Killing derivative contraction identity Created 2026-10-07 Updated 2026-10-25
For a Killing vector field, set and . The Killing equation makes antisymmetric, and expansion of normalized three-index antisymmetrization gives the displayed identity. On a Killing horizon, hypersurface orthogonality removes its first right-hand term and relates to surface gravity.
Normalized Killing one-form Created 2026-10-06 Updated 2026-10-14
For a non-null Killing vector field of a Levi-Civita connection, hypersurface orthogonality implies that , with , is a closed differential form. The Killing equation and give , whence . The Poincaré lemma gives locally. For a timelike , supplies local static time coordinates. This does not assert global exactness.
A nonzero vector field has hypersurface orthogonality when it is locally normal to a family of hypersurfaces. In terms of its associated differential one-form , the Frobenius theorem gives the equivalent conditions
locally with nonzero and ; square brackets denote tensor index antisymmetrization.
All coefficients of the Reissner-Nordstrom metric are independent of , and has constant coordinate components. Thus the Lie derivative obeys : is a Killing vector field. Moreover,
Thus has hypersurface orthogonality, with the hypersurfaces providing the orthogonal family wherever this chart is regular. It is timelike where , since . Its hypersurface orthogonality also holds in a regular extension across a horizon; singular static coordinates do not invalidate the Frobenius theorem test.
For relativistic dust, , the relativistic Euler equation gives . The nowhere-vanishing density therefore makes the four-acceleration zero: is a timelike geodesic vector field. Let be the differential one-form obtained by the musical isomorphism. Its exterior derivative satisfies
Here is the interior product. By hypersurface orthogonality and the Frobenius theorem, . Taking the interior product and using gives
Thus . By the Poincaré lemma, locally , and then . Choose spatial coordinate functions on one level set of and extend them constantly along the integral curves of a vector field , using its smooth flow. This constructs . Since ,
The metric on the orthogonal complement of a timelike vector is positive-definite, so the synchronous coordinates for irrotational dust have
This construction is local; crossing geodesics can prevent these synchronous coordinates from covering a larger region.
Work on a regular level surface, so . A nonzero normal covector has the local form . Extend it as a normal to neighbouring level surfaces. Since the Levi-Civita connection is torsion-free,
Antisymmetrizing the product with over three indices kills the symmetric second-derivative term and the term containing two copies of . Hence
Equivalently , the Frobenius theorem condition for hypersurface orthogonality.
For the second covariant derivative of a Killing vector, the curvature sign needs explicit care. Denote the curvature defined on the cover by , and obtain its other index positions by ordinary raising and lowering with the metric tensor. With , the Killing equation gives , while the supplied Ricci identity gives
Successive use of these two facts gives
Substitute . The curvature symmetries and first Bianchi identity then imply
Thus the identity consistent with the cover convention is
The plus-sign version is valid for the opposite curvature tensor . With ordinary metric index raising, the printed plus sign and the cover's curvature convention cannot both be used. This is the curvature-sign convention in Killing derivative identities, not a failure of the Killing equation.
An explicit sign check uses and the timelike Killing vector . Here , and . Direct differentiation gives , whereas the cover definition gives and . This also verifies the corrected sign without relying on a remembered curvature convention.
To prove the static Killing field is a Ricci eigenvector, use the permitted alternative of adapted coordinates. Hypersurface orthogonality supplies hypersurfaces orthogonal to . Choose spatial coordinates on one such hypersurface and carry them along the flow of the Killing vector, using its flow parameter as . The flow preserves both the metric tensor and , so it preserves orthogonality to . Consequently the mixed metric components vanish, and the Killing equation makes all coefficients independent of :
The only nonzero Christoffel symbols involving time can be
in particular . In , the derivative of the connection trace vanishes because ; the other derivative is either a time derivative of a static coefficient or a derivative of . Every connection-product term contains a vanishing coefficient of these same types. Thus . The one-form has only a time component, and is proportional to . Therefore
Changing the overall curvature sign leaves this zero identity unchanged.
Finally a perfect fluid in signature has and . Contract the Einstein field equations with , and antisymmetrize with . Terms proportional to disappear, as does the Ricci term just proved. This leaves
Two nonzero timelike vectors cannot be orthogonal: in the fluid's rest local inertial frame, . The hypothesis therefore forces . Choosing future-directed gives the normalized perfect-fluid alignment in a static spacetime result
The enthalpy hypothesis matters: when , the stress-energy tensor is proportional to the metric tensor and does not select a velocity.
The Frobenius theorem says that hypersurface orthogonality of the nonzero covector is equivalent to , or locally for some nonzero . This immediately makes the screen projection of zero, since its antisymmetric part is a wedge product with , which is proportional to . Thus hypersurface orthogonality gives zero null twist.
For the converse, put . Nullness gives , and the affine geodesic equation gives . Resolve both tensor slots in the basis consisting of and the screen. These two identities exclude covector factors of . Consequently
for some covector . If , wedging this identity with makes . Applying Frobenius theorem completes the proof:
This is the null twist vanishes exactly for hypersurface-orthogonal geodesics criterion; the geodesic assumption ensures that the screen criterion implies the full Frobenius condition. The resulting hypersurfaces are null, and the congruence follows their null generators.
The two identities. Set . The Killing equation says . The Levi-Civita connection has symmetric lower connection indices, so they cancel in the antisymmetric difference:
Use normalized antisymmetrization, so
Put . Contracting with , the second term is and the third is the same after using antisymmetry. Thus
Rearranging proves the Killing derivative contraction identity
Restriction to a Killing horizon. On a Killing horizon, the generator is normal to the horizon as well as tangent to its null generators. Consequently there. One can see this without assuming hypersurface orthogonality away from the horizon: if the horizon is locally , write its dual one-form as near it; then on . By the definition of surface gravity, on the horizon, and lowering that relation gives . The contraction identity becomes
Away from points where vanishes, cancel a nonzero component of ; at a regular bifurcation surface extend by continuity. Therefore
This is surface gravity from the Killing derivative; it concerns the horizon, not every point in the exterior.
Static spherical metric. Choose the Killing vector . Its dual one-form is , and the first identity immediately gives
with all other components zero. Hence
Using the horizon identity and the simultaneous simple zeros,
Here the positive value is chosen for a regular outer Killing horizon with on the exterior side. This is surface gravity of a static spherical horizon. A different normalization rescales surface gravity by ; when an asymptotically flat normalization is wanted, the time coordinate is chosen so at infinity.
Euclidean regularity and temperature. Let , and . On the exterior side, define the proper radial coordinate . After Wick rotation, the near-horizon metric is
The radial-time plane is a polar plane with angular coordinate . Its circumference-to-radius ratio is ; the conical singularity disappears precisely when
This is the Euclidean black-hole regularity condition. If a signed surface gravity convention is used, the period uses .
In a thermal quantum field theory, imaginary-time periodicity is the inverse-temperature condition expressed by the KMS condition. Therefore smoothness identifies the Hawking temperature
in units , or when is measured as an inverse time. It provides the thermal interpretation of surface gravity in black-hole thermodynamics. The regular Euclidean construction describes an equilibrium thermal state; the collapse calculation of Hawking radiation in the last solution supplies the outgoing spectrum. The simple-zero hypothesis excludes an extremal black hole, for which this polar-plane argument changes.
Write and . The Killing equation makes antisymmetric. Expanding hypersurface orthogonality and contracting with gives
Here metric compatibility gives . Therefore
and the normalized Killing one-form satisfies
Thus the required exponent is . The notation in this paper denotes the negative scalar , rather than a positive squared norm; the answer uses only its real reciprocal. More generally, for a multiplier the antisymmetric derivative is , so is the universally valid choice. If is constant, other exponents can work in that particular metric.
Use an affine parameter along a generator of a null hypersurface. Its null twist vanishes by hypersurface orthogonality. The screen metric is positive definite, so . The Einstein field equations and null energy condition imply , giving from the Null Raychaudhuri equation
Starting with , the null expansion stays negative as long as the congruence remains regular. Set . Then , so
A finite negative null expansion cannot persist to . Thus the null focusing theorem gives
This is a focal breakdown of the transverse congruence, provided the generator and regular geometry extend that far; it is not by itself a curvature singularity or a statement that the individual null geodesic terminates there.
Differentiate the normalization of the timelike unit normal with the metric-compatible covariant derivative:
Thus the derivative of the normal is already orthogonal to the normal in its second index. Expanding the second spatial projection tensor in the definition of the extrinsic curvature of a spatial hypersurface gives
To prove symmetry using Frobenius theorem, set . Hypersurface orthogonality is equivalent to
Contract this with . The last two terms vanish because a projected normal vanishes, while in the first term. Hence
The antisymmetric part of the doubly projected covariant derivative of is therefore zero. This proves that hypersurface orthogonality implies symmetric extrinsic curvature:
No geodesic assumption for the normal congruence is needed; its normal acceleration may be nonzero.
A timelike Killing vector with hypersurface orthogonality admits local coordinates with and . The only connection coefficients with time indices that can be nonzero are and . Substitution into the Ricci tensor gives . Thus has only its time component and is proportional to . Equivalently . This local statement does not require the Vacuum Einstein equations and is independent of the overall curvature-sign convention.
For relativistic dust with nowhere-zero density, stress-energy conservation implies zero four-acceleration. If its normalized four-velocity has hypersurface orthogonality, then and . The interior product of the first identity gives . The Poincaré lemma supplies locally; spatial coordinate functions constant along the smooth flow of give , and . The resulting synchronous coordinates describe the dust until the local coordinate construction fails.