Newman–Penrose formalism
Notation in general relativity / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Newman–Penrose (NP) formalism[1][2] is a set of notation developed by Ezra T. Newman and Roger Penrose for general relativity (GR). Their notation is an effort to treat general relativity in terms of spinor notation, which introduces complex forms of the usual variables used in GR. The NP formalism is itself a special case of the tetrad formalism,[3] where the tensors of the theory are projected onto a complete vector basis at each point in spacetime. Usually this vector basis is chosen to reflect some symmetry of the spacetime, leading to simplified expressions for physical observables. In the case of the NP formalism, the vector basis chosen is a null tetrad: a set of four null vectors—two real, and a complex-conjugate pair. The two real members often asymptotically point radially inward and radially outward, and the formalism is well adapted to treatment of the propagation of radiation in curved spacetime. The Weyl scalars, derived from the Weyl tensor, are often used. In particular, it can be shown that one of these scalars— in the appropriate frame—encodes the outgoing gravitational radiation of an asymptotically flat system.[4]
Newman and Penrose introduced the following functions as primary quantities using this tetrad:[1][2]
- Twelve complex spin coefficients (in three groups) which describe the change in the tetrad from point to point: .
- Five complex functions encoding Weyl tensors in the tetrad basis: .
- Ten functions encoding Ricci tensors in the tetrad basis: (real); (complex).
In many situations—especially algebraically special spacetimes or vacuum spacetimes—the Newman–Penrose formalism simplifies dramatically, as many of the functions go to zero. This simplification allows for various theorems to be proven more easily than using the standard form of Einstein's equations.
In this article, we will only employ the tensorial rather than spinorial version of NP formalism, because the former is easier to understand and more popular in relevant papers. One can refer to ref.[5] for a unified formulation of these two versions.