- #1
djy
- 33
- 3
This question probably applies to symmetric rank-2 tensors in general, but I've been thinking about it specifically in the context of the stress-energy tensor.
For any stress-energy tensor and any metric (with signature -, +, +, +), is it possible to find a coordinate transformation that a) diagonalizes the stress-energy tensor and b) transforms the metric to diag(-1, 1, 1, 1)?
In other words, it seems intuitive to me that, for any stress-energy tensor of a fluid element, one should be able to find an MCRF of the fluid element such that all off-diagonal components of the tensor are zero.
For any stress-energy tensor and any metric (with signature -, +, +, +), is it possible to find a coordinate transformation that a) diagonalizes the stress-energy tensor and b) transforms the metric to diag(-1, 1, 1, 1)?
In other words, it seems intuitive to me that, for any stress-energy tensor of a fluid element, one should be able to find an MCRF of the fluid element such that all off-diagonal components of the tensor are zero.