Saturday, September 20, 2014

general relativity - What does a frame of reference mean in terms of manifolds?


Because of my mathematical background, I've been finding it hard to relate the physics-talk I've been reading, with mathematical objects.


In (say special) relativity, we have a Lorentzian manifold, M. This manifold has an atlas with local coordinates.


In differential geometry, when people talk about a ϕ1:U1V where V is an open set of M, and U is an open set of R4; and if another is ϕ2:U2W is another (U2 and open in R4, and W an open in M), then ϕ11|VWϕ2|ϕ12(VW) is a coordinate change.


However, in physics it seems that the meaning is different. Indeed if pM then you can have a reference frame at p, but you can also have a reference frame that is accelerated at p. I'm not sure how to interpret this mathematically! What is the mathematical analogue of having an accelerated frame of reference at a point, as opposed to having an inertial frame of reference at a point?




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