Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2015 / iii / Paper 52 / 3 / i

For each fixed coordinate function $x^{\alpha }$, the expression $\square x^{\alpha }$ is a scalar: $\alpha$ labels four chosen functions and is not a free tensor index. The equation is therefore coordinate invariant when those functions are held fixed. However, the demand that the currently chosen coordinates themselves be harmonic coordinates is a chart condition, not a four-vector equation invariant under arbitrary changes of coordinate functions.

Indeed, for new functions ${\bar{x}}^{\alpha }=f^{\alpha }(x)$ the d'Alembert operator givesThe second term prevents a vector transformation law. An affine redefinition preserves harmonic coordinates; an arbitrary nonlinear one does not. For example, a Cartesian spatial coordinate $x$ in Minkowski spacetime has $\square x=0$, whereas $\square (x^2)=2$, and $x^2$ is a valid new coordinate on $x>0$. The equations are scalar equations for specified functions, while harmonic gauge is chart dependent.