Pseudo-Riemannian Manifolds#

A pseudo-Riemannian manifold is a pair \((M,g)\) where \(M\) is a real differentiable manifold \(M\) (see DifferentiableManifold) and \(g\) is a field of non-degenerate symmetric bilinear forms on \(M\), which is called the metric tensor, or simply the metric (see PseudoRiemannianMetric).

Two important subcases are

Riemannian manifold: the metric \(g\) is positive definite, i.e. its signature is \(n = \dim M\);
Lorentzian manifold: the metric \(g\) has signature \(n-2\) (positive convention) or \(2-n\) (negative convention).

On a pseudo-Riemannian manifold, one may use various standard operators acting on scalar and tensor fields, like grad() or div().

All pseudo-Riemannian manifolds, whatever the metric signature, are implemented via the class PseudoRiemannianManifold.

Example 1: the sphere as a Riemannian manifold of dimension 2

We start by declaring \(S^2\) as a 2-dimensional Riemannian manifold:

sage: M = Manifold(2, 'S^2', structure='Riemannian')
sage: M
2-dimensional Riemannian manifold S^2

We then cover \(S^2\) by two stereographic charts, from the North pole and from the South pole respectively:

sage: U = M.open_subset('U')
sage: stereoN.<x,y> = U.chart()
sage: V = M.open_subset('V')
sage: stereoS.<u,v> = V.chart()
sage: M.declare_union(U,V)
sage: stereoN_to_S = stereoN.transition_map(stereoS,
....:                [x/(x^2+y^2), y/(x^2+y^2)], intersection_name='W',
....:                restrictions1= x^2+y^2!=0, restrictions2= u^2+v^2!=0)
sage: W = U.intersection(V)
sage: stereoN_to_S
Change of coordinates from Chart (W, (x, y)) to Chart (W, (u, v))
sage: stereoN_to_S.display()
u = x/(x^2 + y^2)
v = y/(x^2 + y^2)
sage: stereoN_to_S.inverse().display()
x = u/(u^2 + v^2)
y = v/(u^2 + v^2)

We get the metric defining the Riemannian structure by:

sage: g = M.metric()
sage: g
Riemannian metric g on the 2-dimensional Riemannian manifold S^2

At this stage, the metric \(g\) is defined as a Python object but there remains to initialize it by setting its components with respect to the vector frames associated with the stereographic coordinates. Let us begin with the frame of chart stereoN:

sage: eU = stereoN.frame()
sage: g[eU, 0, 0] = 4/(1 + x^2 + y^2)^2
sage: g[eU, 1, 1] = 4/(1 + x^2 + y^2)^2

The metric components in the frame of chart stereoS are obtained by continuation of the expressions found in \(W = U\cap V\) from the known change-of-coordinate formulas:

sage: eV = stereoS.frame()
sage: g.add_comp_by_continuation(eV, W)

At this stage, the metric \(g\) is well defined in all \(S^2\):

sage: g.display(eU)
g = 4/(x^2 + y^2 + 1)^2 dx⊗dx + 4/(x^2 + y^2 + 1)^2 dy⊗dy
sage: g.display(eV)
g = 4/(u^4 + v^4 + 2*(u^2 + 1)*v^2 + 2*u^2 + 1) du⊗du
 + 4/(u^4 + v^4 + 2*(u^2 + 1)*v^2 + 2*u^2 + 1) dv⊗dv

The expression in frame eV can be given a shape similar to that in frame eU, by factorizing the components:

sage: g[eV, 0, 0].factor()
4/(u^2 + v^2 + 1)^2
sage: g[eV, 1, 1].factor()
4/(u^2 + v^2 + 1)^2
sage: g.display(eV)
g = 4/(u^2 + v^2 + 1)^2 du⊗du + 4/(u^2 + v^2 + 1)^2 dv⊗dv

Let us consider a scalar field \(f\) on \(S^2\):

sage: f = M.scalar_field({stereoN: 1/(1+x^2+y^2)}, name='f')
sage: f.add_expr_by_continuation(stereoS, W)
sage: f.display()
f: S^2 → ℝ
on U: (x, y) ↦ 1/(x^2 + y^2 + 1)
on V: (u, v) ↦ (u^2 + v^2)/(u^2 + v^2 + 1)

The gradient of \(f\) (with respect to the metric \(g\)) is:

sage: gradf = f.gradient()
sage: gradf
Vector field grad(f) on the 2-dimensional Riemannian manifold S^2
sage: gradf.display(eU)
grad(f) = -1/2*x ∂/∂x - 1/2*y ∂/∂y
sage: gradf.display(eV)
grad(f) = 1/2*u ∂/∂u + 1/2*v ∂/∂v

It is possible to write grad(f) instead of f.gradient(), by importing the standard differential operators of vector calculus:

sage: from sage.manifolds.operators import *
sage: grad(f) == gradf
True

The Laplacian of \(f\) (with respect to the metric \(g\)) is obtained either as f.laplacian() or, thanks to the above import, as laplacian(f):

sage: Df = laplacian(f)
sage: Df
Scalar field Delta(f) on the 2-dimensional Riemannian manifold S^2
sage: Df.display()
Delta(f): S^2 → ℝ
on U: (x, y) ↦ (x^2 + y^2 - 1)/(x^2 + y^2 + 1)
on V: (u, v) ↦ -(u^2 + v^2 - 1)/(u^2 + v^2 + 1)

Let us check the standard formula \(\Delta f = \mathrm{div}( \mathrm{grad}\, f )\):

sage: Df == div(gradf)
True

Since each open subset of \(S^2\) inherits the structure of a Riemannian manifold, we can get the metric on it via the method metric():

sage: gU = U.metric()
sage: gU
Riemannian metric g on the Open subset U of the 2-dimensional Riemannian
 manifold S^2
sage: gU.display()
g = 4/(x^2 + y^2 + 1)^2 dx⊗dx + 4/(x^2 + y^2 + 1)^2 dy⊗dy

Of course, gU is nothing but the restriction of \(g\) to \(U\):

sage: gU is g.restrict(U)
True

Example 2: Minkowski spacetime as a Lorentzian manifold of dimension 4

We start by declaring a 4-dimensional Lorentzian manifold \(M\):

sage: M = Manifold(4, 'M', structure='Lorentzian')
sage: M
4-dimensional Lorentzian manifold M

We define Minkowskian coordinates on \(M\):

sage: X.<t,x,y,z> = M.chart()

We construct the metric tensor by:

sage: g = M.metric()
sage: g
Lorentzian metric g on the 4-dimensional Lorentzian manifold M

and initialize it to the Minkowskian value:

sage: g[0,0], g[1,1], g[2,2], g[3,3] = -1, 1, 1, 1
sage: g.display()
g = -dt⊗dt + dx⊗dx + dy⊗dy + dz⊗dz
sage: g[:]
[-1  0  0  0]
[ 0  1  0  0]
[ 0  0  1  0]
[ 0  0  0  1]

We may check that the metric is flat, i.e. has a vanishing Riemann curvature tensor:

sage: g.riemann().display()
Riem(g) = 0

A vector field on \(M\):

sage: u = M.vector_field(name='u')
sage: u[0] = cosh(t)
sage: u[1] = sinh(t)
sage: u.display()
u = cosh(t) ∂/∂t + sinh(t) ∂/∂x

The scalar square of \(u\) is:

sage: s = u.dot(u); s
Scalar field u.u on the 4-dimensional Lorentzian manifold M

Scalar products are taken with respect to the metric tensor:

sage: u.dot(u) == g(u,u)
True

\(u\) is a unit timelike vector, i.e. its scalar square is identically \(-1\):

sage: s.display()
u.u: M → ℝ
   (t, x, y, z) ↦ -1
sage: s.expr()
-1

Let us consider a unit spacelike vector:

sage: v = M.vector_field(name='v')
sage: v[0] = sinh(t)
sage: v[1] = cosh(t)
sage: v.display()
v = sinh(t) ∂/∂t + cosh(t) ∂/∂x
sage: v.dot(v).display()
v.v: M → ℝ
   (t, x, y, z) ↦ 1
sage: v.dot(v).expr()
1

\(u\) and \(v\) are orthogonal vectors with respect to Minkowski metric:

sage: u.dot(v).display()
    u.v: M → ℝ
   (t, x, y, z) ↦ 0
sage: u.dot(v).expr()
0

The divergence of \(u\) is:

sage: s = u.div(); s
Scalar field div(u) on the 4-dimensional Lorentzian manifold M
sage: s.display()
div(u): M → ℝ
   (t, x, y, z) ↦ sinh(t)

while its d’Alembertian is:

sage: Du = u.dalembertian(); Du
Vector field Box(u) on the 4-dimensional Lorentzian manifold M
sage: Du.display()
Box(u) = -cosh(t) ∂/∂t - sinh(t) ∂/∂x

AUTHORS:

Eric Gourgoulhon (2018): initial version

REFERENCES:

B. O’Neill : Semi-Riemannian Geometry [ONe1983]
J. M. Lee : Riemannian Manifolds [Lee1997]

class sage.manifolds.differentiable.pseudo_riemannian.PseudoRiemannianManifold(n, name, metric_name=None, signature=None, base_manifold=None, diff_degree=+Infinity, latex_name=None, metric_latex_name=None, start_index=0, category=None, unique_tag=None)#

Bases: DifferentiableManifold

PseudoRiemannian manifold.

Two important subcases are

Riemannian manifold: the metric \(g\) is positive definite, i.e. its signature is \(n = \dim M\);
Lorentzian manifold: the metric \(g\) has signature \(n-2\) (positive convention) or \(2-n\) (negative convention).

INPUT:

n – positive integer; dimension of the manifold
name – string; name (symbol) given to the manifold
metric_name – (default: None) string; name (symbol) given to the metric; if None, 'g' is used
signature – (default: None) signature \(S\) of the metric as a single integer: \(S = n_+ - n_-\), where \(n_+\) (resp. \(n_-\)) is the number of positive terms (resp. number of negative terms) in any diagonal writing of the metric components; if signature is not provided, \(S\) is set to the manifold’s dimension (Riemannian signature)
base_manifold – (default: None) if not None, must be a differentiable manifold; the created object is then an open subset of base_manifold
diff_degree – (default: infinity) degree \(k\) of differentiability
latex_name – (default: None) string; LaTeX symbol to denote the manifold; if none is provided, it is set to name
metric_latex_name – (default: None) string; LaTeX symbol to denote the metric; if none is provided, it is set to metric_name
start_index – (default: 0) integer; lower value of the range of indices used for “indexed objects” on the manifold, e.g. coordinates in a chart
category – (default: None) to specify the category; if None, Manifolds(RR).Differentiable() (or Manifolds(RR).Smooth() if diff_degree = infinity) is assumed (see the category Manifolds)
unique_tag – (default: None) tag used to force the construction of a new object when all the other arguments have been used previously (without unique_tag, the UniqueRepresentation behavior inherited from ManifoldSubset, via DifferentiableManifold and TopologicalManifold, would return the previously constructed object corresponding to these arguments).

EXAMPLES:

Pseudo-Riemannian manifolds are constructed via the generic function Manifold(), using the keyword structure:

sage: M = Manifold(4, 'M', structure='pseudo-Riemannian', signature=0)
sage: M
4-dimensional pseudo-Riemannian manifold M
sage: M.category()
Category of smooth manifolds over Real Field with 53 bits of precision

The metric associated with M is:

sage: M.metric()
Pseudo-Riemannian metric g on the 4-dimensional pseudo-Riemannian
 manifold M
sage: M.metric().signature()
0
sage: M.metric().tensor_type()
(0, 2)

Its value has to be initialized either by setting its components in various vector frames (see the above examples regarding the 2-sphere and Minkowski spacetime) or by making it equal to a given field of symmetric bilinear forms (see the method set() of the metric class). Both methods are also covered in the documentation of method metric() below.

The metric object belongs to the class PseudoRiemannianMetric:

sage: isinstance(M.metric(), sage.manifolds.differentiable.metric.
....:                        PseudoRiemannianMetric)
True

See the documentation of this class for all operations available on metrics.

The default name of the metric is g; it can be customized:

sage: M = Manifold(4, 'M', structure='pseudo-Riemannian',
....:              metric_name='gam', metric_latex_name=r'\gamma')
sage: M.metric()
Riemannian metric gam on the 4-dimensional Riemannian manifold M
sage: latex(M.metric())
\gamma

A Riemannian manifold is constructed by the proper setting of the keyword structure:

sage: M = Manifold(4, 'M', structure='Riemannian'); M
4-dimensional Riemannian manifold M
sage: M.metric()
Riemannian metric g on the 4-dimensional Riemannian manifold M
sage: M.metric().signature()
4

Similarly, a Lorentzian manifold is obtained by:

sage: M = Manifold(4, 'M', structure='Lorentzian'); M
4-dimensional Lorentzian manifold M
sage: M.metric()
Lorentzian metric g on the 4-dimensional Lorentzian manifold M

The default Lorentzian signature is taken to be positive:

sage: M.metric().signature()
2

but one can opt for the negative convention via the keyword signature:

sage: M = Manifold(4, 'M', structure='Lorentzian', signature='negative')
sage: M.metric()
Lorentzian metric g on the 4-dimensional Lorentzian manifold M
sage: M.metric().signature()
-2

metric(name=None, signature=None, latex_name=None, dest_map=None)#

Return the metric giving the pseudo-Riemannian structure to the manifold, or define a new metric tensor on the manifold.

INPUT:

name – (default: None) name given to the metric; if name is None or matches the name of the metric defining the pseudo-Riemannian structure of self, the latter metric is returned
signature – (default: None; ignored if name is None) signature \(S\) of the metric as a single integer: \(S = n_+ - n_-\), where \(n_+\) (resp. \(n_-\)) is the number of positive terms (resp. number of negative terms) in any diagonal writing of the metric components; if signature is not provided, \(S\) is set to the manifold’s dimension (Riemannian signature)
latex_name – (default: None; ignored if name is None) LaTeX symbol to denote the metric; if None, it is formed from name
dest_map – (default: None; ignored if name is None) instance of class DiffMap representing the destination map \(\Phi:\ U \rightarrow M\), where \(U\) is the current manifold; if None, the identity map is assumed (case of a metric tensor field on \(U\))

OUTPUT:

instance of PseudoRiemannianMetric

EXAMPLES:

Metric of a 3-dimensional Riemannian manifold:

sage: M = Manifold(3, 'M', structure='Riemannian', start_index=1)
sage: X.<x,y,z> = M.chart()
sage: g = M.metric(); g
Riemannian metric g on the 3-dimensional Riemannian manifold M

The metric remains to be initialized, for instance by setting its components in the coordinate frame associated to the chart X:

sage: g[1,1], g[2,2], g[3,3] = 1, 1, 1
sage: g.display()
g = dx⊗dx + dy⊗dy + dz⊗dz

Alternatively, the metric can be initialized from a given field of nondegenerate symmetric bilinear forms; we may create the former object by:

sage: X.coframe()
Coordinate coframe (M, (dx,dy,dz))
sage: dx, dy, dz = X.coframe()[1], X.coframe()[2], X.coframe()[3]
sage: b = dx*dx + dy*dy + dz*dz
sage: b
Field of symmetric bilinear forms dx⊗dx+dy⊗dy+dz⊗dz on the
 3-dimensional Riemannian manifold M

We then use the metric method set() to make g being equal to b as a symmetric tensor field of type (0,2):

sage: g.set(b)
sage: g.display()
g = dx⊗dx + dy⊗dy + dz⊗dz

Another metric can be defined on M by specifying a metric name distinct from that chosen at the creation of the manifold (which is g by default, but can be changed thanks to the keyword metric_name in Manifold()):

sage: h = M.metric('h'); h
Riemannian metric h on the 3-dimensional Riemannian manifold M
sage: h[1,1], h[2,2], h[3,3] = 1+y^2, 1+z^2, 1+x^2
sage: h.display()
h = (y^2 + 1) dx⊗dx + (z^2 + 1) dy⊗dy + (x^2 + 1) dz⊗dz

The metric tensor h is distinct from the metric entering in the definition of the Riemannian manifold M:

sage: h is M.metric()
False

while we have of course:

sage: g is M.metric()
True

Providing the same name as the manifold’s default metric returns the latter:

sage: M.metric('g') is M.metric()
True

In the present case (M is diffeomorphic to \(\RR^3\)), we can even create a Lorentzian metric on M:

sage: h = M.metric('h', signature=1); h
Lorentzian metric h on the 3-dimensional Riemannian manifold M

open_subset(name, latex_name=None, coord_def={}, supersets=None)#

Create an open subset of self.

An open subset is a set that is (i) included in the manifold and (ii) open with respect to the manifold’s topology. It is a differentiable manifold by itself. Moreover, equipped with the restriction of the manifold metric to itself, it is a pseudo-Riemannian manifold. Hence the returned object is an instance of PseudoRiemannianManifold.

INPUT:

name – name given to the open subset
latex_name – (default: None) LaTeX symbol to denote the subset; if none is provided, it is set to name
coord_def – (default: {}) definition of the subset in terms of coordinates; coord_def must a be dictionary with keys charts in the manifold’s atlas and values the symbolic expressions formed by the coordinates to define the subset.
supersets – (default: only self) list of sets that the new open subset is a subset of

OUTPUT:

instance of PseudoRiemannianManifold representing the created open subset

EXAMPLES:

Open subset of a 2-dimensional Riemannian manifold:

sage: M = Manifold(2, 'M', structure='Riemannian')
sage: X.<x,y> = M.chart()
sage: U = M.open_subset('U', coord_def={X: x>0}); U
Open subset U of the 2-dimensional Riemannian manifold M
sage: type(U)
<class 'sage.manifolds.differentiable.pseudo_riemannian.PseudoRiemannianManifold_with_category'>

We initialize the metric of M:

sage: g = M.metric()
sage: g[0,0], g[1,1] = 1, 1

Then the metric on U is determined as the restriction of g to U:

sage: gU = U.metric(); gU
Riemannian metric g on the Open subset U of the 2-dimensional Riemannian manifold M
sage: gU.display()
g = dx⊗dx + dy⊗dy
sage: gU is g.restrict(U)
True

volume_form(contra=0)#

Volume form (Levi-Civita tensor) \(\epsilon\) associated with self.

This assumes that self is an orientable manifold, with a preferred orientation; see orientation() for details.

The volume form \(\epsilon\) is a \(n\)-form (\(n\) being the manifold’s dimension) such that, for any vector frame \((e_i)\) that is orthonormal with respect to the metric of the pseudo-Riemannian manifold self,

\[\epsilon(e_1,\ldots,e_n) = \pm 1\]

There are only two such \(n\)-forms, which are opposite of each other. The volume form \(\epsilon\) is selected as the one that returns \(+1\) for any right-handed vector frame with respect to the chosen orientation of self.

INPUT:

contra – (default: 0) number of contravariant indices of the returned tensor

OUTPUT:

if contra = 0 (default value): the volume \(n\)-form \(\epsilon\), as an instance of DiffForm
if contra = k, with \(1\leq k \leq n\), the tensor field of type (k,n-k) formed from \(\epsilon\) by raising the first k indices with the metric (see method up()); the output is then an instance of TensorField, with the appropriate antisymmetries, or of the subclass MultivectorField if \(k=n\)

EXAMPLES:

Volume form of the Euclidean 3-space:

sage: M = Manifold(3, 'M', structure='Riemannian', start_index=1)
sage: X.<x,y,z> = M.chart()
sage: g = M.metric()
sage: g[1,1], g[2,2], g[3,3] = 1, 1, 1
sage: eps = M.volume_form(); eps
3-form eps_g on the 3-dimensional Riemannian manifold M
sage: eps.display()
eps_g = dx∧dy∧dz

Raising the first index:

sage: eps1 = M.volume_form(1); eps1
Tensor field of type (1,2) on the 3-dimensional Riemannian
 manifold M
sage: eps1.display()
∂/∂x⊗dy⊗dz - ∂/∂x⊗dz⊗dy - ∂/∂y⊗dx⊗dz + ∂/∂y⊗dz⊗dx + ∂/∂z⊗dx⊗dy
 - ∂/∂z⊗dy⊗dx
sage: eps1.symmetries()
no symmetry; antisymmetry: (1, 2)

Raising the first and second indices:

sage: eps2 = M.volume_form(2); eps2
Tensor field of type (2,1) on the 3-dimensional Riemannian
 manifold M
sage: eps2.display()
∂/∂x⊗∂/∂y⊗dz - ∂/∂x⊗∂/∂z⊗dy - ∂/∂y⊗∂/∂x⊗dz + ∂/∂y⊗∂/∂z⊗dx
 + ∂/∂z⊗∂/∂x⊗dy - ∂/∂z⊗∂/∂y⊗dx
sage: eps2.symmetries()
no symmetry; antisymmetry: (0, 1)

Fully contravariant version:

sage: eps3 = M.volume_form(3); eps3
3-vector field on the 3-dimensional Riemannian manifold M
sage: eps3.display()
∂/∂x∧∂/∂y∧∂/∂z