Mathematical Definition
The Einstein tensor of a null dust must have the form where is a null vector field. This definition makes sense in the absence of any physical interpretation, but if we place a stress-energy tensor on our spacetime which happens to have the form then Einstein's field equation is trivially satisfied, and in addition, such a stress-energy tensor has a clear physical interpretation in terms of massless radiation. The vector field specifies the direction in which the radiation is moving; the scalar multiplier specifies its intensity.
Read more about this topic: Null Dust Solution
Famous quotes containing the words mathematical and/or definition:
“The most distinct and beautiful statement of any truth must take at last the mathematical form.”
—Henry David Thoreau (18171862)
“Scientific method is the way to truth, but it affords, even in
principle, no unique definition of truth. Any so-called pragmatic
definition of truth is doomed to failure equally.”
—Willard Van Orman Quine (b. 1908)