Vol. 7 (2004) > lrr-2004-1
doi: 10.12942/lrr-2004-1
Living Rev. Relativity 7 (2004), 1
Conformal Infinity
1 Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Otago, P.O. Box 56, Dunedin 9010, New Zealand
Article Abstract
The notion of conformal infinity has a long history within the research in Einstein's theory of gravity. Today, "conformal infinity" is related to almost all other branches of research in general relativity, from quantisation procedures to abstract mathematical issues to numerical applications. This review article attempts to show how this concept gradually and inevitably evolved from physical issues, namely the need to understand gravitational radiation and isolated systems within the theory of gravitation, and how it lends itself very naturally to the solution of radiation problems in numerical relativity. The fundamental concept of null-infinity is introduced. Friedrich's regular conformal field equations are presented and various initial value problems for them are discussed. Finally, it is shown that the conformal field equations provide a very powerful method within numerical relativity to study global problems such as gravitational wave propagation and detection.
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Article Citation
Since a Living Reviews in Relativity article may evolve over time, please cite the access <date>, which uniquely identifies the version of the article you are referring to:
Jörg Frauendiener,
"Conformal Infinity",
Living Rev. Relativity 7, (2004), 1. URL (cited on <date>):
http://www.livingreviews.org/lrr-2004-1
Article History
| ORIGINAL | http://www.livingreviews.org/lrr-2000-4 |
|---|---|
| Title | Conformal Infinity |
| Author | Jörg Frauendiener |
| Date | accepted 12 May 2000, published 23 August 2000 |
| UPDATE | http://www.livingreviews.org/lrr-2004-1 |
| Title | Conformal Infinity |
| Author | Jörg Frauendiener |
| Date | accepted 23 January 2004, published 2 February 2004 |
| Changes | Sections 3.4, 3.5, 4.2, 4.3, 4.5 and the appendix have been updated. Reference list has been expanded from 148 to 166 entries. |
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