed.

Categories: Package ctensor ·
Variable: ug

The inverse of the metric tensor. Computed by cmetric.

Categories: Package ctensor ·
Variable: weyl

The Weyl tensor. Computed by weyl.

Categories: Package ctensor ·
Variable: fb

Frame bracket coefficients, as computed by frame_bracket.

Categories: Package ctensor ·
Variable: kinvariant

The Kretschmann invariant. Computed by rinvariant.

Categories: Package ctensor ·
Variable: np

A Newman-Penrose null tetrad. Computed by nptetrad.

Categories: Package ctensor ·
Variable: npi

The raised-index Newman-Penrose null tetrad. Computed by nptetrad. Defined as ug.np. The product np.transpose(npi) is constant:

(%i39) trigsimp(np.transpose(npi));
                              [  0   - 1  0  0 ]
                              [                ]
                              [ - 1   0   0  0 ]
(%o39)                        [                ]
                              [  0    0   0  1 ]
                              [                ]
                              [  0    0   1  0 ]
Categories: Package ctensor ·
Variable: tr

User-supplied rank-3 tensor representing torsion. Used by contortion.

Categories: Package ctensor ·
Variable: kt

The contortion tensor, computed from tr by contortion.

Categories: Package ctensor ·
Variable: nm

User-supplied nonmetricity vector. Used by nonmetricity.

Categories: Package ctensor ·
Variable: nmc

The nonmetricity coefficients, computed from nm by nonmetricity.

Categories: Package ctensor ·
System variable: tensorkill

Variable indicating if the tensor package has been initialized. Set and used by csetup, reset by init_ctensor.

Categories: Package ctensor ·
Option variable: ct_coords

Default value: []

An option in the ctensor (component tensor) package. ct_coords contains a list of coordinates. While normally defined when the function csetup is called, one may redefine the coordinates with the assignment ct_coords: [j1, j2, ..., jn] where the j’s are the new coordinate names. See also csetup.

Categories: Package ctensor ·

26.2.10 Reserved names

The following names are used internally by the ctensor package and should not be redefined:

  Name         Description
  ---------------------------------------------------------------------
  _lg()        Evaluates to lfg if frame metric used, lg otherwise
  _ug()        Evaluates to ufg if frame metric used, ug otherwise
  cleanup()    Removes items from the deindex list
  contract4()  Used by psi()
  filemet()    Used by csetup() when reading the metric from a file
  findde1()    Used by findde()
  findde2()    Used by findde()
  findde3()    Used by findde()
  kdelt()      Kronecker-delta (not generalized)
  newmet()     Used by csetup() for setting up a metric interactively
  setflags()   Used by init_ctensor()
  readvalue()
  resimp()
  sermet()     Used by csetup() for entering a metric as Taylor-series
  txyzsum()
  tmetric()    Frame metric, used by cmetric() when cframe_flag:true
  triemann()   Riemann-tensor in frame base, used when cframe_flag:true
  tricci()     Ricci-tensor in frame base, used when cframe_flag:true
  trrc()       Ricci rotation coefficients, used by christof()
  yesp()

26.2.11 Changes

In November, 2004, the ctensor package was extensively rewritten. Many functions and variables have been renamed in order to make the package compatible with the commercial version of Macsyma.

  New Name     Old Name        Description
  ---------------------------------------------------------------------
  ctaylor()    DLGTAYLOR()     Taylor-series expansion of an expression
  lgeod[]      EM              Geodesic equations
  ein[]        G[]             Mixed Einstein-tensor
  ric[]        LR[]            Mixed Ricci-tensor
  ricci()      LRICCICOM()     Compute the mixed Ricci-tensor
  ctaypov      MINP            Maximum power in Taylor-series expansion
  cgeodesic()  MOTION          Compute geodesic equations
  ct_coords    OMEGA           Metric coordinates
  ctayvar      PARAM           Taylor-series expansion variable
  lriem[]      R[]             Covariant Riemann-tensor
  uriemann()   RAISERIEMANN()  Compute the contravariant Riemann-tensor
  ratriemann   RATRIEMAN       Rational simplif. of the Riemann-tensor
  uric[]       RICCI[]         Contravariant Ricci-tensor
  uricci()     RICCICOM()      Compute the contravariant Ricci-tensor
  cmetric()    SETMETRIC()     Set up the metric
  ctaypt       TAYPT           Point for Taylor-series expansion
  ctayswitch   TAYSWITCH       Taylor-series setting switch
  csetup()     TSETUP()        Start interactive setup session
  ctransform() TTRANSFORM()    Interactive coordinate transformation
  uriem[]      UR[]            Contravariant Riemann-tensor
  weyl[]       W[]             (3,1) Weyl-tensor


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