Generalization of the ``Schwarzschild Surface'' to Arbitrary Static and

Stationary Metrics
C. V. Vishveshwara

Citation: J. Math. Phys. 9, 1319 (1968); doi: 10.1063/1.1664717

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JOURNAL OF MATHEMATICAL PHYSICS VOLUME 9, NUMBER 8 AUGUST 1968

Generalization of the "Schwarzschild Surface" to Arbitrary

Static and Stationary Metrics*
C. v. VISHVESHWARAt
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland
(Received 8 November 1967)

A generalization of the r = 2m "Schwarzschild surface" is defined for static metrics which are not
necessarily spherically symmetric. This surface exhibits simultaneously the properties of being a "one-way
membrane" for causal propagation and of being a surface of infinite red shift. The necessary and suffi-
cient condition that these two phenomena take place on the same surface in an arbitrary stationary metric
is also obtained. The distinctions between the static and stationary cases are shown to be essential by
examples from the Kerr metric.

I. INTRODUCTORY REMARKS These questions have also been studied independ-

The "Schwarzschild surface" at r = 2m in the
Schwarzschild exterior metric displays several inter-
esting properties which are well known. Two of them
are: (l) with reference to static sources and observers,
infinite red shift takes place at the surface; (2) the
surface is a null surface, so that it acts locally as a
one-way membranel (all 4-velocities in the future
light cone cross the surface in the same direction).
The question arises whether the two phenomena are
interrelated and whether it is possible to characterize,
in an arbitrary metric, surfaces exhibiting one or
both of the above properties. This question can be
answered in case of static and stationary metrics;
ently by Carter,2 and it is hoped that the present
paper can serve as an elementary, although incomplete,
introduction to his more general and broadly based
study.
II. GENERALIZED "SCHWARZSCHILD
SURFACES"
A static metric admits a timelike Killing vector
field ~a (Latin indices run from 0 to 3), the trajectories
of which form a normal congruence. 3 Hence, the
Killing vector satisfies the Killing equation
~a;b + ~b;a = 0 (1)

the timelike Killing vector admitted by these metrics and the condition for a normal congruence4 ~[a~b:CJ =
makes it possible to analyze the problem in a com- O. From the anti symmetry of ~a;b' this last equation
pletely coordinate independent manner. reduces to
In Sec. II, the well-known red-shift formula is (2)
derived, for the sake of completeness, explicitly in
We can define "static" observers or sources to be those
terms of the Killing vector, which shows that infinite
with 4-velocities which satisfy3
red shift results at the surface ~o on which the
Killing vector becomes null. It will be proved that, (3)
in an arbitrary static metric, ~o is necessarily a null
surface which means that ~o is both an infinite red- The frequency y that an observer of 4-velocity ua
shift surface and a one-way membrane as in the case assigns to a light ray with geodesic tangent k a is
Schwarzschild exterior metric. Similarly, in the case v = -uaka so the general red-shift formula is given by
of stationary metrics, the necessary and sufficient
(4)
condition that the surface on which the Killing vector
becomes null be itself a null surface is obtained. In where the subscripts sand 0 stand for the source
Sec. III, we study the Kerr metric as a specific ex- and the observer. For "static" sources and observers
ample of these considerations. It is seen how the two Eq. (3) reduces this to
"Schwarzschild" properties of infinite red shift and
of "one-way" causality will typically not coincide, YO/Y B = (-~a~a)t/(-~a~a)L (5)
in contrast to the Schwarzschild and other static • B. Carter (report of work prior to publication).
metrics where they occur at the same surface. 3J. Ehlers in Gravitation: An Introduction to Current Research,
Louis Witten, Ed. (John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, 1962).
• Square brackets denote antisymmetrization:
* Supported in part by NASA Grant NsG-436.
t Present address: Institute for Space Studies, Goddard Space ~[a~b:cl = tr~a~b;C + ~b~c;a + ~c~a;b - ~b~a;, - ~a~';b - ~c~b;al.
Flight Center, NASA, New York, N.Y.
1 D. Finkelstein, Phys. Rev. 110, 965 (1958). We use a metric with signature - +++.
1319

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1320
where use has been made of the fact that, along a null
geodesic, the product ~aka is a constant. s
An analog of the "Schwarzschild surface" is
given by ~o: ~a~a = 0, for which Eq. (5) yields
infinite red shift. (Since no timelike ua is actually
defined on ~o, this is meant as a limit; i.e., near ~o
red shifts may be arbitrarily large.) This condition is
important, as we shall see in Sec. III when we study
the Kerr metric.
Next, consider the family of surfaces ~ given by
~a~a = const.
In order to be sure tbat ~, defined in this way, is a
regular 3-dimensional hypersurface in 4-space, we
shall assume that the gradient of ~a~ does not
vanish on ~. Then the vector
is nonzero and is normal to ~. We readily verify that
~a lies in ~ since it is orthogonal to na (use the anti-
symmetry of ea;b):
na~a = ~b;a~b~a = 0.
Now compute the length of the nonnal vector:
nbnb = (ea;b~a)(~C;b~c) = (ea;beC)(e·;b~a).
By use of Eq. (2), it can be shown that
nbnb = Ha~a(~b'C~b;C).
We see that n~b, therefore, vanishes when ~a~a does,
so the surface ~o where ~a~a = 0 is a null surface.
Now all null surfaces are "one-way membranes"
for causal effects, but this is usually uninteresting.
For example, the surface z = t in Minkowski space
is null (we have c == 1) and "one way" in the sense
that future-directed timelike curves can only cross
this surface in the direction of decreasing z; to cross
it in the sense of increasing z would mean travelling
faster than light. Every null surface such as ~o has
local properties similar to this standard example;
namely, it contains at each point exattly one null
direction (which is also the nonnal to the surface)
but no time vector. The future null cone therefore
lies entirely on one side of the null surface, so that
all future-directed timelike directions cross the null
surface in the same sense. What is remarkable about
the null surface ~o, where eaea = 0, is that it does
not extend to spatial infinity (where ea~a = -1), so
the light rays (null geodesics) it contains neither come
from nor escape to infinity. In fact, these light rays
• This is shown by a well-known computation
(;okOhkD = ;o;DkokD+ ;oko;bkb = 0,
using the (Killing) antisymmetry of ;o;b and the geodesic equation
for kO.
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C. V. VISHVESHWARA
"stand still" in the sense that their tangent k a is
parallel to ~a, the Killing vector which defines the idea
of "static," "at rest," or "time-independent" in this
metric. To see this, note that since na and ~a are both
null vectors lying in ~o, they must be proportional
there with na = f~a' But then Eq. (7) reads ~a;b~b =
-Ha, which shows that ~a is parallel to a geodesic
tangent k a •
The situation in stationary metrics is considerably
different from that in static metrics due to the fact that
(6) the trajectories of the timelike Killing vector field ~a
no longer fonn a normal congruence, but, on the other
hand, contain rotational terms.
As in the case of static metrics, we now define
"stationary" observers or sources to be those with
4-velocities which satisfy
(7) ua = e-'P$a, uaua = -1.
The covariant derivative of the 4-velocity has the
expansion6
Ua;b = -Uaub - (-g)t£abr,arU', (9)
where
and
ar = H_g)-l£r·PQu.U2>;q.
Here ar is the rotation vector of the 4-velocity ua•
(8) As a result, Eq. (2) is modified into the form
ea;b~c + eb;cea + eC;aeb
=- (_g)la r ~·[£abrs~c + £bcr8~a + £car.~b]· (10)
Nevertheless, Eq. (5) still holds for the 4-velocities
ua which now define "stationary" observers and
sources. The surface on which $a becomes null is
once again an infinite red-shift surface with respect to
these sources and observers. On the other hand, a
straightforward calculation using Eq. (10) leads to the
result
nbnb = H~a~a(eb'C~b;C) - corco r],
where cor = (_g)--1£r.pq~'~2>;q, so cor is the rotation
vector associated with the Killing vector trajectories.
Hence we have the theorem that the surface on which
the Killing vector becomes null will itself be a null
surface if and only if the rotation vector of the
Killing vector field also becomes null on it. Only
under this condition will the infinite red-shift surface
act as a one-way membrane also.
We may note in passing that, in both static and
stationary metrics, the two vector fields a and rfl e
yield a natural generalization of the r-t two-surfaces
of the Schwarzschild metric, since the tangent 2-
planes they' define are surface-fonning according to
• G. Salzman and A. H. Taub, Phys. Rev. 95, 1959 (1954).
 SCHWARZSCHILD SURFACE 1321

Frobenius' theorem, 7 for the Lie derivative of na with Consequently, the Killing vector becomes null on
respect to ~a is CS<na) = 0. In fact, if we think of surfaces where
~a~a = _e 2'1' as defining a generalization of the
Newtonian gravitational potential "p [as is reason-
r2 - 2mr + a2 cos2 () = 0. (12)
able in view of the red-shift formula of Eq. (5»), This equation has the solutions
then na is a vector in the direction of the field
lines (along the potential gradient), and these r-1
ro = m + (m 2
- a2 cos 2 6)t,
two-surfaces are swept out by the field lines (trajec- r i = m - (m 2 - a2 cos 2 ()t.
tories of na) under the time translation generated by Outside the outer surface ro, we can have stationary
~a. The same Newtonian imagery helps again if we sources and observers with 4-velocities following
ask whether any "radial geodesics" can be found, the Killing-vector trajectories and for these and only
that is, geodesics confined to a ~a_na two-surface. these infinite red shift occurs at the surface ro. On the
That the answer is usually "no" one can verify by other hand, a surface fC', 6) = const will be null
calculation, or understand by considering that even only if the following equation is satisfied:
in Newtonian mechanics particles move along a
single "line of force" with their velocity and accelera-
tion parallel only under conditions of exceptional
(r2 - 2mr + a 2) (is + (~)2 = 0. (13)
symmetry, as in the case of a particle moving along
an axis of symmetry. The surface given by Eq. (12) does not satisfy this
condition and therefore the surface ro is nonnull and
m. KERR METRIC does not act as a one-way membrane. Here is an
The Kerr metricS has the form instance of the two phenomena of infinite red shift
and one-way membrane not taking place at the
gab = 'flab + 2Hkakb' (11) same surface. However, as Boyer and PriceS have
where 'flab is the metric of Minkowski space, ka a null pointed out, we do have stationary null surfaces
vector field, and H a scalar field. In explicit form, the given by
line element is given by
,2 _
2m, + a2 = 0 (14)
or
ds 2 = dr2 + 2a sin2 0 dr dcfo
+ (r 2 + a2) sin2 () dcfo2 + X d()2 '+ = m + (m 2
- a2)!, ,_ =m - (m 2 - a2 )!, (15)

- dt 2 + (2mr/x)(d, + a sin2 0 dcfo + dt)2, which are physically significant for a2 S m 2 •

where m and a can, respectively, be identified with the
mass and the angular momentum per unit mass of the
source, and where
x(r, 0) = r2 + a2 cos 2 ().
Since the metric components are independent of the
time coordinate t, the timelike Killing vector will be
~t == (~t, ~r, ~IJ, ~<P) = (1,0,0,0)
(the subscript t has been used to distinguish the time-
like Killing vector from the other Killing vectors we
shall encounter) and
(I;t)2 = goo = _(r 2 - 2mr + a 2 cos s (J)/X'
7 See Theorem 5.1 in S. Sternberg, Lectures on Differential
Geometry (Prentice-Hall. Inc., Englewood Cliffs. N.J., 1964) or
Theorem 8-4 in L. Auslander and R. E. MacKenzie. Introduction
to Differentiable Manifolds (McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc.,
New York. 1963). Sufficient for our purposes here is also a comment
on p. 105 in J. A. Schouten, Ricci Calculus (Springer-Verlag, Berlin,
1954). 2nd ed.
8 Some of the basic equations in this section have been taken from
the preprint "Maximal Analytic Extension of the Kerr Metric" by
R. H. Boyer and R. W. Lindquist. See also R. H. Boyer and T. G.
Price, Proc. Camb. Phil. Soc. 61, 531 (1965).
The null vector field k a inherent in the Kerr metric
is given by
k == (kt, k r , k IJ , k<P) = (1, -1,0,0).
This shows that the future-null cone points inwards
at the two null surfaces. Particles and light can only
enter, but not leave, these surfaces. (These null surfaces
'+ and ,_ and the infinite red-shift surface ro«() are
sketched in Fig. 1.) Concentrating on the outer
surface r+, we find that we cannot think of stationary
observers along ~t on this surface, since the surface
r+ lies within the surface ro, the two touching each
other at 6 = 0, 7T, and ;t is spacelike in the interme-
diate region between the two surfaces. Even otherwise,
, + is not an infinite red-shift surface as ;t does not
become null on it. Nevertheless, we can find a set of
"pseudostationary" observers and sources for whom
infinite red shift still occurs on r+. This is done as
follows.
In addition to I;t, the Kerr metric admits ;,.., the
Killing vector associated with rotation about the
axis. We form a "mixed Killing vector" ;,., defined

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1322 c. V. VISHVESHW ARA

A choice would be
ap = 2mr+, sin ex = 1/v'2, cos ex = -1/v'2.
With these parameters,

~ _ ~ (2mr+ ~ _ ~ ) (17)
"'" - J2 a "t "",.
A second sheet r = raCe) on which a becomes null e
(but which is not a null surface) can be found from
the other roots of the equation

where p and ex have the above values. It is cumber-

some to obtain explicit solutions to this equation in
terms of e. However, the solutions for r at e = 0, 1T,
and 1T/2 can easily be worked out and provide enough
FIG. I. Some surfaces of interest in the Kerr metric. The surfaces information. At () = 0, 1T, this equation has the
r_ and '+ are null surfaces. The timelike Killing vector 1;, becomes only possible root r = r+, whereas at 0 = Tr/2, it
null on the surface ro which gives infinite red shift for stationary
sources. The "mixed" Killing vector 1;", becomes null on r+ and ra. admits two acceptable roots:
the latter surface being nonnull. In the hatched region (region I),
1;, is timelike so this region admits stationary observers and sources,
while ;, is spacelike in regions II and III. The vector 1;", is space like
outside r", and timelike in the region between, + and,,,,. The cross-
r = r+
1 and r = r;[ (1 + 8:~+)! - 1]-
2

hatched region enclosed by the surface r_ contains the inner surface

'1 (not shown), on which ;, again becomes null, and the singularity For m > a, r 2 > r 1 so that the null surface r = r+
r = O. The future light cone pOints inwards at '+
(and at r_) so that lies inside the second sheet and the two touch each
particles and light rays can only enter, but not leave" + (respectively,
r_). The diagramshave been drawn: (a) for high values of the param- other at 0 = 0, 1T; ;'" becomes spacelike at infinity
eter a, i.e., for a in the neighborhood of m: the surface r", lies and hence is timelike in the region between the above
within TO and there is no common region in which both ;t and ;'"
are timelike. When a is equal to m, the surface '/1. coincides with r+. two surfaces. Therefore, we can define the "pseudo-
(b) For low nonzero values of a: surface TO lies within the surface '/1. stationary" sources and observers in this region with
and in the region between these two surfaces both ;t and 1;00 are
timelike. For a = 0, the Kerr metric goes over to the Schwarzschild 4-velocities along ;'" . Although these have no
metric, the surface r 0 and r + coalesce into the Schwarzschild sphere global significance, since such observers and sources
r = 2m, r_ collapses into the origin, = 0, and r", ceases to exist.
cannot be found at infinity, it is still worthwhile
by noting that, for these, infinite red shift does occur on
the null surface r +. This surface, rather than the
;'" = p sin ex;t + cos ex;", = (p sin ex, 0, 0, cos ex), surface ro, resembles the Schwarzschild surface in
that it is a one-way membrane (it exhibits infinite red
where p has the dimension of length and ex is the shift with respect to the "pseudostationary" observers
mixing parameter. We wish to determine ex and p for as well). This choice is borne out also by an analysis
which ;'" becomes null on the surface r +. We compute of null geodesics in the equatorial plane,s which
(;",)2 X = - (r 2 - 2mr + a2 cos e)p2 sin ex
2 2 shows that light signals can be sent to spatial infinity
(from sources moving along timelike curves) from
+ [(r 2 + a )(r + a cos 0) sin 0
2 2 2 2 2
every point in the region between the surfaces ro and
+ 2mr a 2
sin4 0] cos 2 ex r +, whereas no signal can escape from within the
surface r+.
+ 4mrap sin2 e sin ex cos ex. (16) ACKNOWLEDGMENT
Substituting r = r + = m + (m 2 - a 2)!, we readily ob- I am deeply indebted to Professor C. W. Misner
tain for suggesting the problem and for his constant
guidance throughout the work.

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