The use of the algebraic programming in teaching general relativity

There are many complementary approaches to the construction of solutions to the field equations of general relativity. Among these, numerical approximation offers the only possibility to compute a variety of dynamical spacetimes, and so has come to play an important role for theory and experiment alike. Presently we give a brief introduction to this, the science of numerical relativity. We discuss the freedom in formulating general relativity as an initial (boundary) value pr...

The purpose of this paper is to propose the implementation of some methods from algebraic geometry in the theory of gravitation, and more especially in the variational formalism. It has been assumed that the metric tensor depends on two vector fields, defined on a manifold, and also that the gravitational Lagrangian depends on the metric tensor and its first and second differentials (instead on the partial or covariant derivatives, as usually assumed). Assuming also differe...

In this report, which is an extended version of that appearing in the Proceedings of GR16, I will give a summary of the main topics covered in Session A.3. on mathematical relativity at GR16, Durban. The summary is mainly based on extended abstracts submitted by the speakers. I would like to thank all participants for their contributions and help with this summary.

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.

GRLite and GRTensorJ are first and second generation graphical user interfaces to the computer algebra system GRTensorII. Current development centers on GRTensorJ, which provides fully customizable symbolic procedures that reduce many complex calculations to "elementary functions". Although still in development, GRTensorJ, which is now available (free of charge) over the internet, is sufficiently advanced to be of interest to researchers in general relativity and related fiel...

We report on a package of routines for the computer algebra system Maple which supports the explicit determination of the geometric quantities, field equations, equations of motion, and conserved quantities of General Relativity in the post-Newtonian approximation. The package structure is modular and allows for an easy modification by the user. The set of routines can be used to verify hand calculations or to generate the input for further numerical investigations.

Introducing Modern Physics represents an increasingly urgent need, towards which physics education concentrates many efforts. In order to contribute to this attempt, at the Department of Mathematics and Physics of Roma Tre University in Rome we focused on the possibility of treating General Relativity (GR) at high school level. We started with an interactive activity addressed to students that exploits the rubber sheet analogy (RSA) to show various phenomena related to gravit...

The demand to obtain answers to highly complex problems within strong-field gravity has been met with significant progress in the numerical solution of Einstein's equations - along with some spectacular results - in various setups. We review techniques for solving Einstein's equations in generic spacetimes, focusing on fully nonlinear evolutions but also on how to benchmark those results with perturbative approaches. The results address problems in high-energy physics, hologr...

Based on the distinction between the covariant and contravariant metric tensor components in the framework of the affine geometry approach and also on the choice of the contravariant components, it was shown that a wide variety of third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh - degree algebraic equations exists in gravity theory. This fact, together with the derivation of the algebraic equations for a generally defined contravariant tensor components in this paper, are important in vi...

Lecture notes written for a one-semester course in mathematical relativity aimed at mathematics and physics students. Not meant as an introduction to general relativity, but rather as a complementary, more advanced text.