Paper 1, Section II, A
Briefly explain how to interpret the components of the relativistic stress-energy tensor in terms of the density and flux of energy and momentum in some inertial frame.
(i) The stress-energy tensor of the electromagnetic field is
where is the field strength, is the Minkowski metric, and is the permeability of free space. Show that , where is the current 4-vector.
[ Maxwell's equations are and ]
(ii) A fluid consists of point particles of rest mass and charge . The fluid can be regarded as a continuum, with 4 -velocity depending on the position in spacetime. For each there is an inertial frame in which the fluid particles at are at rest. By considering components in , show that the fluid has a current 4-vector field
and a stress-energy tensor
where is the proper number density of particles (the number of particles per unit spatial volume in in a small region around ). Write down the Lorentz 4-force on a fluid particle at . By considering the resulting 4 -acceleration of the fluid, show that the total stress-energy tensor is conserved, i.e.