Incorporation of space–time symmetries in Einstein’s field equations (Q4378329)

This paper studies symmetries in general relativity in a very general setting. The symmetry is described in terms of a vector field \(X\) on spacetime satisfying \[ {\mathcal L}_X g_{ab}= 2\psi g_{ab} +H_{ab} \tag{1} \] where \({\mathcal L}\) is Lie derivative, \(g\) the spacetime metric, \(\psi\) a function, and \(H\) is symmetric and trace-free. The general expression covers the usual symmetries occurring in general relativity by judicious choices of \(\psi\) and \(H\). The idea is to introduce a timelike congruence into spacetime represented by a unit timelike vector field \(u\) and then to decompose the energy-momentum tensor along \(u\) to obtain the standard form (in the usual notation) \[ T_{ab}= \mu u_au_b+ ph_{ab}+ 2q(_au_b)+ \pi_{ab}. \] One then writes down Einstein's field equations and takes Lie derivatives, which is extremely complicated but very general. Some applications to conformal symmetry \((H_{ab} =0\) in (1)) are given. The reviewer admits that he is not clear about the last proposition established on page 5875. It seems to him that it is probably still easier to actually work with a specific symmetry rather than (1) above, but admits that the calculations given here may be useful for specific purposes.