Geometric properties of the Bertotti–Kasner space-time

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to study the Bertotti–Kasner space-time and its geometric properties.Design/methodology/approachThis paper is based on the features of λ-tensor and the technique of six-dimensional formalism introduced by Pirani and followed by W. Borgiel, Z. Ahsan et al. and H.M. Manjunatha et al. This technique helps to describe both the geometric properties and the nature of the gravitational field of the space-times in the Segre characteristic.FindingsThe Gaussian curvature quantities specify the curvature of Bertotti–Kasner space-time. They are expressed in terms of invariants of the curvature tensor. The Petrov canonical form and the Weyl invariants have also been obtained.Originality/valueThe findings are revealed to be both physically and geometrically interesting for the description of the gravitational field of the cylindrical universe of Bertotti–Kasner type as far as the literature is concerned. Given the technique of six-dimensional formalism, the authors have defined the Weyl conformal λW-tensor and discussed the canonical form of the Weyl tensor and the Petrov scalars. To the best of the literature survey, this idea is found to be modern. The results deliver new insight into the geometry of the nonstatic cylindrical vacuum solution of Einstein's field equations.

Scalar Invariants

This chapter shows how to derive a characterization of scalar invariants of conformal structures by reduction to the relevant results of [BEGr]. In [FG], the authors conjectured that when n is odd, all scalar conformal invariants arise as Weyl invariants constructed from the ambient metric. The second main goal of this book is to prove this together with an analogous result when n is even. These results are contained in Theorems 9.2, 9.3, and 9.4. The parabolic invariant theory needed to prove these results was developed in [BEGr], including the observation of the existence of exceptional invariants. But substantial work is required to reduce the theorems in the chapter to the results of [BEGr]. To understand this, it briefly reviews how Weyl's characterization of scalar Riemannian invariants is proved.