On the optimal regularity implied by the assumptions of geometry. I: Connections on tangent bundles

DOI10.4310/MAA.2022.V29.N4.A1zbMATH Open1515.83188arXiv1912.12997OpenAlexW4368252000MaRDI QIDQ6042864FDOQ6042864

Authors: Moritz Reintjes, Blake Temple 

Publication date: 4 May 2023

Published in: Methods and Applications of Analysis (Search for Journal in Brave)

Abstract: We resolve the problem of optimal regularity and Uhlenbeck compactness for affine connections in General Relativity and Mathematical Physics. First, we prove that any affine connection $Gamma$, with components $Gammain{L}^{2p}$ and components of its Riemann curvature $mRiem(Gamma)$ in $L^p$, in some coordinate system, can be smoothed by coordinate transformation to optimal regularity, $Gammain{W}^{1,p}$ (one derivative smoother than the curvature), $p>maxn/2,2$, dimension $ngeq2$. For Lorentzian metrics in General Relativity this implies that shock wave solutions of the Einstein-Euler equations are non-singular -- geodesic curves, locally inertial coordinates and the Newtonian limit, all exist in a classical sense, and the Einstein equations hold in the strong sense. The proof is based on an $L^p$ existence theory for the Regularity Transformation (RT) equations, a system of elliptic partial differential equations (introduced by the authors) which determine the Jacobians of the regularizing coordinate transformations. Secondly, this existence theory gives the first extension of Uhlenbeck compactness from Riemannian metrics, to general affine connections bounded in $L^{i}nfty$, with curvature in $L^p$, $p>n$, including semi-Riemannian metrics, and Lorentzian metric connections of relativistic Physics. We interpret this as a ``geometric improvement of the generalized Div-Curl Lemma. Our theory shows that Uhlenbeck compactness and optimal regularity are pure logical consequences of the rule which defines how connections transform from one coordinate system to another -- what one could take to be the ``starting assumption of geometry.

Full work available at URL: https://arxiv.org/abs/1912.12997

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zbMATH Keywords

shock wavesgeneral relativitydiv-curl lemmaapparent singularitiesnonlinear elliptic partial differential equationsUhlenbeck compactnessoptimal metric regularity

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Elliptic equations on manifolds, general theory (58J05) Space-time singularities, cosmic censorship, etc. (83C75)

Cited In (3)

• Strong cosmic censorship with bounded curvature
• Geometric Regularity Results on B k α , β -Manifolds, I: Affine Connections
• On weak solutions to the geodesic equation in the presence of curvature bounds

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