Spacelike energy of timelike unit vector fields on a Lorentzian manifold (Q557230)

Let \((M,g)\) be an \((n+1)\)-dimensional Lorentz manifold and let \(Z\) be a unit time-like vector field on \(M\) (a reference frame). Consider an adapted local reference frame \((E_1,\dots ,E_n,Z)\) and define the space-like density energy as \(\widetilde b(Z)=\frac{1}{2} \sum _{i=1}^n(\nabla_{E_i}Z,\nabla_{E_i}Z)\). Next, the space-like energy of \(Z\) is defined as \(\widetilde B(Z)=\int _M\widetilde b(z)\,dv\). The authors study some properties of this space-like energy and obtain the first and the second variations. They show that \(Z\) is a critical point of \(\widetilde B(Z)\) if and only if \(\widetilde DZ\) is collineal to \(Z\), where \(\widetilde D\) is a differential operator which is of second order and elliptic in space coordinates and only first order in time coordinates. Next they study different examples of reference frames as static reference frames and projective vector fields. Every affine reference frame on an Einstein manifold is spatially harmonic. If the characteristic vector field of a Lorentzian \(K\)-contact manifold is time-like then it is spatially harmonic. In a generalized Robertson-Walker cosmological model, the comoving reference frame \(\partial _t\) is a spatially harmonic reference frame. If the manifold satisfies the null convergence condition, the comoving reference frame is an absolute minimizer of the space-like energy. In a Gödel universe \(\partial _t\) is spatially harmonic and it has the same energy that another non-critical reference frame. Finally, the authors show that Hopf vector fields on Lorentzian Berger's spheres are stable critical points of the space-like energy.