Classifying geometries in general relativity: I. Standard forms for symmetric spinors

Abstract

This is the first in a series of papers concerning a project to set up a computer database of exact solutions in general relativity which can be accessed and updated by the user community. In this paper, we briefly discuss the Cartan-Karlhede invariant classification of geometries and the significance of the standard form of a spinor. We then present algorithms for putting the Weyl spinor, Ricci spinor and general spinors into standard form.