Analysis of a Bianchi-like equation satisfied by the Mars-Simon tensor

Abstract

The Mars-Simon tensor (MST), which, e.g., plays a crucial role to provide gauge invariant characterizations of the Kerr-NUT-(A)(dS) family, satisfies a Bianchi-like equation. In this paper, we analyze this equation in close analogy to the Bianchi equation, in particular it will be shown that the constraints are preserved supposing that a generalized Buchdahl condition holds. This permits the systematic construction of solutions to this equation in terms of a well-posed Cauchy problem. A particular emphasis lies on the asymptotic Cauchy problem, where data are prescribed on a space-like I (i.e., for λ > 0). In contrast to the Bianchi equation, the MST equation is of Fuchsian type at I, for which existence and uniqueness results are derived.