Relativistic Nuclear Field Theory

Abstract

Matter and energy warp spacetime and in turn are shaped and moved by the curvature of spacetime. Accordingly, any theory of matter in the presence of strong gravitational fields should be examined within the context of curved spacetime. We are guaranteed by the equivalence principle that, at any spacetime point in a star, a local Lorentz frame can be erected. We found that, at the highest densities in a neutron star hovering at the verge of collapse to a black hole, the relative change in the metric over the average distance of baryons is exceedingly small (≤ 10⁻¹⁹) (Section 3.4). Therefore, the extent of a local Lorentz frame in a neutron star is so large on the scale of particle spacings that we may treat the matter at a given density as if it were of infinite extent and neglect the energy associated with boundaries in comparison with the bulk energy. This establishes the frame in which we may work—a Lorentz frame—and the approximation in which we may work—the bulk approximation.