riccipy 0.3.1
A tensor algebra calculator for General Relativity
License: MIT

RicciPy
=======

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A tensor algebra calculator for General Relativity.

Usage
-----

.. _sympy: https://github.com/sympy/sympy
.. _numpy: https://github.com/numpy/numpy

RicciPy makes extensive usage of sympy_ for managing tensor products and
contractions. To create a tensor, it is required to construct an array to
represent the components of the tensor. This can be done by using most
nested array types: a nested ``list``, a ``sympy.Array`` instance, a
``sympy.Matrix`` instance, or a numpy_ array will work.

Before beginning any involved application, it is first necessary to define a
``Metric`` instance so that indices can be appropriately raised and lowered
automatically.

In the following example, the electromagnetic tensor is defined in a Minkowski
spacetime. To begin, we declare the components of the electromagnetic tensor
using sympy for representing variables:

.. code-block:: python

  >>> from sympy import diag, symbols
  >>> from riccipy import Tensor, Metric, indices, expand_array
  >>> E1, E2, E3, B1, B2, B3 = symbols('E1:4 B1:4')
  >>> em = [[0, -E1, -E2, -E3],
            [E1, 0, -B3, B2],
            [E2, B3, 0, -B1],
            [E3, -B2, B1, 0]]
  >>> t, x, y, z = symbols('t x y z')

Next, the Minkowski metric is defined along with the ``Tensor`` object for the
electromagnetic tensor. Here, the ``symmetry`` keyword is optional but is used
to declare the electromagnetic tensor as being antisymmetric (refer to sympy's
documentation for the ``sympy.tensor.tensor`` module).

.. code-block:: python

  >>> eta = Metric('eta', [t, x, y, z], diag(1, -1, -1, -1))
  >>> F = Tensor('F', em, eta, symmetry=[[2]])
  >>> mu, nu = indices('mu nu', eta)

``mu`` and ``nu`` are now variables that can be used to represent the
indices of either the metric, ``eta``, or the tensor ``F``. Negative signs
indicate that the particular index is a subscript (covariant) rather than
a superscript (contravariant).

This first calculation demonstrates how contractions are handled: simply
multiply two indexed tensors and matching indices will automatically apply
the Einstein summation convention. Symbolically, indices that are to be
contracted are denoted by the metric those indices belong to (in this case
``eta_0`` and ``eta_1``).

To convert a symbolic tensor expression into components, pass the expression
to ``expand_array``.

.. code-block:: python

  >>> expr = F(mu, nu) * F(-mu, -nu)
  >>> expr
  F(eta_0, eta_1)*F(-eta_0, -eta_1)
  >>> expand_array(expr)
  2*B_1**2 + 2*B_2**2 + 2*B_3**2 - 2*E_1**2 - 2*E_2**2 - 2*E_3**2

This next calculation demonstrates the consequence of having defined ``F`` as
being antisymmetric:

.. code-block:: python

  >>> expr = F(mu, nu) + F(nu, mu)
  >>> expand_array(expr)
  0

Metrics Database
****************

RicciPy comes with over 100 different metrics representing solutions to the
Einstein Field Equations. To search for metrics, you can use the ``find``
function:

.. code-block:: python

   >>> from riccipy.metrics import find
   >>> find('sitter')
   ['anti-de sitter', 'de sitter', 'schwarzschild-de sitter']

The ``load_metric`` function can be used to automatically return a ``Metric``
instance of the specified metric. For example, to load an Anti de-Sitter
spacetime the call would look like:

.. code-block:: python

   >>> g, variables, functions = load_metric('g', 'anti-de sitter')
   >>> g.as_array()
   [[-1, 0, 0, 0],
   [0, cos(t)**2, 0, 0],
   [0, 0, cos(t)**2*sinh(chi)**2, 0],
   [0, 0, 0, sin(theta)**2*cos(t)**2*sinh(chi)**2]]

Installation
------------

To install RicciPy the following dependencies are required:

   * Sympy (version >= 1.4)

   * Numpy (version >= 1.15)

Installation is handled automatically by using

.. code-block:: shell

   $ pip install riccipy

Contributing & Questions
------------------------

RicciPy is in it's early stages of development and thus contributions are
very welcome, yet they will be handled on a person-to-person basis until
sufficient interest accumulates in the project. Feel free to email the primary
author at ``calvinjayross@gmail.com`` if you have any questions or interest in
developing RicciPy.