Cauchy problem on a characteristic cone for the Einstein-Vlasov system. I: The initial data constraints (Q514391)

In this technical paper, the author considers the solvability of the characteristic initial value problem of the Einstein-Vlasov system. More precisely, recall that the (vacuum, or not) Einstein's equation admits a reformulation as a \textit{Hamiltonian} Cauchy problem \((S,h,k,\rho, J)\) where \((S,h)\) is a connected complete Riemannian manifold and \(k, \rho, J\) are a symmetric \((0,2)\)-type tensor field, a scalar field and a vector field on \(S\), respectively, such that \(h,k,\rho,J\) satisfy the well-known Hamiltonian-type constraint equations: a system of non-linear partial differential equations on \(S\). This system admits a unique maximal solution \((M,g)\) where \(M\) is diffeomorphic to \(S\times{\mathbb R}\) and \(g\) is a Lorentzian metric satisfying Einstein's equation with appropriate energy momentum tensor \(T\) such that \(S\) represents a maximal \textit{space-like} hypersurface in \(M\). Instead of this conventional setup, the author considers the \textit{characteristic} Cauchy problem for the Einstein-Vlasov equation on a cone \(C\) with fields \((h,k,\rho )\) specified on it. Compared to the Hamiltonian formulation, the two main differences are that the corresponding constraint equations contain additional gauge dependent equations, and moreover in the resulting Cauchy development \((M,g)\) the cone \(C\) appears as a \textit{null} hypersurface in \(M\). Hence the analytical details of the proof of solvability crucially depend on the gauge choice to be used. The main result of the paper is that the characteristic initial value problem of the Einstein-Vlasov system (Equations (25)--(29)) with an appropriate gauge fixing (Conditions (a) and (b)) admits a unique global solution (Theorem 4.1).