Tensors and Riemannian geometry. With applications to differential equations (Q500232)

This book presents basic geometric and group theoretical methods in partial differential equations and indicates their fruitful applications to the theory of relativity. As the author informs in the preface, it is based on series of lectures he has delivered in various universities. The book is divided into three parts. Part I, entitled ``Tensors and Riemannian spaces'', consists of four chapters. The basic notions of differential and Riemannian geometry are introduced in Chapter 3. Chapter 4 addresses the basics of the group theoretical background. Here, notions such as isometric motion, conformal motion, invariant, Killing equation, generalized Killing equation (for conformal motions) are described. Chapter 2, entitled ``Conservation laws'', though thematically different from the rest of Part I, is crucial for what follows. Here, fundamentals of theoretical physics are laid. After the derivation of Kepler's laws out of certain conserved quantities the author discusses conservation laws of general systems of differential equations in detail. In the case of Euler-Lagrange equations, for every infinitesimal generator of transformations that leave the variational integral invariant, Noether's theorem renders a conserved vector explicitly. More generally, in the case of so-called nonlinearly self-adjoint systems, for every infinitesimal symmetry of the system a conserved vector can be likewise obtained by the use of the so-called formal Lagrangian. Unfortunately, the author does not indicate any procedure of determining infinitesimal symmetries, although this issue is of practical importance. Part II bears the title ``Riemannian spaces of second-order equations'' and consists of Chapters 5--7. The author starts by writing a general second-order linear differential equation in covariant form (Chapter 5). In Chapter 6, he passes to a system of covariant equations, which is supposed to determine the infinitesimal symmetries of the given differential equation. Again, the author does not explain this crucial step, but refers the reader to the literature [\textit{L. V. Ovsyannikov}, Group Properties of Differential Equations (Siberian Branch, USSR Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk) (1962)]. In the sequel, he focuses on four-dimensional pseudo-Riemannian spaces of signature \((---+)\) and gives criteria for their conformal groups to be nontrivial (i.e., wider than the isometric group) or for the spaces to be conformally flat (i.e., conformal to the Minkowski space). In this context, examples of conformally invariant second-order linear differential equations are discussed. Chapter 7 considers four-dimensional spaces with nontrivial conformal groups. After the Cauchy problem for the wave equation has been solved with the help of Fourier transforms, geodesics are explicitly computed, and the Huygens principle is discussed. Part III, entitled ``Theory of relativity'', can be viewed as an application of the aforementioned mathematical notions and methods to the theory of relativity. It consists of Chapters 8 and 9. We cite the author from its introduction: ``Chapter 8 is a brief introduction to the mathematical background of the special relativity. The derivation of the conservation laws in relativistic mechanics is based on the Lie group approach rather than on physical considerations. Two fundamental relativistic (i.e., Lorentz invariant) equations of theoretical physics, the Maxwell and Dirac equations, are discussed from the group point of view. A possibility offered by groups of generalized motions for constructing particular solutions to the Einstein equations in the theory of general relativity is also discussed in Chapter 8.'' Chapter 9 addresses the so-called de Sitter space, which is a curved four-dimensional pseudo-Riemannian space of signature \((+---)\). The isometric motions of this space constitute the so-called de Sitter group. To study this group, the author applies a theory of so-called approximate transformation groups, described in detail in [the author, Selected works. Volume III: Doctor of Science thesis, approximate symmetries, Lie groups in mathematical modelling. ALGA Publications. Karlskrona: ALGA, Blekinge Institute of Technology (2008; Zbl 1314.01037)] (Paper 2). For this purpose, the de Sitter group is regarded as a perturbation of the Poincaré group (i.e., the group of isometries of the Minkowski space) by a (small) constant curvature. As the author states in the introduction, the presentation of Chapter 9 is based on [the author, Selected works. Volume II: MSc and PhD theses, nonlocal symmetries, approximate symmetries, preliminary group classification, Lie group analysis -- a microscope of mathematical modelling. ALGA Publications. Karlskrona: ALGA, Blekinge Institute of Technology (2006; Zbl 1307.01021), pp. 244--280] . This book introduces classical notions and methods in an unusual way, primarily in its first two parts. It avoids abstract conceptual bodies and follows a computational, coordinate-based approach, which reflects the historical development of the ideas. The frequent historical and philosophical citations, especially in Part III, promote the understanding. A reader who is less familiar with physics might expect more introductory information on certain subjects as, for instance, the Huygens principle or the Dirac equation. From the viewpoint of typing, the book is not free of misprints. To sum up, this book offers a good introduction into the interplay of differential geometry, Lie theory, differential equations, and relativity, and stimulates further reading and research on these fields.