On the definition of cylindrical symmetry

May, 1999
13 pages
Published in:
  • Class.Quant.Grav. 16 (1999) 3025-3034
e-Print:

Citations per year

19992005201120172023012345
Abstract: (arXiv)
The standard definition of cylindrical symmetry in General Relativity is reviewed. Taking the view that axial symmetry is an essential pre-requisite for cylindrical symmetry, it is argued that the requirement of orthogonal transitivity of the isometry group should be dropped, this leading to a new, more general definition of cylindrical symmetry. Stationarity and staticity in cylindrically symmetric spacetimes are then defined, and these issues are analysed in connection with orthogonal transitivity, thus proving some new results on the structure of the isometry group for this class of spacetimes.