2006/11/23 by Sayan Kar, Soumitra SenGupta, Soumitra Sengupta · 167 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #gr-qc
paper · pdf · doi:10.1007/s12043-007-0110-9
published in Pramana 69(1), 49-76 (Springer Science and Business Media LLC) · 35 pages, two figures, to appear in the special issue of Pramana dedicated to the memory of A. K. Raychaudhuri
arxiv created 2006/11/23 · crossref issued 2007/07/01 · crossref published 2007/07/01 · crossref published-print 2007/07/01 · crossref created 2007/07/30 · crossref published-online 2007/07/31 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · crossref deposited 2020/04/25 · crossref indexed 2026/07/31
We present a brief review on the Raychaudhuri equations. Beginning with a summary of the essential features of the original article by Raychaudhuri and subsequent work of numerous authors, we move on to a discussion of the equations in the context of alternate non--Riemannian spacetimes as well as other theories of gravity, with a special mention on the equations in spacetimes with torsion (Einstein--Cartan--Sciama--Kibble theory). Finally, we give an overview of some recent applications of these equations in General Relativity, Quantum Field Theory, String Theory and the theory of relativisitic membranes. We conclude with a summary and provide our own perspectives on directions of future research.