General Theory of Relativity 9781400884193

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Gewfll Tkttry t| Relativity

PRINCETON LANDMARKS IN M A T H E M A T I C S AND P H Y S I C S Non-standard Analysis, by Abraham Robinson General Theory of Relativity, by P.A.M. Dirac Angular Momentum in Quantum Mechanics, by A. R. Edmonds Mathematical Foundations of Quantum Mechanics, by John von Neumann Introduction to Mathematical Logic, by Alonzo Church Convex Analysis, by R. Tyrrell Rockafellar Riemannian Geometry, by Luther Pfahler Eisenhart The Classical Groups, by Hermann Weyl Topology from the Differentiable Viewpoint, by John W. Milnor Algebraic Theory of Numbers, by Hermann Weyl Continuous Geometry, by John von Neumann Linear Programming and Extensions, by George B. Dantzig Operator Techniques in Atomic Spectroscopy, by Brian R. Judd The Topology of Fibre Bundles, by Norman Steenrod Mathematical Methods of Statistics, by Harald Cramer

ODBtAL TKORT O FU U M T r. H H MM(

PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS PRINCETON, NEW JE R S E Y

Published by Princeton University Press, 41 W illiam Street, Princeton, New Jersey 0 8 5 4 0 In the United Kingdom : Princeton University Press, Chichester, W est Sussex C opyright © 1 9 9 6 by Princeton U niversity Press

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Reprinted by permission o f the Estate o f P A .M . D irac

Library o f Congress Cataloging-in-Publication D ata D irac, P A .M . (Paul Adrien M aurice), 1 9 0 2 - 1 9 8 4 . General theory o f relativity / P A .M . D irac, p. cm . - (Princeton landmarks in m athem atics and physics) (Physics notes) Originally published: New York : W iley, [1 9 7 5 ]. Includes index.

ISBN-13: 9 7 8 - 0 - 6 9 1 - 0 1 1 4 6 - 2 ISBN-10: 0 -6 9 1 -0 1 146-X 1. General relativity (Ph ysics) I. Title. II. Series. III. Series: Physics notes. Q C 1 7 3 .6 .D 5 7

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Princeton University Press books are printed on acid-free paper and m eet the guidelines for perm anence and durability o f the C om m ittee on Production Guidelines for B ook Longevity o f the Council on Library R esources First Princeton Paperback printing, in the Princeton Landm arks in M athem atics and Physics Series and the Physics Notes Series, 1 9 9 6 http://pup.princeton.edu

Printed in the United States o f A m erica

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Preface Einstein’s general theory of relativity requires a curved space for the descrip­ tion of the physical world. If one wishes to go beyond a superficial discussion of the physical relations one needs to set up precise equations for handling curved space. There is a well-established but rather complicated mathe­ matical technique that does this. It has to be mastered by any student who wishes to understand Einstein’s theory. This book is built up from a course of lectures given at the Physics Depart­ ment of Florida State University and has the aim of presenting the indispensible material in a direct and concise form. It does not require previous knowledge beyond the basic ideas of special relativity and the handling of differentiations of field functions. It will enable the student to pass through the main obstacles of understanding general relativity with the minimum expenditure of time and trouble and to become qualified to continue more deeply into any specialized aspects of the subject that interest him.

,

Tallahassee Florida February 1975

P . A . M . D ira c

(N td tS 1.

Special Relativity, 1

2.

Oblique Axes, 3

3.

Curvilinear Coordinates, 5

4.

Nontensors,

5.

Curved Space, 9

6.

Parallel Displacement, 10

7.

Christoffel Symbols, 12

8.

Geodesics, 14

9.

The Stationary Property of Geodesics, 16

8

10.

Covariant Differentiation, 17

11.

The Curvature Tensor, 20

12.

The Condition for Flat Space, 22

13.

The Bianci Relations, 23

14.

The Ricci Tensor, 24

15.

Einstein’s Law of Gravitation, 25

16.

The Newtonian Approximation, 26

17.

The Gravitational Red Shift, 29

18.

The Schwarzchild Solution, 30

19.

Black Holes, 32

CONTENTS

viii

20.

Tensor Densities, 36

21.

Gauss and Stokes Theorems, 38

22.

Harmonic Coordinates, 40

23.

The Electromagnetic Field, 41

24.

Modification of the Einstein Equations by the Presence of Matter, 43

25. The Material Energy Tensor, 45 26. The Gravitational Action Principle, 48 27. The Action for a Continuous Distribution of Matter, 50 28. The Action for the Electromagnetic Field, 54 29. The Action for Charged Matter, 55 30. The Comprehensive Action Principle, 58 31.

The Pseudo-Energy Tensor of the Gravitational Field, 61

32.

Explicit Expression for the Pseudo-Tensor, 63

33.

Gravitational Waves, 64

34.

The Polarization of Gravitational Waves, 66

35.

The Cosmological Term, 68 Index, 71

I. Special relativity For the space-time of physics we need four coordinates, the time t and three space coordinates x, y, z. We put t = x°,

x = x 1,

y = x 2,

z = x 3,

so that the four coordinates may be written xM , where the suffix jj, takes on the four values 0, 1, 2, 3. The suffix is written in the upper position in order that we may maintain a “balancing” of the suffixes in all the general equations of the theory. The precise meaning of balancing will become clear a little later. Let us take a point close to the point that we originally considered and let its coordinates be x M+ dxfi. The four quantities dxMwhich form the dis­ placement may be considered as the components of a vector. The laws of special relativity allow us to make linear nonhomogeneous transformations of the coordinates, resulting in linear homogeneous transformations of the dxfi. These are such that, if we choose units of distance and of time such that the velocity of light is unity, (dx0)2 - (dx1)2 - (dx2)2 - (dx3)2

(1.1)

is invariant. Any set of four quantities A**that transform under a change of coordinates in the same way as the dxMform what is called a contravariant vector. The invariant quantity (A0)2 - (A1)2 - (A2)2 - (,43)2 = (A, A)

(1.2)

may be called the squared length of the vector. With a second contravariant vector B*, we have the scalar product invariant A°B° - A lB l - A2B2 - A2B3 = (A, B).

(1.3)

In order to get a convenient way of writing such invariants we introduce the device of lowering suffixes. Define A0 = A0,

A t = - A 1,

A2 = - A 2,

A3 = —A3.

(1.4)

Then the expression on the left-hand side of (1.2) may be written A^A'1, in which it is understood that a summation is to be taken over the four values of ju. With the same notation we can write (1.3) as A^B* or else A^B^.

2

GENERAL THEORY OF RELATIVITY

The four quantities A^ introduced by (1.4) may also be considered as the components of a vector. Their transformation laws under a change of co­ ordinates are somewhat different from those of the A*, because of the dif­ ferences in sign, and the vector is called a covariant vector. From the two contravariant vectors AMand we may form the sixteen quantities AflBv. The suffix v, like all the Greek suffixes appearing in this work, also takes on the four values 0 ,1 ,2 ,3 . These sixteen quantities form the com­ ponents of a tensor of the second rank. It is sometimes called the outer product of the vectors A* and as distinct from the scalar product (1.3), which is called the inner product. The tensor A*BV is a rather special tensor because there are special re­ lations between its components. But we can add together several tensors constructed in this way to get a general tensor of the second rank; say T "v = AfiBv + AfflB,v + A',fiB"v + •••.

(1.5)

The important thing about the general tensor is that under a transformation of coordinates its components transform in the same way as the quantities A»B\ We may lower one of the suffixes in TM Vby applying the lowering process to each of the terms on the right-hand side of (1.5). Thus we may form T J or TV We may lower both suffixes to get TMV. In T J we may set v = fi and get 7J/\ This is to be summed over the four values of fi. A summation is always implied over a suffix that occurs twice in a term. Thus T / is a scalar. It is equal to T%. We may continue this process and multiply more than two vectors to­ gether, taking care that their suffixes are all different. In this way we can construct tensors of higher rank. If the vectors are all contravariant, we get a tensor with all its suffixes upstairs. We may then lower any of the suffixes and so get a general tensor with any number of suffixes upstairs and any number downstairs. We may set a downstairs suffix equal to an upstairs one. We then have to sum over all values of this suffix. The suffix becomes a dummy. We are left with a tensor having two fewer effective suffixes than the original one. This process is called contraction. Thus, if we start with the fourth-rank tensor TV*, one way of contracting it is to put o = p, which gives the second rank tensor TM V/ , having only sixteen components, arising from the four values of fi and v. We could contract again to get the scalar TM M / , with just one com­ ponent.

2.

3

OBLIQUE AXES

At this stage one can appreciate the balancing of suffixes. Any effective suffix occurring in an equation appears once and only once in each term of the equation, and always upstairs or always downstairs. A suffix occurring twice in a term is a dummy, and it must occur once upstairs and once down­ stairs. It may be replaced by any other Greek letter not already mentioned in the term. Thus T*vpp = T*va*. A suffix must never occur more than twice in a term.

1 Oblique oxes Before passing to the formalism of general relativity it is convenient to consider an intermediate formalism—special relativity referred to oblique rectilinear axes. If we make a transformation to oblique axes, each of the dx* mentioned in (1.1) becomes a linear function of the new dx* and the quadratic form (1.1) becomes a general quadratic form in the new dx*. We may write it

(2. 1)

gpvdx*dx\

with summations understood over both \xand v. The coefficients gpvappearing here depend on the system of oblique axes. Of course we take g = gv because any difference of g and gvp would not show up in the quadratic form (2.1). There are thus ten independent coefficients gtlv. A general contravariant vector has four components A* which transform like the dx* under any transformation of the oblique axes. Thus g ,vA*A' is invariant. It is the squared length of the vector A*. Let B* be a second contravariant vector; then A* + XB* is still another, for any value of the number X. Its squared length is

gJA*

+

W )(A '

+

m

=

g ^ A 'A ' + H g ^ A W

+

g ^ A 'B ^ + X2g ^ B \

This must be an invariant for all values of X. It follows that the term indepen­ dent of X and the coefficients of X and X2 must separately be invariants. The

4

GENERAL THEORY OF RELATIVITY

coefficient of k is + g^A 'W = 2g^A*B\ since in the second term on the left we may interchange fi and v and then use gM V= gvtl. Thus we find that gfiVA^lBv is an invariant. It is the scalar product of A11and Let g be determinant of the gfiV. It must not vanish; otherwise the four axes would not provide independent directions in space-time and would not be suitable as axes. For the orthogonal axes of the preceding section the diagonal elements of g^v are 1, —1, —1, —1 and the nondiagonal elements are zero. Thus g = — 1. With oblique axes g must still be negative, because the oblique axes can be obtained from the orthogonal ones by a continuous process, resulting in g varying continuously, and g cannot pass through the value zero. Define the covariant vector A^ with a downstairs suffix, by (2.2)

\ = g„A \

Since the determinant g does not vanish, these equations can be solved for Av in terms of the Afi. Let the result be a*

(2.3)

=

Each g^ equals the cofactor of the corresponding gM Vin the determinant of the ^ v, divided by the determinant itself. It follows that g = gvfi. Let us substitute for the Av in (2.2) their values given by (2.3). We must replace the dummy fi in (2.3) by some other Greek letter, say p, in order not to have three p’s in the same term. We get

Since this equation must hold for any four quantities A

we can infer (2.4)

where gl = 1 for fi = p, = 0 for jU # p.

(2.5)

The formula (2.2) may be used to lower any upper suffix occurring in a tensor. Similarly, (2.3) can be used to raise any downstairs suffix. If a suffix is

3.

5

CURVILINEAR COORDINATES

lowered and raised again, the result is the same as the original tensor, on account of (2.4) and (2.5). Note that gpjust produces a substitution of p for p, gp ,A p =

a p,

or of p for p, g»Ap = A,. If we apply the rule for raising a suffix to the /i in

we get

0% = This agrees with (2.4), if we take into account that in gr*v we may write the suffixes one above the other because of the symmetry of g„v. Further we may raise the suffix v by the same rule and get "V)