An approximate global solution of Einstein’s equations for a differentially rotating compact body

Abstract

We obtain an approximate global stationary and axisymmetric solution of Einstein's equations which can be thought as a simple star model: a self-gravitating perfect fluid ball with a differential rotation motion pattern. Using the post--Minkowskian formalism (weak field approximation) and considering rotation as a perturbation (slow rotation approximation), we find approximate interior and exterior (asymptotically flat) solutions to this problem in harmonic coordinates. Interior and exterior solutions are matched, in the sense of Lichnerowicz, on the surface of zero pressure to get a global solution. The resulting metric depends on four arbitrary constants: mass density, rotational velocity at $r=0$, a parameter which takes into account of the change in the rotational velocity through the star and the star radius in the non-rotation limit. The mass, angular momentum, quadrupole moment and other constants of the exterior metric are determined in terms of these four parameters.