Solving the constraint equation for general free data

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Chen, Xuantao, Klainerman, Sergiu
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Chen, Xuantao
Klainerman, Sergiu
author_facet Chen, Xuantao
Klainerman, Sergiu
contents We revisit the problem of solving the Einstein constraint equations in vacuum by a new method, which allows us to prescribe four scalar quantities, representing the full dynamical degrees of freedom of the constraint system. We show that once appropriate gauge conditions have been chosen and four scalars freely specified (modulo $\ell\leq 1$ modes), we can rewrite the constraint equations as a well-posed system of coupled transport and elliptic equations on $2$-spheres, which we solve by an iteration procedure. Our method provides a large class of exterior solutions of the constraint equations that can be matched to given interior solutions, according to the existing gluing techniques. As such, it can be applied to provide a large class of initial Cauchy data sets evolving to black holes, generalizing the well-known result of the formation of trapped surfaces due to Li and Yu. Though in our main theorem, we only specify conditions consistent with $g-g_{Schw}=O(r^{-1-δ})$, $k=O(r^{-2-δ})$, the method is flexible enough to be applied in many other situations. It can, in particular, be easily adapted to construct arbitrarily fast decaying data. We expect, moreover, that our method can also be applied to construct data with slower decay, such as that used by Shen. In fact, an important motivation for developing our method is to show that the result of Shen is sharp, i.e., construct small, smooth initial data sets which violate Shen's decay conditions, and for which the stability of the Minkowski space result is wrong.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2512_22704
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Solving the constraint equation for general free data
Chen, Xuantao
Klainerman, Sergiu
General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology
Analysis of PDEs
Differential Geometry
We revisit the problem of solving the Einstein constraint equations in vacuum by a new method, which allows us to prescribe four scalar quantities, representing the full dynamical degrees of freedom of the constraint system. We show that once appropriate gauge conditions have been chosen and four scalars freely specified (modulo $\ell\leq 1$ modes), we can rewrite the constraint equations as a well-posed system of coupled transport and elliptic equations on $2$-spheres, which we solve by an iteration procedure. Our method provides a large class of exterior solutions of the constraint equations that can be matched to given interior solutions, according to the existing gluing techniques. As such, it can be applied to provide a large class of initial Cauchy data sets evolving to black holes, generalizing the well-known result of the formation of trapped surfaces due to Li and Yu. Though in our main theorem, we only specify conditions consistent with $g-g_{Schw}=O(r^{-1-δ})$, $k=O(r^{-2-δ})$, the method is flexible enough to be applied in many other situations. It can, in particular, be easily adapted to construct arbitrarily fast decaying data. We expect, moreover, that our method can also be applied to construct data with slower decay, such as that used by Shen. In fact, an important motivation for developing our method is to show that the result of Shen is sharp, i.e., construct small, smooth initial data sets which violate Shen's decay conditions, and for which the stability of the Minkowski space result is wrong.
title Solving the constraint equation for general free data
topic General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology
Analysis of PDEs
Differential Geometry
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2512.22704