New conservation laws for zero rest-mass fields in asymptotically flat space-time

Abstract Some recently discovered exact conservation laws for asymptotically flat gravitational fields are discussed in detail. The analogous conservation laws for zero rest-mass fields of arbitrary spin s= 0,½,1,...) in flat or asymptotically flat space-time are also considered and their connexion with a generalization of Kirchoff’s integral is pointed out. In flat space-time, an infinite hierarchy of such conservation laws exists for each spin value, but these have a somewhat trivial interpretation, describing the asymptotic incoming field (in fact giving the coefficients of a power series expansion of the incoming field). The Maxwell and linearized Einstein theories are analysed here particularly. In asymptotically flat space-time, only the first set of quantities of the hierarchy remain absolutely conserved. These are 4s + 2 real quantities, for spin s, giving a D(s, 0) representation of the Bondi-Metzner-Sachs group. But even for these quantities the simple interpretation in terms of incoming waves no longer holds good: it emerges from a study of the stationary gravitational fields that a contribution to the quantities involving the gravitational multipole structure of the field must also be present. Only the vacuum Einstein theory is analysed in this connexion here, the corresponding discussions of the Einstein-Maxwell theory (by Exton and the authors) and the Einstein-Maxwell-neutrino theory (by Exton) being given elsewhere. (A discussion of fields of higher spin in curved space-time along these lines would encounter the familiar difficulties first pointed out by Buchdahl.) One consequence of the discussion given here is that a stationary asymptotically flat gravitational field cannot become radiative and then stationary again after a finite time, except possibly if a certain (origin independent) quadratic combination of multipole moments returns to its original value. This indicates the existence of ‘tails’ to the outgoing waves (or back-scattered field),which destroys the stationary nature of the final field.