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Where a Killing vector field is ${\partial }_x$ and its squared norm $V=h_{xx}$ is nonzero, an invariant metric tensor decomposes as $h=V(dx+A{)}^2+\gamma$. The quotient one-form has $A_i=h_{xi}/V$ and the quotient metric has ${\gamma }_{ij}=h_{ij}-h_{xi}{h}_{xj}/V$. All coefficients are independent of $x$. Changing the fibre coordinate to $x^{\prime }=x+\lambda$ sends $A$ to $A-d\lambda$. A null Killing direction requires a different decomposition.

The outer Killing horizon of a Kerr black hole is generated by $k+{\Omega }_{H}m$, with the stationary Killing vector field $k$ normalized at infinity and the axial generator $m$ having $2\pi$-periodic orbits. In ingoing Kerr coordinates its generators satisfy $d\chi /dv={\Omega }_H$. This is the horizon's angular velocity relative to the nonrotating asymptotic stationary frame.

For subextreme Kerr spacetime, the outer stationary-limit surface is $s=r-r_e(\theta )=0$, where $r_e=M+\sqrt{M^2-a^2{\cos }^2\theta }$. Away from the rotation axis, $r_e>r_{+}$ and $\Delta (r_e)=a^2{\sin }^2\theta >0$. Its normal is therefore spacelike and the surface timelike. Although the stationary Killing vector field has zero norm on it, it is not normal to it, and the surface is not a Killing horizon. The actual outer Killing horizon is $r=r_{+}$, generated by $K+{\Omega }_H\Phi$.

For a Killing vector field, set $F_{ab}={\nabla }_a{K}_b$ and $a^s=K^t{\nabla }_t{K}^s$. The Killing equation makes $F$ 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 $F^{ab}{F}_{ab}$ to surface gravity.

For a geodesic tangent $u$ and a stationary Killing vector field $K$, the Killing energy is $E=-g(K,u)$. It is conserved along the geodesic. When $K$ is future timelike and $u$ is future causal, $E>0$ for a nonzero tangent; it need not be positive where $K$ becomes spacelike.

The Killing equation tests whether a candidate vector field generates a local isometry, without needing to solve for its flow of a vector field. For the Levi-Civita connection of a metric tensor $g$, it isParentheses mean averaging over the two index orders. The equation says the symmetric part of the covariant derivative vanishes, not that the entire covariant derivative vanishes. The Lie derivative of the metric tensor gives the coordinate formThe last two terms account for how tangent vectors move with the field; checking only $K^{\rho }{\partial }_{\rho }{g}_{\mu \nu }$ misses this. See Carroll, section 5, equations (5.33) and (5.41)-(5.42).

For the Euclidean Killing vector field $K=-y{\partial }_x+x{\partial }_y$, the Euclidean metric in Cartesian coordinates makes covariant derivatives ordinary partial derivatives. Its diagonal equations give ${\partial }_x{K}_x={\partial }_y{K}_y=0$, and its mixed equation gives ${\partial }_x{K}_y+{\partial }_y{K}_x=1-1=0$. Thus a varying vector field can preserve a constant metric tensor. In contrast, $K=x{\partial }_x+y{\partial }_y$ gives $({\mathcal{L}}_{K}g{)}_{xx}=2$ and fails the Killing equation, despite the constant metric components.

If $K={\partial }_z$ is a coordinate basis vector, its components are constant and the coordinate form reduces to ${\partial }_z{g}_{\mu \nu }=0$. Hence independence of the metric components from $z$ supplies a Killing vector field. This shortcut applies to that coordinate generator, not to an arbitrary varying vector field.

On a geodesically complete Riemannian manifold, every Killing vector field is complete and integrates to a global one-parameter subgroup of its isometry group. On the incomplete interval $(0,1)$ with its Euclidean metric, ${\partial }_x$ satisfies the Killing equation, but translations leave the interval in finite time. The full isometry group is only the identity and reflection. Local solutions of the Killing equation therefore need not equal the Lie algebra of global isometries without completeness.

With metric signature $(+---)$, normalize a timelike Killing vector field by $U^a=K^a/N$, $N^2=K^a{K}_a$. The Killing equation gives $K^b{\nabla }_b{K}_a=-\frac{1}{2}{\nabla }_a{N}^2$, while $K^b{\nabla }_{b}N=0$. Thus the four-acceleration of its normalized flow is the displayed gradient. With metric signature $(-+++)$ the corresponding lower-index formula has the opposite sign.

Every right-invariant Riemannian metric on the Heisenberg group has Killing vector fields ${\partial }_x$, ${\partial }_y+x{\partial }_z$ and ${\partial }_z$. Their Lie brackets of vector fields reproduce $[X,Y]=Z$ and the central relations. Their flows are right translations. The dual frame of the right-invariant coframe is different and has the opposite Lie-bracket sign.

A Killing horizon is a null hypersurface whose null generators are orbits of a Killing vector field $K$. On the horizon, $K^b{\nabla }_b{K}^a=\kappa K^a$ defines its surface gravity.

A Killing tensor is a symmetric covariant tensor satisfying the displayed equation for the Levi-Civita connection. Its contraction with $r$ copies of a geodesic velocity is constant along every affinely parametrized geodesic. The converse follows because the resulting symmetric derivative is determined by its homogeneous polynomial on tangent vectors. Rank one recovers the Killing vector field after metric duality.

A Killing vector field describes a direction in which geometry has a continuous symmetry: moving points together along its flow of a vector field preserves the metric tensor, including its pairing of tangent vectors. Such a symmetry gives a geodesic conserved quantity from a Killing vector, often a component of momentum or angular momentum. The direction may vary with position: rotation provides the basic example.

On a Riemannian manifold or Lorentzian manifold with metric tensor $g$, a smooth vector field $K$ is a Killing vector field when its Lie derivative of $g$ vanishes. If ${\Phi }_s$ is its local flow of a vector field, the equivalent statements areThe middle equality uses the pullback of a covariant tensor: the local flow maps are isometries on their domains. The last equality is the Killing equation, using the Levi-Civita connection. The infinitesimal condition holds throughout an open domain and integrates to exact local isometries; it is stronger than making the first derivatives of $g$ vanish at a single point. See Tong, section 4.3.1, equation (4.29).

For example, on the interval $0<x<1$ with Euclidean metric $d{x}^2$, $K={\partial }_x$ translates points by $x\mapsto x+s$. This is a local isometry, but a point reaches the end of the interval in finite flow parameter. A local flow of a vector field can be incomplete; see Killing fields on incomplete manifolds need not generate global isometries. The full-plane translation and rotation examples under Euclidean Killing vector field instead have flows for every real $s$.

Every Killing vector field $K$ preserves the scalar curvature: ${\mathcal{L}}_{K}R=K^{\alpha }{\nabla }_{\alpha }R=0$. One index proof rewrites this derivative as a doubly contracted curvature commutator acting on the antisymmetric tensor ${\nabla }_{[\mu }{K}_{\lambda ]}$; both terms vanish by symmetry of the Ricci tensor.

Komar angular momentum is the Komar charge associated with an axial Killing vector field in four-dimensional general relativity. In geometrized units its normalization is $(16\pi {)}^{-1}{\int }_S\star dm$, where $m$ is the metric-dual differential one-form. With zero cosmological constant, vacuum Einstein field equations make $d\star dm=0$, so homologous surrounding surfaces in the vacuum region give the same charge.

A Killing vector field gives an antisymmetric tensor ${\nabla }^{\mu }{\xi }^{\nu }$ whose divergence is this current, up to overall surface-orientation convention. The four-dimensional Einstein field equations express it as $8\pi G(T^{\mu }{}_{\nu }-\frac{1}{2}T{\delta }^{\mu }{}_{\nu }){\xi }^{\nu }$ at zero cosmological constant. The contracted Bianchi identity and Killing invariance of scalar curvature prove its divergence is zero. Stress conservation alone does not cancel the trace derivative without Killing invariance of the trace.

The Lie derivative of a connection is the tensorAn isometry preserves the Levi-Civita connection, so ${\mathcal{L}}_K\nabla =0$ for a Killing vector field.

A nonstationary spacetime lacks the stationary time-translation symmetry in the domain being considered. Without a preferred suitable timelike Killing vector field, the classical geometry alone does not determine a unique positive-frequency solution subspace for quantization.

For a non-null Killing vector field $V$ of a Levi-Civita connection, hypersurface orthogonality implies that $\eta =V^{♭}/F$, with $F=g(V,V)$, is a closed differential form. The Killing equation and $V^{♭}\wedge d{V}^{♭}=0$ give $2F{\nabla }_{\mu }{V}_{\nu }=V_{\nu }{\partial }_{\mu }F-V_{\mu }{\partial }_{\nu }F$, whence $d\eta =0$. The Poincaré lemma gives $\eta =d\varphi$ locally. For a timelike $V$, $\varphi$ supplies local static time coordinates. This does not assert global exactness.

For a Killing vector field $K$, its metric-dual differential one-form produces the electromagnetic field $F_{ab}=2{\nabla }_{[a}{K}_{b]}=2{\nabla }_a{K}_b$. The exterior derivative gives $dF=0$, while the second covariant derivative of a Killing vector gives ${\nabla }^a{F}_{ab}=-2R_{bd}{K}^d$. Thus this construction solves the source-free Maxwell equations in a vacuum spacetime with zero cosmological constant. The field is a test field: adding its stress-energy tensor would generally change the original metric tensor.