Large scale tensor analysis by computer Original Research Article

Symbolic computing has a long history in theoretical physics. Many of the early problems treated by computer algebra systems were in relativity and quantum field theories. In fact, many, if not most, of the major systems were written by or for physicists doing research in these areas. Here, I look at some of the largest and most complicated problems that a tensor analysis system might need to handle. The entire set of calculations can be put under the heading of symbol crunching. The examples presented come from quantum field theory in curved space-times.