Formalism
Definition
Spacetime configurations
Properties
Spacetimes
| black hole spacetimes | vanishing angular momentum | positive angular momentum |
|---|---|---|
| vanishing charge | Schwarzschild spacetime | Kerr spacetime |
| positive charge | Reissner-Nordstrom spacetime | Kerr-Newman spacetime |
| wormhole spacetimes | vanishing angular momentum |
|---|---|
| vanishing charge | Schwarzschild wormhole |
| positive charge | Reissner-Nordström wormhole |
Quantum theory
Universal spacetimes are spacetimes for which all conserved symmetric rank-2 tensors, constructed as contractions of polynomials from the metric, the Riemann tensor and its covariant derivatives of arbitrary order, are multiples of the metric. Consequently, metrics of universal spacetimes solve vacuum equations of motion of all gravitational theories, i.e. extremize the Einstein-Hilbert action with given cosmological constant and arbitrary higher curvature correction. In the literature, universal metrics are also discussed as metrics with vanishing quantum corrections and as classical solutions to string theory. Widely known examples of universal metrics are certain Ricci flat pp-wave spacetimes.
The first examples are due to:
Daniele Amati, Ctirad Klimčík, Nonperturbative computation of the Weyl anomaly for a class of nontrivial backgrounds, Phys. Lett. B, 219:443–447, 1989 (spire:269390, 10.1016/0370-2693(89)91092-7)
Gary Horowitz, Alan R. Steif, Spacetime singularities in string theory, Phys. Rev. Lett. 64, 260 1990 (doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.64.260)
The terminology was introduced in:
Classification results are discussed in:
Sigbjørn Hervik, Vojtěch Pravda, Alena Pravdová, Type III and N universal spacetimes, Class. Quantum Grav. 31: 215005, 2014 (arXiv:1311.0234)
Sigbjørn Hervik, Tomáš Málek, Vojtěch Pravda, Alena Pravdová, Type II universal spacetimes, Class. Quantum Grav. 32: 245012, 2015 (arXiv:1503.08448)
Sigbjørn Hervik, Vojtěch Pravda, Alena Pravdová, Universal spacetimes in four dimensions, JHEP 1710 (2017): 28 (arXiv:1707.00264)
Martin Kuchynka, Tomáš Málek, Vojtěch Pravda, Alena Pravdová, Almost universal spacetimes in higher-order gravity theories (arXiv:1810.02178)
Discussion for black hole spacetimes:
Discussion for Einstein-Yang-Mills theory:
See also:
Metin Gurses, Yaghoub Heydarzade, Cetin Senturk, Kerr-Schild-Kundt Metrics in Generic Gravity Theories with Modified Horndeski Couplings [arXiv:2109.01244]
Metin Gurses, Tahsin Cagri Sisman, Bayram Tekin: New Almost Universal Metrics [arXiv:2604.04639]
Last revised on April 7, 2026 at 05:15:32. See the history of this page for a list of all contributions to it.