Invariance of the Massless Field Equations under Changes of the Metric

Abstract

It is shown that the Maxwell equations with sources, expressed in terms of the covariant tensor field F_ijand the current density four-vector Jⁱ, are invariant under the change of the metric g_ijby g_ij ^′= g_ij+ l_il_jif l_iis a principal null direction of F_ijand that an analogous result holds in the case of the massless Klein-Gordon equation if l_iis null and orthogonal to the gradient of the field and in the case of the null dust equations if l_iis parallel to the dust four-velocity. An elementary proof of the following generalization of the Xanthopoulos theorem is also given: Let (g_ij, F_ij) be an exact solution of the Einstein-Maxwell equations and let l_ibe a principal null direction of F_ij, then (g_ij+ l_il_j, F_ij) is also an exact solution of the Einstein-Maxwell equations if and only if (l_il_j, 0) satisfies the Einstein-Maxwell equations linearized about the background solution (g_ij, F_ij). Furthermore, analogous theorems, where the source of the gravitational field is a massless Klein-Gordon field or null dust, are presented.