Einstein's relativity theory demands that all meaningful physical objects should be defined covariantly, i.e. in a coordinate independent way. Concepts of relative velocity, acceleration, gravity acceleration and gravity potential are fundamental in Newton's theory and they are imprinted in everyone's physical intuition. Unfortunately, relativistic definitions of them are not commonly known or appreciated. Every now and then some confused authors use wrong, non-covariant, definitions of velocity, acceleration and gravity, based on their vague Newtonian intuitions and hidden in a superficial, often purely semantic, relativistic disguise. A recent example of such a confusion (Gorkavyi & Vasilkov, 2016) is discussed at the end of this Note.
We extend de la Fuente and Romero's defining equation for uniform acceleration in a general curved spacetime from linear acceleration to the full Lorentz covariant uniform acceleration. In a flat spacetime background, we have explicit solutions. We use generalized Fermi-Walker transport to parallel transport the Frenet basis along the trajectory. In flat spacetime, we obtain velocity and acceleration transformations from a uniformly accelerated system to an inertial system. We obtain the time dilation between accelerated clocks. We apply our acceleration transformations to the motion of a char…
A consistent variational derivation of the Majorana 4-spinor field equations coupled to Einstein's theory of gravitation is given. The equivalence of the first and the second order variational field equations is explicitly demonstrated. The Lagrange multiplier 2-forms we use turn out to be precisely the Belinfante-Rosenfeld 2-forms that are needed to symmetrize the canonical energy-momentum tensor of the Majorana spinor.
We present a basics of the Einstein General Theory of Relativity. In the first part of this review we derive relations of Riemann geometry which are used in the General Relativity. In the second part we discuss Einstein Equations and some of its consequences (The Schwarzschild solution, gravitational waves, Friedman Equations etc). In the Appendix we briefly discuss a history of the discovery of the Einstein Equations.
Numerical-relativity (NR) simulations of compact binaries are expected to be an invaluable tool in gravitational-wave (GW) astronomy. The sensitivity of future detectors such as the Einstein Telescope (ET) will place much higher demands on NR simulations than first- and second-generation ground-based detectors. We discuss the issues facing compact-object simulations over the next decade, with an emphasis on estimating where the accuracy and parameter space coverage will be sufficient for ET and where significant work is needed.
We will present a complete set of equations, in the form of an Einstein-Bianchi system, that describe the evolution of generic smooth lattices in spacetime. All 20 independent Riemann curvatures will be evolved in parallel with the leg-lengths of the lattice. We will show that the evolution equations for the curvatures forms a hyperbolic system and that the associated constraints are preserved. This work is a generalisation of our previous paper arXiv:1101.3171 on the Einstein-Bianchi system for the Schwarzschild spacetime to general 3+1 vacuum spacetimes.
With Einstein's inertial motion (free-falling and non-rotating relative to gyroscopes), geodesics for non-relativistic particles can intersect repeatedly, allowing one to compute the space-time curvature $R^{\hat{0} \hat{0}}$ exactly. Einstein's $R^{\hat{0} \hat{0}}$ for strong gravitational fields and for relativistic source-matter is identical with the Newtonian expression for the relative radial acceleration of neighboring free-falling test-particles, spherically averaged.--- Einstein's field equations follow from Newtonian experiments, local Lorentz-covariance, and energy-momentum conserva…
Even if Einstein's General Relativity achieved a great success and overcame lots of experimental tests, it also showed some shortcomings and flaws which today advise theorists to ask if it is the definitive theory of gravity. In this proceeding paper it is shown that, if advanced projects on the detection of Gravitational Waves (GWs) will improve their sensitivity, allowing to perform a GWs astronomy, accurate angular and frequency dependent response functions of interferometers for GWs arising from various Theories of Gravity, i.e. General Relativity and Extended Theories of Gravity, will be …
We study the possibility that in the model introduced in \cite{GBN}, the Gauss-Bonnet term alone gives rise to the cosmic acceleration and super-acceleration in four-dimensional FLRW space-time at the late time. We also discuss transitions from deceleration to acceleration and acceleration to super-acceleration. We show that the Gauss-Bonnet invariant can drive the acceleration in the low redshift provided that its regularized coefficient has the same order as the squared of the ratio of the reduced Planck mass to the Hubble parameter.
In earlier work it was shown that a weak modification of general relativity, in the linearized approach, renders a spherically symmetric and stationary model of the Universe. This was due to the presence of a third mode of polarization in the linearized gravity in which a "curvature energy" term is present. Such term was identified as the Dark Energy of the Universe. In this letter a more realistic model is discussed. A different cosmological solution to the Einstein-Vlasov System is analysed. This solution shows reasonable results which are within the standard bounds predicted by the cosmolog…
The second Bianchi identity can be recast as an evolution equation for the Riemann curvatures. Here we will report on such a system for a vacuum static spherically symmetric spacetime. This is the first of two papers. In the following paper we will extend the ideas developed here to general vacuum spacetimes. In this paper we will demonstrate our ideas on a Schwarzschild spacetime and give detailed numerical results. For suitable choices of lapse function we find that the system gives excellent results with long term stability.
In the paper we show that the general relativity action (and Lagrangian) in recent Einstein-Palatini formulation is equivalent to the action (and Langrangian) of a gauge field. We begin with a bit of information of the Einstein-Palatini (EP) action, then we present how Einstein fields equations can be derived from it. In the next section, we consider Einstein-Palatini action integral for general relativity with a positive cosmological constant $Λ$ in terms of $\hat{F}$, the curvature of the affine connection's pulled back from de Sitter bundle to Lorentz bundle. We will see that in terms of $\…
Several traversable wormholes (T-WHs) of the Morris-Thorne type have been presented as exact solutions of Einstein-nonlinear electrodynamics gravity (GR-NLED), e.g. \cite{Arellano2009, Bronnikov2018,Bronnikov_Walia2021, Canate_Breton2018, Canate_Breton_Ortiz2020, Canate_Magos_Breton2020}. However, none of these solutions is support by a nonlinear electrodynamics model satisfying plausible conditions. In this work, we present the first traversable wormhole solution of Einstein-nonlinear electrodynamics gravity coupled to a self-interacting phantom scalar field (GR-NLED-SF) with a NLED model suc…
It is well known that Einstein's General Relativity (GR) achieved a great success and overcame lots of experimental tests. On the other hand, GR also showed some shortcomings and flaws which today advise theorists to ask if it is the definitive theory of gravity. In this review we show that, if advanced projects on the detection of Gravitational Waves (GWs) will improve their sensitivity, allowing to perform a GWs astronomy, understanding if Einstein's GR is the correct and definitive theory of gravity will be possible. For this goal, accurate angular and frequency dependent response functions…
One of the most difficult questions in present-day physics concerns a fundamental theory of space, time, and matter that incorporates a consistent quantum description of gravity. There are various theoretical approaches to such a quantum-gravity theory. Nevertheless, experimental progress is hampered in this research field because many models predict deviations from established physics that are suppressed by some power of the Planck scale, which currently appears to be immeasurably small. However, tests of relativity theory provide one promising avenue to overcome this phenomenological obstacl…
This work derives the elements of classical Einstein Cartan theory (EC) from classical general relativity (GR) in two ways. (I) Derive discrete versions of torsion (translational holonomy) and the spin torsion field equation of EC from one Kerr solution in GR. (II) Derive the field equations of EC as the continuum limit of a distribution of many Kerr masses in classical GR. The convergence computations employ epsilon delta arguments, and are not as rigorous as convergence in Sobolev norm. Inequality constraints needed for convergence restrict the limits from continuing to an infinitesimal leng…
We suggest that not only quanta may have played a role in Einstein's ideas on relativity, but that they themselves may be related to the dynamical and relativistic behaviour of the electromagnetic field exhibited in a Poincaré's 1900 paper, in particular to the identical transformation law of energy and frequency for bounded plane waves.
We show that the Schwarzschild solution can be embedded in a class of nonstandard solutions of the vacuum Einstein's equations with arbitrary rotation curves. These nonstandard solutions have to be taken as physical if dark matter as needed in the standard theory cannot be found. As a consequence general relativity is considered as a classical field theory in Minkowski space and not as a geometric theory in the sense of Einstein.
It has long been considered that conformal superspace is the natural configuration space for canonical general relativity. However, this was never definitively demonstrated. We have found that the standard conformal method of solving the Einstein constraints has an unexpected extra symmetry. This allows us to complete the project. We show that given a point and a velocity in conformal superspace, the Einstein equations generate a unique curve in conformal superspace.
We present a simple proof of the Poincaré gauge invariance of general relativity and Einstein-Cartan theory, in the context of the corresponding bundle of affine frames.
In these notes we give an introductory unified treatment to the topics of special relativity, Lorentz transformations and the Lorentz group, Einstein velocitiy addition, and gyrogroups and gyrovector spaces. An effort has been made to present the material in a manner that is accessible to non-specialists and graduate students, and may even serve as the basis for a graduate course or seminar.
Long before the general theory of relativity was finally formulated in 1916, arguments based entirely on Einstein's equivalence principle predicted the well known phenomenon of the gravitational red shift. Precisely the same arguments are widely being used today to derive the same phenomenon. Accordingly, it is often claimed that the observed gravitational red shift is a verification of the equivalence principle rather than a verification of the full theory of general relativity. Here we show that, contrary to these claims, the arguments based on the equivalence principle are false and that \i…
We present in the most natural way, that is, in the context of the theory of vector and principal bundles and connections in them, fundamental geometrical concepts related to General Relativity and one of its extensions, the Einstein-Cartan theory.
The class of accelerated reference frames has been studied, on the basis of Fermi-Walker coordinates; both in the cases of uniform and arbitrary accelerations. In the first case, explicit formulae for the transformation of coordinates have been derived and, in both cases, we have also obtained the infinitesimal generators and their commutation relations. The outcome has been an extension of the Poincaré algebra (in 1+1 dimensions), which is infinite dimensional in the case of general acceleration. This extension turns out to be trivial, in the sense that it is Abelian.
We show that Einstein's $R^{\hat{0} \hat{0}}$ equation for nonrelativistic matter and strong gravitational fields is identical with Newton's equation for relative radial acceleration of neighbouring freefalling particles, spherically averaged. These laws are explicitely identical with primary observer's (1) space-time slicing by radial 4-geodesics, (2) radially parallel Local Ortho-Normal Bases, LONBs, (3) Riemann normal 3-coordinates. Hats on indices denote LONBs. General relativity follows from Newton's law of relative acceleration, Einstein's inertial motion, Lorentz covariance, and energy-…
According to the Einstein, Weinberg, and Møller energy-momentum complexes, we evaluate the energy distribution of the singularity-free solution of the Einstein field equations coupled to a suitable nonlinear electrodynamics suggested by Ayón-Beato and García. The results show that the energy associated with the definitions of Einstein and Weinberg are the same, but Møller not. Using the power series expansion, we find out that the first two terms in the expression are the same as the energy distributions of the Reissner-Nordström solution, and the third term could be used to survey the factual…
Albert Einstein accepted a 'special' visiting professorship at the University of Leiden in the Netherlands in February 1920. Although his appointment should have been a mere formality, it took until October of that year before Einstein could occupy his special chair. Why the delay? The explanation involves a case of mistaken identity with Carl Einstein, Dadaist art, and a particular Dutch fear of revolutions. But what revolution was one afraid of? The story of Einstein's Leiden chair throws new light on the reception of relativity and its creator in the Netherlands and in Germany.
Two important and unpleasant events occurred in Albert Einstein's life in 1920: That August an antirelativity rally was held in the large auditorium of the Berlin Philharmonic, and a few weeks later Einstein was drawn into a tense and highly publicized debate with Philipp Lenard on the merits of relativity at a meeting in Bad Nauheim, Germany. I review these events and discuss how they affected Einstein in light of new documentary evidence that has become available through the publication of Volume 10 of the Collected Papers of Albert Einstein.
This is an article commissioned by the Spanish Physics Magazine ("Revista Española de Física") for the Centennial Anniversary of the discovery of General Relativity. The article reviews experimental and observational efforts to test Einstein's theory of General Relativity in a variety of scenarios (from the Solar System to binary pulsars, from the Sag A* to binary black hole and neutron star coalescences).
A connection-independent formulation of general relativity is presented, in which the dynamics does not depend on the choice of connection. The gravity action in this formulation includes one additional scalar term in addition to the Einstein-Hilbert action. No conditions on the connection are imposed. Nevertheless, this formulation yields the Einstein equations, without adding the Gibbons-Hawking-York term even when a manifold has a boundary. Furthermore, this formulation yields a unified description of general relativity, teleparallel gravity, and symmetric teleparallel gravity.
We study how the changes of coordinates between the class of harmonic coordinates affect the analitycal solutions of Einstein's equations and we apply it to an analytical approach for stationary and axisymmetric solutions of Einstein equation used by the authors \cite{cmmr}, \cite{cugmmr} to solve the problem of a self-gravitating rigidly rotating perfect fluid compact source.
Five-dimensional relativity as an extension of general relativity has field equations that simplify considerably given the adoption of a new gauge. The result is a scalar field governed by the Klein-Gordon equation, in an empty spacetime with a cosmological constant governed by Einstein's equations. The main application is to the properties of massive particles in a vacuum-dominated universe.
On the basis of his `Zürich Notebook' I shall describe a particularly fruitful phase in Einstein's struggle on the way to general relativity. These research notes are an extremely illuminating source for understanding Einstein's main physical arguments and conceptual difficulties that delayed his discovery of general relativity by about three years. Together with the `Ent\-wurf' theory in collaboration with Marcel Grossmann, these notes also show that the final theory was missed late in 1912 within a hair's breadth. The Einstein-Grossmann theory, published almost exactly hundred years ago, con…
