Geodesic 2009-02-14 01:47:34 2009-02-14 02:19:02 Definition geodesic equation shortest length curves calculus of variation geodesics Riemanian spacetime metric geometry general definition of geodesics % this is the default PlanetPhysics preamble. as your % almost certainly you want these \usepackage{amsmath, amssymb, amsfonts, amsthm, amscd, latexsym, enumerate} \usepackage{xypic, xspace} \usepackage[mathscr]{eucal} \usepackage[dvips]{graphicx} \usepackage[curve]{xy} % define commands here \theoremstyle{plain} \newtheorem{lemma}{Lemma}[section] \newtheorem{proposition}{Proposition}[section] \newtheorem{theorem}{Theorem}[section] \newtheorem{corollary}{Corollary}[section] \theoremstyle{definition} \newtheorem{definition}{Definition}[section] \newtheorem{example}{Example}[section] %\theoremstyle{remark} \newtheorem{remark}{Remark}[section] \newtheorem*{notation}{Notation} \newtheorem*{claim}{Claim} \renewcommand{\thefootnote}{\ensuremath{\fnsymbol{footnote}}} \numberwithin{equation}{section} \newcommand{\Ad}{{\rm Ad}} \newcommand{\Aut}{{\rm Aut}} \newcommand{\Cl}{{\rm Cl}} \newcommand{\Co}{{\rm Co}} \newcommand{\DES}{{\rm DES}} \newcommand{\Diff}{{\rm Diff}} \newcommand{\Dom}{{\rm Dom}} \newcommand{\Hol}{{\rm Hol}} \newcommand{\Mon}{{\rm Mon}} \newcommand{\Hom}{{\rm Hom}} \newcommand{\Ker}{{\rm Ker}} \newcommand{\Ind}{{\rm Ind}} \newcommand{\IM}{{\rm Im}} \newcommand{\Is}{{\rm Is}} \newcommand{\ID}{{\rm id}} \newcommand{\grpL}{{\rm GL}} \newcommand{\Iso}{{\rm Iso}} \newcommand{\rO}{{\rm O}} \newcommand{\Sem}{{\rm Sem}} \newcommand{\SL}{{\rm Sl}} \newcommand{\St}{{\rm St}} \newcommand{\Sym}{{\rm Sym}} \newcommand{\Symb}{{\rm Symb}} \newcommand{\SU}{{\rm SU}} \newcommand{\Tor}{{\rm Tor}} \newcommand{\U}{{\rm U}} \newcommand{\A}{\mathcal A} \newcommand{\Ce}{\mathcal C} \newcommand{\D}{\mathcal D} \newcommand{\E}{\mathcal E} \newcommand{\F}{\mathcal F} %\newcommand{\grp}{\mathcal G} \renewcommand{\H}{\mathcal H} \renewcommand{\cL}{\mathcal L} \newcommand{\Q}{\mathcal Q} \newcommand{\R}{\mathcal R} \newcommand{\cS}{\mathcal S} \newcommand{\cU}{\mathcal U} \newcommand{\W}{\mathcal W} \newcommand{\bA}{\mathbb{A}} \newcommand{\bB}{\mathbb{B}} \newcommand{\bC}{\mathbb{C}} \newcommand{\bD}{\mathbb{D}} \newcommand{\bE}{\mathbb{E}} \newcommand{\bF}{\mathbb{F}} \newcommand{\bG}{\mathbb{G}} \newcommand{\bK}{\mathbb{K}} \newcommand{\bM}{\mathbb{M}} \newcommand{\bN}{\mathbb{N}} \newcommand{\bO}{\mathbb{O}} \newcommand{\bP}{\mathbb{P}} \newcommand{\bR}{\mathbb{R}} \newcommand{\bV}{\mathbb{V}} \newcommand{\bZ}{\mathbb{Z}} \newcommand{\bfE}{\mathbf{E}} \newcommand{\bfX}{\mathbf{X}} \newcommand{\bfY}{\mathbf{Y}} \newcommand{\bfZ}{\mathbf{Z}} \renewcommand{\O}{\Omega} \renewcommand{\o}{\omega} \newcommand{\vp}{\varphi} \newcommand{\vep}{\varepsilon} \newcommand{\diag}{{\rm diag}} \newcommand{\grp}{{\mathsf{G}}} \newcommand{\dgrp}{{\mathsf{D}}} \newcommand{\desp}{{\mathsf{D}^{\rm{es}}}} \newcommand{\grpeod}{{\rm Geod}} %\newcommand{\grpeod}{{\rm geod}} \newcommand{\hgr}{{\mathsf{H}}} \newcommand{\mgr}{{\mathsf{M}}} \newcommand{\ob}{{\rm Ob}} \newcommand{\obg}{{\rm Ob(\mathsf{G)}}} \newcommand{\obgp}{{\rm Ob(\mathsf{G}')}} \newcommand{\obh}{{\rm Ob(\mathsf{H})}} \newcommand{\Osmooth}{{\Omega^{\infty}(X,*)}} \newcommand{\grphomotop}{{\rho_2^{\square}}} \newcommand{\grpcalp}{{\mathsf{G}(\mathcal P)}} \newcommand{\rf}{{R_{\mathcal F}}} \newcommand{\grplob}{{\rm glob}} \newcommand{\loc}{{\rm loc}} \newcommand{\TOP}{{\rm TOP}} \newcommand{\wti}{\widetilde} \newcommand{\what}{\widehat} \renewcommand{\a}{\alpha} \newcommand{\be}{\beta} \newcommand{\grpa}{\grpamma} %\newcommand{\grpa}{\grpamma} \newcommand{\de}{\delta} \newcommand{\del}{\partial} \newcommand{\ka}{\kappa} \newcommand{\si}{\sigma} \newcommand{\ta}{\tau} \newcommand{\lra}{{\longrightarrow}} \newcommand{\ra}{{\rightarrow}} \newcommand{\rat}{{\rightarrowtail}} \newcommand{\ovset}[1]{\overset {#1}{\ra}} \newcommand{\ovsetl}[1]{\overset {#1}{\lra}} \newcommand{\hr}{{\hookrightarrow}} \newcommand{\<}{{\langle}} \def\baselinestretch{1.1} \hyphenation{prod-ucts} %\grpeometry{textwidth= 16 cm, textheight=21 cm} \newcommand{\sqdiagram}[9]{$$ \diagram #1 \rto^{#2} \dto_{#4}& #3 \dto^{#5} \\ #6 \rto_{#7} & #8 \enddiagram \eqno{\mbox{#9}}$$ } \def\C{C^{\ast}} \newcommand{\labto}[1]{\stackrel{#1}{\longrightarrow}} %\newenvironment{proof}{\noindent {\bf Proof} }{ \hfill $\Box$ %{\mbox{}} \newcommand{\quadr}[4] {\begin{pmatrix} & #1& \\[-1.1ex] #2 & & #3\\[-1.1ex]& #4& \end{pmatrix}} \def\D{\mathsf{D}} \begin{definition} A \emph{geodesic} is defined as the shortest path between two points in a curved space. \end{definition} \begin{remark} Given a curved space $\S_C$ one can find the geodesic by writing the equation for the length $l_v$ of a {\em curve}-- which is defined as a function $f: (R) \to \S_C$ from an open interval $(R)$ of $\R$ to the manifold $\S_C$-- and then by using the calculus of variations minimizing this length. In physical applications, however, to simplify the calculation one may also require the minimization of energy as well as the length of the curve. However, in Riemannian geometry geodesics are not coinciding with the ``shortest length curves'' joining two points, even though a close connection may exist between geodesics and the shortest paths; thus, moving around a great circle on a Riemann sphere the `long way round' between two arbitrary, fixed points on a sphere is a geodesic but it is not obviously the shortest path between the points. \begin{example} As a physical example, in general relativity theory geodesics describe the motion of point particles in a spacetime with a curvature determined only by gravity. The orbits of satellites and planets are all geodesics in curved spacetime. If there are no forces acting on a point particle, then its velocity is unchanged along the trajectory or `track' and one has the following \emph{geodesic equation}: $$ { d u^{\nu} \over d \tau} + \Gamma^{\nu}_{\mu \sigma} u^{\mu} u^{\sigma} \quad = \quad { d^2 z^{\nu} \over d \tau^2} + \Gamma^{\nu}_{\mu \sigma} { d z^{\mu} \over d \tau} { d z^{\sigma} \over d \tau} \quad = \quad 0 . $$ \end{example} \end{remark} \begin{definition} More generally, a \emph{geodesic} in metric geometry is defined as a a curve $\Gamma: I \to M$ from an interval $I \subset \R$ to the metric space $M$ for which there exists a constant $v \leq 0$ such that for any $t \in I$ there is a neighborhood $J$ of $t \in I$ such that for any $t_1, t_2 \in J$ one has that $$d(\Gamma(t_1),\Gamma(t_2)) = v|t_1-t_2|.\,$$ \end{definition} When the equality $$ d(\Gamma(t_1),\Gamma(t_2))=|t_1-t_2| \, $$ is satisfied for all $t_1, t_2 \in I$, the geodesic is called the shortest path or a {\em minimizing geodesic}.