(Poster) Static vs Falling: Time slicings of Schwarzschild black holes

I presented this poster, “Static vs Falling: Time slicings of Schwarzschild black holes” at the GR21 conference in New York City, July 2016. You can download a PDF version. A big thank-you to those who gave feedback, especially to Jiří Podolský who encouraged me to publish it! The section on coordinate vectors has been updated. Also there is a major update to the poster.Schwarzschild slicings 40dpi

Tetrad for Schwarzschild metric, in terms of e

The following is a natural choice of orthonormal tetrad for an observer moving radially in Schwarzschild spacetime with “energy per unit rest mass” e:

    \begin{align*} e_{\hat 0}^\mu &= \left(e\Schw^{-1},\pm\eroot,0,0\right) \\ e_{\hat 1}^\mu &= \left(\pm\Schw^{-1}\eroot,e,0,0\right) \\ e_{\hat 2}^\mu &= \left(0,0,\frac{1}{r},0\right) \\ e_{\hat 3}^\mu &= \left(0,0,0,\frac{1}{r\sin\theta}\right) \end{align*}

The components are given in Schwarzschild coordinates. (The ± signs are not independent — they must be either both +1 or both -1. Note that e does not distinguish between inward and outward motion. There is additional freedom to define any of these vectors as their negative.)

We normally think of e as invariant, where there is a presumption of freely falling / geodesic motion, but even if not we can regard it as an instantaneous value.

\evec{0} is the 4-velocity computed previously. The other vectors can be obtained from substituting \gamma=e\Schw^{-1/2} and V=-\frac{1}{e}\sqrt{e^2-1+\frac{2M}{r}} into the tetrad here. \gamma is determined from -\fvec u\cdot\fvec u_{\rm obs}=\gamma and the equation for e above, then V follows from inverting \gamma\equiv(1-V^2)^{-1/2}. This orthonormal frame is useful for determining the object’s perspective, e.g. tidal forces, visual appearances, etc.

Tetrad for Schwarzschild metric

Suppose an observer u moves radially with speed (3-velocity) V relative to “stationary” Schwarzschild observers, where we define V<0 as inward motion. Then one natural choice of orthonormal tetrad is:

    \begin{align*} (\evec{0})^\alpha &= \left(\gamma\Schw^{-1/2},V\gamma\Schw^{1/2},0,0\right) \\ (\evec{1})^\alpha &= \left(V\gamma\Schw^{-1/2},\gamma\Schw^{1/2},0,0\right) \\ (\evec{2})^\alpha &= \left(0,0,\frac{1}{r},0\right) \\ (\evec{3})^\alpha &= \left(0,0,0,\frac{1}{r\sin\theta}\right) \end{align*}

where the components are given in Schwarzschild coordinates. This may be derived as follows.

The Schwarzschild observer has 4-velocity

    \[\fvec u_{\rm obs}=\left(\Schw^{-1/2},0,0,0\right)\]

because the spatial coordinates are fixed, and the t-component follows from normalisation \fvec u_{\rm obs}\cdot\fvec u_{\rm obs}=-1 (Hartle §9.2).

Now the Lorentz factor for the relative speed satisfies -\fvec u\cdot\fvec u_{\rm obs}=\gamma, and together with normalisation \fvec u\cdot\fvec u=-1 and the assumption that the θ and φ components are zero, this yields \evec{0}\equiv\fvec u given above.

We obtain \evec{1} by orthonormality: \evec{1}\cdot\evec{0}=0 and \evec{1}\cdot\evec{1}=1, and again making the assumption the θ and φ components are zero. Note the negative of the r-component is probably an equally natural choice. Then \evec{2} and \evec{3} follow from simply normalising the coordinate vectors.

Strictly speaking this setup only applies for r>2M, because stationary timelike observers cannot exist inside a black hole event horizon! Yet remarkably the formulae can work out anyway (MTW …) .  An alternate approach is local Lorentz boost described shortly.

Hartle … Also check no “twisting” etc…

Radial motion in the Schwarzschild metric, in terms of e

A nice way to parametrise the 4-velocity u of a small test body moving radially within Schwarzschild spacetime is by the “energy per unit rest mass” e:

    \[{u^\mu=\left(e\Schw^{-1},\pm\eroot,0,0\right)\]

For the “±” term, choose the sign based on whether the motion is inwards or outwards. All components are given in Schwarzschild coordinates (t,r,\theta,\phi). The result was derived as follows. In geometric units, the metric is:

    \[\Schwmetric\]

By definition e\equiv-\fvec\xi\cdot\fvec u, where \fvec\xi\equiv\partial_t is the Killing vector corresponding to the independence of the metric from t, and has components \xi^\mu=(1,0,0,0) (Hartle §9.3). For geodesic (freefalling) motion e is invariant, however even for accelerated motion e is well-defined instantaneously and makes a useful parametrisation.

We want to find u^\mu=(u^t,u^r,u^\theta,u^\phi) say. Rearranging the defining equation for e gives u^t=e\Schw^{-1}. Radial motion means u^\theta=u^\phi=0, so the normalised condition \fvec u\cdot\fvec u=-1 yields the remaining component \abs{u^r}. The resulting formula is valid for all 0<r\ne 2M, and for e=1 the 4-velocity describes “raindrops” as expected.