English

Unique characterization of the Bel-Robinson tensor

General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology 2009-11-10 v3

Abstract

We prove that a completely symmetric and trace-free rank-4 tensor is, up to sign, a Bel-Robinson type tensor, i.e., the superenergy tensor of a tensor with the same algebraic symmetries as the Weyl tensor, if and only if it satisfies a certain quadratic identity. This may be seen as the first Rainich theory result for rank-4 tensors.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.gr-qc/0403024,
  title  = {Unique characterization of the Bel-Robinson tensor},
  author = {G. Bergqvist and P. Lankinen},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:gr-qc/0403024},
  year   = {2009}
}

Comments

extended version, 13 pages, shorter version published in Class.Quant.Grav

R2 v1 2026-07-22T12:39:46.053Z