Spacetime harmonic functions and the mass of 3-dimensional asymptotically flat initial data for the Einstein equations (Q2103549)

An initial data for the solutions of Einstein equations is a triple \((M, g, k)\) consisting of a smooth connected 3-dimensional manifold \(M\) endowed with a Riemannian metric \(g\) and a symmetric \((0, 2)\)-tensor \(k\), so that \(g\) and \(k\) satisfy the so called constraint equations. In fact, it turns out that if an initial data \((M, g, k)\) is given, there is always a spacetime solution of the Einstein equations which contains \((M, g)\) as an isometrically embedded spacelike hypersurface whose second fundamental is \(k\). This paper gives a lower bound for the ADM mass \(m=\sqrt{E^2-{|P|}^2}\), that is the Lorentz length of the ADM energy-momentum 4-vector \((E,P)\), of 3-dimensional asymptotically flat initial data sets for the Einstein equations. The bound is given in terms of linear growth ``spacetime harmonic functions'' in addition to the energy-momentum density of matter fields and is valid regardless of whether the dominant energy condition holds or whether the data possess a boundary. A consequence of this result is a new proof of the spacetime positive mass theorem for complete initial data or those with weakly trapped surface boundary, and includes the rigidity statement which asserts that the momentum \((E,P)\) is timelike, that is \(E\ge |P|\), with \(m = 0\) if and only if the data arises from Minkowski space.