Since its introduction in 1962, the Newman-Penrose formalism has been widely used in analytical and numerical studies of Einstein's equations, like for example for the Teukolsky master equation, or as a powerful wave extraction tool in numerical relativity. Despite the many applications, Einstein's equations in the Newman-Penrose formalism appear complicated and not easily applicable to general studies of spacetimes, mainly because physical and gauge degrees of freedom are mixed in a nontrivial way. In this paper we approach the whole formalism with the goal of expressing the spin coefficients as functions of tetrad invariants once a particular tetrad is chosen. We show that it is possible to do so, and give for the first time a general recipe for the task, as well as an indication of the quantities and identities that are required.
In this paper, we express the Newman--Penrose constants in terms of the Geroch--Hansen multipole moments for stationary spacetimes. These expressions are translation-invariant combinations of the multipole moments up to quadrupole order, which do not normally vanish.
The gravitational perturbation of the Morris-Thorne wormhole has been derived by using the Newman-Penrose formalism. We apply Teukolsky equation to the wormhole spacetime, compute the perturbed Weyl scalars, $Ψ_{4}^{(1)}$ and obtain its master equation, decomposed in spin weighted spherical harmonics with spin weight $-2$. For simplicity, we consider the perturbation provoked by a single gaussian pulse of pressureless dust matter.
A brief review about the Newman-Penrose formalism and the asymptotic structure of the spacetime is given. The goal of this review is to describe the latest developments in these topics and make a summary of the most important articles published by Newman and collaborators. Additionally, we discuss some aspects of this approach, and we compute the spin coefficients and the Weyl scalars for a general stationary axisymmetric spacetimes in a tetrad basis different from that defined by the principal null geodesic directions.
In this work, we introduce the {\it complexity factor} in the context of self--gravitating fluid distributions for the case of black holes by employing the Newman-Penrose formalism. In particular, by working with spherically symmetric and static AdS black holes, we show that the complexity factor can be interpreted in a natural way at the event horizon. Specifically, a thermodynamic interpretation for the aforementioned complexity factor in terms of a pressure partially supporting a Van der Waals-like equation of state is given.
In this work we explore the connections between Newman-Penrose scalars, including the Penrose-Rindler $\mathcal{K}$-curvature, with the equation of state of asymptotically Anti-de Sitter Reissner-Nordström black holes. After briefly reviewing the equation of state for these black holes from the point of view of both the Extended Phase Space and the Horizon Thermodynamics approaches, a geometric splitting is given for such an equation in terms of the non vanishing Newman-Penrose scalars which define the $\mathcal{K}$-curvature at the horizon. From this splitting, a possible thermodynamical inte…
The Newman-Penrose formalism in transverse tetrads, namely those tetrads where Ψ_1=Ψ_3=0, is studied. In particular it is shown that the equations governing the dynamics within this formalism can be recast in a particularly compact way, leading to a better understanding of the formalism itself. The particular choice of tetrad allows not only to obtain the expression of Weyl scalars as simple functions of curvature invariants, but also the spin coefficients can be partly determined in an invariant way, by means of a new expression for the Bianchi identities that shows the various degrees of fre…
A complete correspondence between the Newman-Penrose and 1+1+2 formalisms
Institute of Mathematics, Henan Academy of Sciences（河南省科学院数学研究所）；University of Cape Town（开普敦大学）；North-West University（西北大学）；South African Astronomical Observatory（南非天文台）
In this work we study the problem of linear stability of gravitational perturbations in stationary and spherically symmetric wormholes. For this purpose, we employ the Newman-Penrose formalism which is well-suited for treating gravitational radiation in General Relativity, as well as the geometrical aspect of this theory. With this method we obtain a "master equation" that describes the behavior of gravitational perturbations that are of odd-parity in the Regge-Wheeler gauge. This equation is later applied to a specific class of Morris-Thorne wormholes and also to the metric of an asymptotical…
In a previous article we derived a class of solutions to the force-free magnetosphere in a Kerr background. Here, the streaming surface, defined by constant values of the toriodal component of the electromagnetic vector potential $A$, were generated by constant values of $θ$. The electromagnetic current vector flowed along the in-falling principle null geodesic vector of the geometry. Subsequently, we generalized this to obtain an out-going principle null geodesic vector as well. In this article, we derive solutions that are complimentary to the above mentioned criteria. Namely, here the solut…
We present a Maple11+GRTensorII based symbolic calculator for instanton metrics using Newman-Penrose formalism. Gravitational instantons are exact solutions of Einstein's vacuum field equations with Euclidean signature. The Newman-Penrose formalism, which supplies a toolbox for studying the exact solutions of Einstein's field equations, was adopted to the instanton case and our code translates it for the computational use.
In this paper we continue our study of the non-linear response of a Schwarzschild black hole to an ingoing gravitational wave by computing the Newman-Penrose (NP) constants. The NP constants are five complex, supertranslation-invariant quantities defined on null infinity $\mathscr{I}^+$ and although put forward in the 60's, they have never been computed in a non-stationary setting. We accomplish this through a numerical implementation of Friedrich's generalized conformal field equations whose semi-global evolution yields direct access to $\mathscr{I}+$. Generalizations of the NP constants' int…
In this paper, we study the four dimensional Einstein-Maxwell-dilaton (EMD) theories in the Newman-Penrose (NP) formalism. We adapt the equations of motion into the NP formalism, and obtain the solution space that is asymptotic to the flat space-time. We then investigate the gravitational and electromagnetic memory effects. We find that the dilaton does not contribute to the displacement nor the kick memory effects, but it does contribute to the time-delayed memory effect.
The symmetry algebra of asymptotically flat spacetimes at null infinity in four dimensions in the sense of Newman and Unti is revisited. As in the Bondi-Metzner-Sachs gauge, it is shown to be isomorphic to the direct sum of the abelian algebra of infinitesimal conformal rescalings with bms4. The latter algebra is the semi-direct sum of infinitesimal supertranslations with the conformal Killing vectors of the Riemann sphere. Infinitesimal local conformal transformations can then consistently be included. We work out the local conformal properties of the relevant Newman-Penrose coefficients, con…
We reexamine the relation between the Aretakis charge of an extremal black hole spacetime and the Newman-Penrose charge of a weakly asymptotically flat spacetime obtained from the original one through radial inversion and conformal mapping. Building on recent work by Godazgar, Godazgar and Pope, we present an explicit general relation between these quantities showing how the charge densities are mapped. As a non-trivial example we provide the computation of both quantities and their explicit relation for the extremal Kerr spacetime.
Starting from an action principle adapted to the Newman-Penrose formalism, we provide a self-contained derivation of BMS current algebra, which includes the generalization of the Bondi mass loss formula to all BMS generators. In the spirit of the Newman-Penrose approach, infinitesimal diffeomorphisms are expressed in terms of four scalars rather than a vector field. In this framework, the on-shell closed co-dimension two forms of the linearized theory associated with Killing vectors of the background are constructed from a standard algorithm. The explicit expression for the breaking that occur…
The quadratic gravity constraints are reformulated in terms of the Newman-Penrose-like quantities. In such a frame language, the field equations represent a linear algebraic system for the Ricci tensor components. In principle, a procedure for the combination of the Ricci components with standard geometric identities can be applied in a similar way as in the case of general relativity. These results could serve in various subsequent analyses and physical interpretations of admitted solutions to quadratic gravity. Here, we demonstrate the utility of such an approach by explicitly proving genera…
Using the Newman and Penrose spin coefficient (NP) formalism, we provide a derivation of the Dyer-Roeder equation for the angular diameter distance in cosmological space-times. We show that the geodesic deviation equation written in NP formalism is precisely the Dyer-Roeder equation for a general Friedman-Robertson-Walker (FRW) space-time, and then we examine the angular diameter distance to redshift relation in the case that a flat FRW metric is perturbed by a gravitational potential. We examine the perturbation in the case that the gravitational potential exhibits the properties of a thin gr…
We generalize the notion of quasi-local charges, introduced by P. Tod for Yang--Mills fields with unitary groups, to non-Abelian gauge theories with arbitrary gauge group, and calculate its small sphere and large sphere limits both at spatial and null infinity. We show that for semisimple gauge groups no reasonable definition yield conserved total charges and Newman--Penrose (NP) type quantities at null infinity in generic, radiative configurations. The conditions of their conservation, both in terms of the field configurations and the structure of the gauge group, are clarified. We also calcu…
We formulate the Einstein-Cartan-Dirac equations in the Newman-Penrose (NP) formalism, thereby presenting a more accurate and explicit analysis of previous such studies. The equations show in a transparent way how the Einstein-Dirac equations are modified by the inclusion of torsion. In particular, the Hehl-Datta equation is presented in NP notation. We then describe a few solutions of the Hehl-Datta equation on Minkowski space-time, and in particular report a solitonic solution which removes the unphysical behavioiur of the corresponding Dirac solution. The present work serves as a prelude to…
Gauge-gravity duality is arguably our best hope for understanding quantum gravity. Considerable progress has been made in relating scattering amplitudes in certain gravity theories to those in gauge theories---a correspondence dubbed the "double copy". Recently, double copies have also been realized in a classical setting, as maps between exact solutions of gauge theories and gravity. We present here a novel map between a certain class of real, exact solutions of Einstein's equations and self-dual solutions of the flat-space vacuum Maxwell equations. This map, which we call the "Newman-Penrose…
Using Newman-Penrose formalism in tetrad and spinor notation, we perform separation of variables in the wave equations for massless fields of various spins s=1/2, 1, 3/2, 2 on the background of exact plane-fronted gravitational wave metrics. Then, applying Wald's method of adjoint operators, we derive equations for Debye potentials generating these fields and find inverse projection operators expressing multicomponet fields in terms of scalar potentials. For a number of shock wave backgrounds, as a special case of non-vacuum pp-waves, the exact solutions for Debye potentials are constructed ex…
Conformal Cyclic Cosmology (CCC) is a cyclic model of the universe put forward by Sir Roger Penrose. A conformal invariance assumption in the neighbourhood of the crossover region between cycles (which Penrose calls aeons) allows successive space-times to be related by a conformal rescaling. A major open problem is how to choose the conformal factor in a unique way, and is a fundamental hurdle to further study. Proposals have been put forward by Newman, Tod and Nurowski, but they disagree in one way or another with Penrose's original assumptions as well as each other. In this paper we compare …
It is well-known that in the Newman-Penrose formalism the Riemann tensor can be expressed as a set of eighteen complex first-order equations, in terms of the twelve spin coefficients, known as Ricci identities. The Ricci tensor herein is determined via the Einstein equations. It is also known that the Dirac equation in a curved spacetime can be written in the Newman-Penrose formalism as a set of four first-order coupled equations for the spinor components of the wave-function. In the present article we suggest that it might be possible to think of the Dirac equations in the N-P formalism as a …
Zero rest-mass fields of spin 1 (the electromagnetic field) and spin 2 propagating on flat space and their corresponding Newman-Penrose (NP) constants are studied near spatial infinity. The aim of this analysis is to clarify the correspondence between data for these fields on a spacelike hypersurface and the value of their corresponding NP constants at future and past null infinity. To do so, Friedrich's framework of the cylinder at spatial infinity is employed to show that, expanding the initial data in terms spherical harmonics and powers of the geodesic spatial distance $ρ$ to spatial infin…
Recently, we introduced the "Newman-Penrose map," a novel correspondence between a certain class of solutions of Einstein's equations and self-dual solutions of the vacuum Maxwell equations, which we showed was closely related to the classical double copy. Here, we give an alternative definition of this correspondence in terms of quantities that are defined naturally on twistor space, and a shear-free null geodesic congruence on Minkowski space whose twistorial character is articulated by the Kerr theorem. The advantage of this reformulation is that it is purely geometrical in nature, being ma…
The paper investigates how the Ricci rotation coefficients act in the Dirac equation in presence of external gravitational fields described in terms of Riemannian space-time geometry. It is shown that only 8 different combinations of the Ricci coefficients γ_{abc}(x) are involved in the Dirac equation. They are combined in two 4-vectors B_{a}(x) and C_{a}(x) under local Lorentz group which has status of the gauge symmetry group. In all orthogonal coordinates one of these vectors, "pseudovector" C_{a}(x), vanishes identically. The gauge transformation laws of the two vectors are found explicitl…
Geroch, Held and Penrose invented a formalism for studying spacetimes admitting one or two preferred null directions. This approach is very useful for studying algebraically special spacetimes and their perturbations. In the present paper, the formalism is generalized to higher-dimensional spacetimes. This new formalism leads to equations that are considerably simpler than those of the higher-dimensional Newman-Penrose formalism employed previously. The dynamics of p-form test fields is analyzed using the new formalism and some results concerning algebraically special p-form fields are proved.
Using the Newman-Penrose formalism we study the characteristic initial value problem in vacuum General Relativity. We work in a gauge suggested by Stewart, and following the strategy taken in the work of Luk, demonstrate local existence of solutions in a neighbourhood of the set on which data are given. These data are given on intersecting null hypersurfaces. Existence near their intersection is achieved by combining the observation that the field equations are symmetric hyperbolic in this gauge with the results of Rendall. To obtain existence all the way along the null-hypersurfaces themselve…
In 1969 Kinnersley, using the NP formalism, found all the Petrov type D, Ricci flat, solutions to the Einstein's Field Equations. Yet, in doing so -as it seems- he neglected two fundamental identities (or constraints) on four NP variables and Cartan invariants as well, namely $τ\barτ-π\barπ=0$ and $ρ\barμ-μ\barρ=0$. Since then, these identities have been constantly either overlooked or proven under special circumstances (e.g. electrovac solutions). It was only until 2009 when Edgar et al. by making an extended use of the GHP formalism, and of a computer algebra system, succeeded in proving tho…
The near horizon geometry of general black holes in equilibrium can be conveniently characterized in the formalism of weakly isolated horizons in the form of the Bondi-like expansions (Krishnan B, Class.\ Quantum Grav.\ 29, 205006, 2012). While the intrinsic geometry of the Kerr-Newman black hole has been extensively investigated in the weakly isolated horizon framework, the off-horizon description in the Bondi-like system employed by Krishnan has not been studied. We extend Krishnan's work by explicit, non-perturbative construction of the Bondi-like tetrad in the full Kerr-Newman spacetime. N…
A lower bound for the ADM mass is established in terms of angular momentum, charge, and horizon area in the context of maximal, axisymmetric initial data for the Einstein-Maxwell equations which satisfy the weak energy condition. If, on the horizon, the given data agree to a certain extent with the associated model Kerr-Newman data, then the inequality reduces to the conjectured Penrose inequality with angular momentum and charge. In addition, a rigidity statement is also proven whereby equality is achieved if and only if the data set arises from the canonical slice of a Kerr-Newman spacetime.
Using extensions of the Newman-Penrose and Geroch-Held-Penrose formalisms to five dimensions, we invariantly classify all Petrov type $D$ vacuum solutions for which the Riemann tensor is isotropic in a plane orthogonal to a pair of Weyl alligned null directions
In a recent study [NVdB2017] of algebraically special Einstein-Maxwell fields it was shown that, for non-zero cosmological constant, non-aligned solutions cannot have a geodesic and shearfree multiple Debever-Penrose vector k. When $Λ=0$ such solutions do exist and can be classified, after fixing the null-tetrad such that $Ψ_0 = Ψ_1 = Φ_1 = 0$ and $Φ_0 = 1$, according to whether the Newman-Penrose coefficient $π$ is 0 or not. The family $π= 0$ contains the Griffiths solutions (Griffiths 1986), with as sub-families the Cahen-Spelkens, Cahen-Leroy and Szekeres metrics. It was claimed in [Griffit…
In this paper, we study self-dual gravity in the Newman-Penrose formalism. We specify the self-dual solution space from the Newman-Unti solutions. We show that the asymptotic symmetries of the self-dual gravity are still the (extended) BMS symmetries. We transform the self-dual Taub-NUT solution into the Newman-Unti gauge in analytical form.
The analysis of gravitino fields in curved spacetimes is usually carried out using the Newman-Penrose formalism. In this paper we consider a more direct approach with eigenspinor-vectors on spheres, to separate out the angular parts of the fields in a Schwarzschild background. The radial equations of the corresponding gauge invariant variable obtained are shown to be the same as in the Newman-Penrose formalism. These equations are then applied to the evaluation of the quasinormal mode frequencies, as well as the absorption probabilities of the gravitino field scattering in this background.
