From the conformal self-duality equations to the Manakov–Santini system

Abstract

Under two separate symmetry assumptions, we demonstrate explicitly how the equations governing a general anti-self-dual conformal structure in four dimensions can be reduced to the Manakov–Santini system, which determines the three-dimensional Einstein–Weyl structure on the space of orbits of symmetry. The two symmetries investigated are a non-null translation and a homothety, which are previously known to reduce the second heavenly equation to the Laplace’s equation and the hyper-CR system, respectively. Reductions on the anti-self-dual null-Kähler condition are also explored in both cases.