Sunday, June 18, 2017

special relativity - Why is not (LambdaT)munu=Lambdanumu?


I am following lecture notes on SR. The author writes that the following is equivalent:


ΛTηΛ=ηημνΛμρΛνσ=ηρσ.

This surprises me, because


(ΛT)μν=Λνμ.


And so I expected it to be ΛTηΛ=ηημνΛρμΛνσ=ηρσ.

Why is this wrong?




Answer





  1. OP's three equations should read ΛTηΛ = η(ΛT)ρμ ημν Λνσ = ηρσ,

    (ΛT)νμ := Λμν,
    ΛTηΛ = ηΛμρ ημν Λνσ = ηρσ.




  2. In more detail: Let V be n-dimensional R-vector space with a basis (eμ)μ=1,,n. Let V be the dual vector space with the dual basis (eν)ν=1,,n. Let Λ = eμ Λμνeν  VV  L(V;V)

    be a linear map from V to V. Let us call the positions of the indices on Λμν for the NW-SE convention, cf. a compass rose. Let ΛT = eν (ΛT)νμeμ  VV  L(V;V)
    be the transposed linear map from V to V. Note that (ΛT)νμ is written in the SW-NE convention. Let η = eμ ημνeν  Sym2V = VV
    be an (indefinite) metric, i.e. an invertible element in the symmetrized tensor product. A (pseudo)orthogonal map Λ satisfies by definition ΛTηΛ = η.
    See also this related Phys.SE post.




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