van Stockum dust
Exact solution of the Einstein field equations / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dear Wikiwand AI, let's keep it short by simply answering these key questions:
Can you list the top facts and stats about Van Stockum dust?
Summarize this article for a 10 year old
In general relativity, the van Stockum dust is an exact solution of the Einstein field equations in which the gravitational field is generated by dust rotating about an axis of cylindrical symmetry. Since the density of the dust is increasing with distance from this axis, the solution is rather artificial, but as one of the simplest known solutions in general relativity, it stands as a pedagogically important example.
This solution is named after Willem Jacob van Stockum, who rediscovered it in 1937 independently of a much earlier discovery by Cornelius Lanczos in 1924. It is currently recommended that the solution be referred to as the Lanczos–van Stockum dust.