OGRePy: An Object-Oriented General Relativity Package for Python

TL;DR

OGRePy is an open-source Python package that simplifies symbolic tensor calculations in general relativity through an object-oriented approach, enhancing usability and educational value.

Contribution

It introduces a modern, Python-based, object-oriented implementation of tensor calculations for general relativity, improving upon previous Mathematica tools.

Findings

Provides a user-friendly environment for research and teaching

Reproduces and extends functionality of OGRe in Python

Facilitates symbolic tensor computations with automatic index handling

Abstract

OGRePy is a modern, open-source Python package designed to perform symbolic tensor calculations, with a particular focus on applications in general relativity. Built on an object-oriented architecture, OGRePy encapsulates tensors, metrics, and coordinate systems as self-contained objects, automatically handling raising and lowering of indices, coordinate transformations, contractions, partial or covariant derivatives, and all tensor operations. By leveraging the capabilities of SymPy and Jupyter Notebook, OGRePy provides a robust, user-friendly environment that facilitates both research and teaching in general relativity and differential geometry. This Python package reproduces the functionality of the popular Mathematica package OGRe, while greatly improving upon it by making use of Python's native object-oriented syntax. In this paper, we describe OGRePy's design and implementation, and discuss its potential for reuse across research and education in mathematics and physics.