Double-null coordinates for the Vaidya metric
Einstein's equations with spherical symmetry are formulated in double-null coordinates, and the high-frequency approximation to a unidirectional radial flow of unpolarized radiation (the Vaidya metric) is studied in detail. For this case the Einstein equations reduce to a single first-order nonlinear partial differential equation. Integration of this equation introduces an arbitrary function (of one null variable) which must be chosen so as to regularize the metric across horizons. Although the problem is, in general, not analytically solvable, we are able to extend the class of known analytic solutions from the constant-mass case (Kruskal-Szekeres metric) to linear and exponential mass functions. In the linear case we give the first explicit regular covering of a spacetime with a naked shell-focusing singularity.
- Research Organization:
- Department of Physics, Queen's University at Kingston, Kingston, Ontario, Canada K7L 3N6
- OSTI ID:
- 6982625
- Journal Information:
- Phys. Rev. D; (United States), Vol. 34:10
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
N-dimensional Vaidya metric with a cosmological constant in double-null coordinates
Vaidya spacetime in the diagonal coordinates