Metric tensor in the context of Metric (mathematics)


Metric tensor in the context of Metric (mathematics)

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⭐ Core Definition: Metric tensor

In the mathematical field of differential geometry, a metric tensor (or simply metric) is an additional structure on a manifold M (such as a surface) that allows defining distances and angles, just as the inner product on a Euclidean space allows defining distances and angles there. More precisely, a metric tensor at a point p of M is a bilinear form defined on the tangent space at p (that is, a bilinear function that maps pairs of tangent vectors to real numbers), and a metric field on M consists of a metric tensor at each point p of M that varies smoothly with p.

A metric tensor g is positive-definite if g(v, v) > 0 for every nonzero vector v. A manifold equipped with a positive-definite metric tensor is known as a Riemannian manifold. Such a metric tensor can be thought of as specifying infinitesimal distance on the manifold. On a Riemannian manifold M, the length of a smooth curve between two points p and q can be defined by integration, and the distance between p and q can be defined as the infimum of the lengths of all such curves; this makes M a metric space. Conversely, the metric tensor itself is the derivative of the distance function (taken in a suitable manner).

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Metric tensor in the context of Pseudo-Riemannian manifold

In mathematical physics, a pseudo-Riemannian manifold, also called a semi-Riemannian manifold, is a differentiable manifold with a metric tensor that is everywhere nondegenerate. This is a generalization of a Riemannian manifold in which the requirement of positive-definiteness is relaxed.

Every tangent space of a pseudo-Riemannian manifold is a pseudo-Euclidean vector space.

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Metric tensor in the context of Strain (mechanics)

Strain has dimension of a length ratio, with SI base units of meter per meter (m/m).Hence strains are dimensionless and are usually expressed as a decimal fraction or a percentage.Parts-per notation is also used, e.g., parts per million or parts per billion (sometimes called "microstrains" and "nanostrains", respectively), corresponding to μm/m and nm/m.

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Metric tensor in the context of Conformal geometry

In mathematics, conformal geometry is the study of the set of angle-preserving (conformal) transformations on a space.

In a real two dimensional space, conformal geometry is precisely the geometry of Riemann surfaces. In space higher than two dimensions, conformal geometry may refer either to the study of conformal transformations of what are called "flat spaces" (such as Euclidean spaces or spheres), or to the study of conformal manifolds that are Riemannian or pseudo-Riemannian manifolds with a class of metrics that are defined up to scale. Study of the flat structures is sometimes termed Möbius geometry, and is a type of Klein geometry.

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Metric tensor in the context of Curvature invariant (general relativity)

In general relativity, curvature invariants are a set of scalars formed from the Riemann, Weyl and Ricci tensors – which represent curvature, hence the name – and possibly operations on them such as contraction, covariant differentiation and dualisation.

Certain invariants formed from these curvature tensors play an important role in classifying spacetimes. Invariants are actually less powerful for distinguishing locally non-isometric Lorentzian manifolds than they are for distinguishing Riemannian manifolds. This means that they are more limited in their applications than for manifolds endowed with a positive-definite metric tensor.

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Metric tensor in the context of Stereographic projection

In mathematics, a stereographic projection is a perspective projection of the sphere, through a specific point on the sphere (the pole or center of projection), onto a plane (the projection plane) perpendicular to the diameter through the point. It is a smooth, bijective function from the entire sphere except the center of projection to the entire plane. It maps circles on the sphere to circles or lines on the plane, and is conformal, meaning that it preserves angles at which curves meet and thus locally approximately preserves shapes. It is neither isometric (distance preserving) nor equiareal (area preserving).

The stereographic projection gives a way to represent a sphere by a plane. The metric induced by the inverse stereographic projection from the plane to the sphere defines a geodesic distance between points in the plane equal to the spherical distance between the spherical points they represent. A two-dimensional coordinate system on the stereographic plane is an alternative setting for spherical analytic geometry instead of spherical polar coordinates or three-dimensional cartesian coordinates. This is the spherical analog of the Poincaré disk model of the hyperbolic plane.

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