English

A class of conserved currents for linearized gravity in the Kerr spacetime

General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology 2021-01-08 v3 Mathematical Physics math.MP

Abstract

We construct a class of conserved currents for linearized gravity on a Kerr background. Our procedure, motivated by the current for scalar fields discovered by Carter (1977), is given by taking the symplectic product of solutions to the linearized Einstein equations that are defined by symmetry operators. We consider symmetry operators that are associated with separation of variables in the Teukolsky equation, as well as those arising due the self-adjoint nature of the Einstein equations. In the geometric optics limit, the charges associated with these currents reduce to sums over gravitons of positive powers of their Carter constants, much like the conserved current for scalar fields. We furthermore compute the fluxes of these conserved currents through null infinity and the horizon and identify which are finite.

Cite

@article{arxiv.2005.04547,
  title  = {A class of conserved currents for linearized gravity in the Kerr spacetime},
  author = {Alexander M. Grant and Éanna É. Flanagan},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2005.04547},
  year   = {2021}
}

Comments

37 pages; v2: added clarifications and references, fixed typos; v3: matches published version

R2 v1 2026-06-23T15:25:47.535Z