Redshifts and killing vectors

Aug, 2005
16 pages
Published in:
  • Am.J.Phys. 74 (2006) 1017-1024
e-Print:

Citations per year

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Abstract: (arXiv)
Courses in introductory special and general relativity have increasingly become part of the curriculum for upper-level undergraduate physics majors and master's degree candidates. One of the topics rarely discussed is symmetry, particularly in the theory of general relativity. The principal tool for its study is the Killing vector. We provide an elementary introduction to the concept of a Killing vector field, its properties, and as an example of its utility apply these ideas to the rigorous determination of gravitational and cosmological redshifts.
  • 04.00.00
  • physics education
  • space-time configurations
  • special relativity
  • general relativity
  • cosmology
  • gravitational red shift