Quick search Find article
Quick search
Find article

On the extension of the concept of thin shells to the Einstein-Cartan theory

G F Bressange

Show affiliations


This paper develops a theory of thin shells within the context of the Einstein-Cartan theory by extending the known formalism of general relativity. In order to perform such an extension, we require the general non-symmetric stress-energy tensor to be conserved leading, as Cartan pointed out himself, to a strong constraint relating the curvature and the torsion of spacetime. When we restrict ourselves to the class of spacetimes satisfying this constraint, we are able to properly describe thin shells and derive the general expression of the surface stress-energy tensor both in its four-dimensional and in its three-dimensional intrinsic form. We finally derive a general family of static solutions of the Einstein-Cartan theory exhibiting a natural family of null hypersurfaces and use it to apply our formalism to the construction of a null shell of matter.


PACS

04.50.-h Higher-dimensional gravity and other theories of gravity

04.40.Nr Einstein-Maxwell spacetimes, spacetimes with fluids, radiation or classical fields

04.20.-q Classical general relativity

MSC

83Cxx General relativity

14J70 Hypersurfaces

Subjects

Gravitation and cosmology

Dates

Issue 13 (7 July 2000)

Received 4 February 2000



View by subject




Export








Please login to access our web services, or create an account if you don't yet have one.

You must have cookies enabled in your web browser to be able to login.

Username
Password

Forgotten your password? Get a new one here.