Matemática Física

Differential Geometry and its Applications in General Relativity

Abstract

Garcia Elisenda*

Differential geometry is a mathematical discipline that uses the techniques of calculus and algebra to study problems in geometry. Its development was motivated by the need to understand curved spaces and surfaces. General relativity, proposed by Albert Einstein, revolutionized our understanding of gravity by describing it as the curvature of space time caused by mass and energy. This theory relies heavily on the concepts and tools of differential geometry. In this article, we explore the fundamental aspects of differential geometry and its critical applications in the theory of general relativity. Differential geometry begins with the study of curves and surfaces in Euclidean space. It generalizes these ideas to higher dimensions and more abstract spaces known as manifolds. A manifold is a topological space that locally resembles Euclidean space, allowing for the application of calculus. Manifolds can be equipped with additional structures, such as a Riemannian metric, which defines distances and angles on the manifold.