On solutions of the Ricci curvature equation and the Einstein equation (Q836103)

The authors consider the pseudo-Euclidean space \((\mathbb R^n,g)\), with \(n\geqslant 3\), coordinates \(x=(x_1,\ldots,x_n)\) and \(g_{ij}=\delta_{ij}\epsilon_i,\,\epsilon_i=\pm 1\), where at least one \(\epsilon_i\) is positive. For nondiagonal tensors of the form \(T=\sum_i f_{ij}dx^idx^j\), such that, for \(i\neq j\), \(f_{ij}(x_i,x_j)\) is a differentiable function of \(x_i\) and \(x_j\) they want to find metrics \(\bar g=\frac{1}{\phi^2}g\) that solve the Ricci equation (Ric\,\(\bar g=T\)) or the Einstein equation (Ric\,\(\bar g-\frac{\bar K}{2}\bar g=T\)). The authors show such tensors \(T\) is of two types and they describe the form of \(T\). Using the main theorem the authors prove that for certain functions \(\bar K\) there exist metrics \(\bar g\), conformal to the pseudo-Euclidean metric \(g\), whose scalar curvature is \(\bar K\). They also extend the results to locally conformally flat manifolds. By applying the theory the authors exhibit examples of complete metrics on \(\mathbb R^n\), on the \(n\)-dimensional torus \(T^n\), or on cylinders \(T^k\times\mathbb R^{n-k}\), that solve the Ricci equation or the Einstein equation.