Abstract
In recent papers, Choquet–Bruhat and York and Abrahams, Anderson, Choquet–Bruhat, and York (we refer to both works jointly as AACY) have cast the 3 + 1 evolution equations of general relativity in gauge-covariant and causal "first-order symmetric hyperbolic form," thereby cleanly separating physical from gauge degrees of freedom in the Cauchy problem for general relativity. A key ingredient in their construction is a certain wave equation which governs the light-speed propagation of the extrinsic curvature tensor. Along a similar line, we construct a related wave equation which, as the key equation in a system, describes vacuum general relativity. Whereas the approach of AACY is based on tensor-index methods, the present formulation is written solely in the language of differential forms. Our approach starts with Sparling's tetrad-dependent differential forms, and our wave equation governs the propagation of Sparling's two-form, which in the "time-gauge" is built linearly from the "extrinsic curvature one-form." The tensor-index version of our wave equation describes the propagation of (what is essentially) the Arnowitt–Deser–Misner gravitational momentum.
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