Phys10 Undergraduate Seminar

Robert Mann
Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of Waterloo

Relativity, Rigidity, and Recession

Defining gravitational energy is a notoriously difficult problem, one that has troubled physicists since the advent of general relativity.  I will briefly outline the origins of this problem and how a new approach developed here at Waterloo is being used to solve it.  Known as "Rigid Quasilocal Frames" ,  this approach introduces the notion of rigidity in a novel way to define energy, momentum, and angular momentum in a curved space, and can be used to predict the recession of the moon.