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XXI.—Relative Co-ordinates

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 September 2014

A. G. Walker
Affiliation:
University of Edinburgh
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Extract

If C is a given curve in a Riemannian space Vn, a system of co-ordinates (z1, z2, …, zn) can be set up at each point P of C, thus generalising moving axes along a twisted curve. If in these co-ordinates a point Q is defined relative to the point P, then Q traces some curve as P moves along C; any curve C' can be defined in this way by setting up a (1, 1) correspondence between points of C and C′. We shall take the relative co-ordinates at P to be normal co-ordinates with origin at P, the parametric directions at P being the directions of an orthogonal ennuple defined at points of C. In general, this work is too heavy except for the consideration of points within a certain distance from the curve C, and we shall therefore consider only points the cube of whose distance from C may be neglected. This is sufficient for the application to such problems as the motion of a small rigid body in space-time.

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Proceedings
Copyright
Copyright © Royal Society of Edinburgh 1933

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References

page 345 note * The notation is that of Eisenhart, , Riemannian Geometry (1926).Google Scholar In λσ|i, σ indicates the vector of the ennuple and i the component.

page 348 note * Eisenhart, , op. cit., p. 52.Google Scholar

page 352 note * Thomsen, , Math. Zeitschrift, 29, 1929, 96.CrossRefGoogle Scholar