Cartans Structure Equations :

Theory and Execution

Sumanto Chanda
S.N. Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences
JD Block, Sector-3, Salt Lake, Calcutta-700098, INDIA.
September 10, 2014
1 Basics: Non-coordinate bases & Connections
As you know from school, a vector can be expressed in the components in a particular basis as:
V = V

E

=

V
i

E
i
(1)
The derivative of this vector can therefore be written as:

V =

_
V

E

_
=

_
V

_
E

+ V

_
E

_
(2)
We remember that the connection co-ecient / christoel symbol is dened as:

_
E

_
=

(3)
Giving the covariant derivative from (2) as:

V =

_
V

_
E

+ V

=
_

V

+

V

_
E

(4)
The covariant derivative in Euclidean (pseudo-Euclidean) space requires the spin connection:

E
i
_
=

j
i

E
j
(5)
This gives us the alternative covariant derivative:

V =
_

V
i
+

i
j

V
j
_

E
i
(6)
One must make an important note here about the spin-connection tensor . Since it is dened
on a space with a diagonal Euclidean metric, it must be anti-symmetric under the permutation
of its indices, since it purely represents rotations alone. This can be seen from demanding that the
covariant derivative of the inverse metric g
1
=
ij

E
i

E
j
must vanish:

E
i
_
=
_
x

j
i
_

E
j
=
j
i

E
j

j
i
=

j
i
x

_
g
1
_
=
_

ij

E
i

E
j
_
= 0
ij
_

k
i

E
k

E
j
+

E
i

k
j

E
k
_
= 0

kj

E
k

E
j
+

E
i

ki

E
k
_
= 0
_

ij
+
ji
_

E
i

E
j
= 0

ij
+
ji
= 0
i
j
=
j
i

i
j
=
j
i
(7)
Remember the transformation rules:

V
i
= e
i

V


E
i
= E
i

(8)
e
i

E
i

e
i

E
j

=
i
j
(9)
Thus, comparing (4) and (6) gives us:
_

V

+

V

_
E

=
_

V
i
+

i
j

V
j
_
E
i

V

+

V

=
_

_
e
i

V

_
+

i
j
e
j

V

_
E
i

V

=
_

_
e
i

_
+

i
j
e
j

_
V

E
i

=
_

_
e
i

_
+

i
j
e
j

_
E
i

(10)
1.1 1st Cartan Structure Equation
This denition allows us to move on to consider the Cartan structure equations. In the new co-
ordinate system, we can dene the 1-form co-ordinate dierential as:
dX
i
e
i
= e
i

dx

(11)
We keep in mind that (10) is not truly a dierential 1-form since it maps one dierential 1-
form into another, and not a scalar function (0-form) into a 1-form ie:-(df =

fdx

). Its 2-form
dierential is therefore non-zero (ie:- de
i
= d
2
X
i
= 0) and is given by:
de
i
=
_

e
i

e
i

_
dx

dx

=
1
2
_

e
i

e
i

_
dx

dx

= (

e
i

) dx

dx

Thus, we obtain the 1st Cartan structure equation as:

de
i
=
_
e
i

i
j
e
j

_
dx

dx

=
1
2
_
e
i

__
dx

dx

i
j
dx

e
j

dx

= T
i

i
j
e
j
T
i
= de
i
+
i
j
e
j
(12)
2
1.2 2nd Cartan Structure Equation
The 2nd structure equation follows from the 1st in (12) as:
dT
i
= d
2
e
i
+ d
_

i
j
e
j
_
d
_
e
i

_
dx

dx

= d
i
j
e
j

i
j
de
j
LHS =
_
de
i

dx

dx

+ e
i

_
d

_
dx

dx

=
_
_

e
i

+ e
i

_
dx

dx

dx

=
_
_
e
i

i
j
e
j

+ e
i

_
dx

dx

dx

=
_
e
i

i
j
_
e
j

_
_
dx

dx

dx

The Riemann curvature tensor us given by:

R

= R

= R

(13)
Thus, we can use (13) to say:
_

_
dx

dx

=
1
2
_

_
dx

dx

=
1
2
R

dx

dx

We can wrap up our demonstration with:

LHS =
1
2
_
e
i

i
j
T
j

_
dx

dx

dx

= R
i
j
e
j

i
j
T
j
and RHS = d
i
j
e
j

i
j
T
j
+
i
k

k
j
e
j
Thus, comparing LHS and RHS gives us the 2nd Cartan Structure equation as:
R
i
j
= d
i
j
+
i
k

k
j
(14)
2 Execution of Cartan analysis
So far, we have covered the proof of the Cartan Structure equations. But it is one thing to convinced
of the validity of a theory, and another to apply it in practice. Now, we will proceed to cover the
steps of how to execute the Cartan analysis of any metric.
Let us suppose that we have a metric, written as:
ds
2
= g

dx

dx

(15)
It does not matter whether the metric is hyperbolic as it will usually be for general cases or
elliptic as it is in special cases. The technique works for both cases.
3
2.1 Extracting the vierbeins
Our rst step will be obtaining the 1st Cartan Structure equation, for which we will need to obtain
the related vierbeins. This means that we are re-writing the co-ordinate system in way that the
new metric appears to be at and Minkowskian (Euclidean if you are using an elliptic metric).
g

dx

dx

ab
e
a
e
b
(16)
e
a
= e
a

dx

=
ab
e
a

e
b

(17)
The diculty in executing this step will depend on the metric, your skill and familiarity with
various metrics. The main diculty will probably arise from the o-diagonal elements. For now,
we will focus only on the simplest case; metrics with diagonal elements only. This is done by merely
taking square roots of the diagonal elements.
ds
2
= g

dx

dx

=
ab
e
a

dx

e
b

dx

=
ab
e
a
e
b
ds
2
g

dx

dx

=
aa
_

aa
g

dx

aa
g

dx

=
aa
e
a
e
a
(18)
Hopefully, this step be executed without much hassle, and you should have a set of vierbeins.
The next step will involve taking their exterior derivative.
2.2 Taking the exterior derivative
Depending on the co-ordinate dependence of the vierbeins, for an n-dimensional manifold you should
get maximum up to
n(n1)
2
independent spin connection components. For your benet, remember
to write out your results as a n n matrix, and ll your entries as you work your way through
each vierbein creating (12) to stay organized. Remember that we are considering only torsion free
cases, where T
i
= 0. Under this condition, (12) will become:
de
i
=
i
j
e
j
(19)
2.3 Writing the spin-connection matrix
Using (19), we fcan proceed to write all the non-zero components of the spin connection matrix
, which we will use to obtain the curvature matrix. Often this will require cleverly coupling the
wedge product terms with co-ecients to reproduce vierbein terms.
de
i
=

e
i

dx

dx

=
_

e
i

dx

e
j

_
. .

i
j

_
e
j

dx

_
. .
e
j
taking all j > i (20)
Overall, for an n-dimensional manifold, one needs to compute at most all the components that
can t on one side of the diagonal. This amounts to
n(n1)
2
independent components. So for a
4-dimensional space, we need at most 6 independent components.
=
_
_
_
_
0
0
1

0
2

0
3

0
1
0
1
2

1
3

0
2

1
2
0
2
3

0
3

1
3

2
3
0
_
_
_
_
(21)
The remaining half on the other side of the diagonal are the negative inverse triangle of elements
in the upper half triangle. With this, the spin connection matrix is complete. The next step is the
curvature matrix, which requires Cartans 2nd equation.
4
For Euclidean 4-dimensional spherical metrics
There are circumstances when the metric one is dealing with is given in the form:
ds
2
=
_
c
0
(r)
_
2
dr
2
+
3

i=1
_
c
i
(r)
_
2

2
i
d
i
=
i
jk

j

k
(22)
This gives us the following vierbeins:
e
0
= c
0
dr e
i
= c
i

i
, (i = 1, 2, 3) (23)
One might be tempted to follow the same procedure as usual:
de
0
= 0 (24)
de
i
=
r
c
i
dr
i
c
i

i
jk

j

k
=

r
c
i
c
0

_
c
0
dr
_
+
i
jk
c
i
2c
j

_
c
j

j
_
+
i
kj
c
i
2c
k

_
c
k

k
_
(25)
But here we need to take an extra precaution. The spin connections
i
j
could be written as:

i
j
=
i
jk
c
i
2c
j

k
(26)
but then it can easily be seen that this form is not antisymmetric under permutation of the
indices i and j. This is why we need to use a more elaborate form of the spin connections.
de
i
=

r
c
i
c
0

_
c
0
dr
_

i
jk
c
2
i
c
i

j

k

i
jk
c
2
i
c
i

j

k
=
i
jk
2c
2
i
+ (c
2
j
c
2
k
) (c
2
j
c
2
k
)
2c
i

j

k
=
i
jk
c
2
i
+ c
2
j
c
2
k
2c
i
c
j

_
c
j

j
_

i
kj
c
2
i
+ c
2
k
c
2
j
2c
i
c
k

_
c
k

k
_
=
i
jk
c
2
i
+ c
2
j
c
2
k
2c
i
c
j

k
e
j

i
kj
c
2
i
+ c
2
k
c
2
j
2c
i
c
k

j
e
k
de
i
=

r
c
i
c
0

i
e
0

i
jk
c
2
i
+ c
2
j
c
2
k
2c
i
c
j

k
e
j

i
kj
c
2
i
+ c
2
k
c
2
j
2c
i
c
k

j
e
k
_
(27)

i
0
=

r
c
i
c
0

i
j
=
i
jk
c
2
i
+ c
2
j
c
2
k
2c
i
c
j

k
(28)
Here we can clearly see that the spin connection components are anti-symmetric under permu-
tation of i and j.
5
2.4 Writing the curvature matrix
Remembering the 2nd Cartan Structure equation (14), we can say that the curvatgure will comprise
2 matrices, formed by:
R = d +
d =
_
_
_
_
0 d
0
1
d
0
2
d
0
3
d
0
1
0 d
1
2
d
1
3
d
0
2
d
1
2
0 d
2
3
d
0
3
d
1
3
d
2
3
0
_
_
_
_
(29)
=
_
_
_
_
0
0
1

0
2

0
3

0
1
0
1
2

1
3

0
2

1
2
0
2
3

0
3

1
3

2
3
0
_
_
_
_

_
_
_
_
0
0
1

0
2

0
3

0
1
0
1
2

1
3

0
2

1
2
0
2
3

0
3

1
3

2
3
0
_
_
_
_
(30)
Here the 2nd term is a matrix whose wedge product computation is performed in a manner
similar to matrix multiplication, (ie. rows columns). Each individual matrix element is:
_

_
i
j
=

k=i,j

i
k

k
j
(31)
Naturally, the inequality used to avoid zero value spin connection components in this case leaves
us to deal with only n 2 product terms at a time. This process as with the spin connections
needs to be done only for
n(n1)
2
components. Furthermore, each and every matrix element is an
individual 2-form by itself.
Consequently, this means that if each component is written as R
abcd
, then they are anitsymmetric
over c, d indices. Also, because the R
ab
2-forms arise from
ab
1-forms which are anti-symmetric
over a, b indices, the same symmetry property holds for R
ab
.
R
abcd
= R
bacd
R
abcd
= R
abdc
(32)
Also, we have the symmetry relation:
R
abcd
= R
cdab
(33)
This can be veried by using (32) and the 1st Bianchi identity for Riemann tensors:
R
abcd
+ R
acdb
+ R
adbc
= 0 (34)
R
abcd
=
_
R
acdb
+ R
adbc
_
= R
cadb
+ R
adcb
=
_
R
cdba
+ R
cbad
_

_
R
dcab
+ R
cadb
_
= 2R
cdab

_
R
cbad
+ R
cadb
_
= 2R
cdab
+ R
cdba
= R
cdab
Thanks to (32) and (33) one can also see that the identity applies for any index kept xed, while
the others cycle around it.
6