Hodge-de Rham Laplacian and geometric criteria for gravitational waves

Abstract

The curvature tensor \(\hat{R}\) of a manifold is called harmonic, if it obeys the condition \(\Delta^{\text{(HR)}}\hat{R}=0\), where \(\Delta^{\text{(HR)}}=DD^{\ast} + D^{\ast}D\) is the Hodge–deRham Laplacian. It is proved that all solutions of the Einstein equations in vacuum, as well as all solutions of the Einstein–Cartan theory in vacuum have a harmonic curvature. The statement that only solutions of Einstein’s equations of type \(N\) (describing gravitational radiation) are harmonic is refuted.