Open AccessTeaching General Relativity with sector models: the field equations
Author(s) -
Ute Kraus,
Corvin Zahn
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
journal of physics. conference series
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.21
H-Index - 85
eISSN - 1742-6596
pISSN - 1742-6588
DOI - 10.1088/1742-6596/1286/1/012025
Subject(s) - general relativity , spacetime , curvature , mathematics of general relativity , field equation , theory of relativity , field (mathematics) , introduction to the mathematics of general relativity , theoretical physics , physics , numerical relativity , classical mechanics , mathematics , geometry , quantum mechanics , pure mathematics
The field equations of the general theory of relativity state the connection between spacetime curvature and matter, often summarized as “matter curves spacetime”. In this contribution we analyze the structure of the field equations from a pedagogical point of view and describe a formulation that is accessible in secondary school and undergraduate physics. This formulation of the field equations requires the concept of curvature in three dimensions and we show how this notion can be introduced using sector models. The field equations are illustrated using the black hole as an example.