On perturbations of solutions of the Einstein-Maxwell equations (Q1091160)

The author studied perturbations of solutions of the Einstein equations for the gravitational field coupled with an electromagnetic field. It has been shown that a pair of complex potentials can be used to obtain perturbations of those solutions which admit a shear-free geodesic null congruence with electromagnetic field being suitably aligned with this congruence. Furthermore, if the background electromagnetic field is null, then the pair of complex potentials can be determined by a pair of coupled, linear, second order differential equations. However, the author could not find a proof for the most general perturbation.