Symmetries of linearized gravity from adjoint operators

TL;DR

This paper derives new symmetry operators for linearized gravity in Petrov type D spacetimes, revealing deeper structural properties and connections to separability and potentials, with methods applicable to other field equations.

Contribution

It introduces a novel sixth-order symmetry operator for linearized gravity and generalizes the approach to other field equations like Maxwell.

Findings

Derived a sixth-order symmetry operator for linearized gravity.

Connected symmetry operators to Hertz and Debye potentials.

Showed applicability of the method to Maxwell's equations.

Abstract

Based on operator identities and their formal adjoints, we derive two symmetry operators for the linearized Einstein operator on vacuum backgrounds of Petrov type D and in particular the Kerr spacetime. One of them is of differential order four and coincides with a result of Cohen and Kegeles. The other one is a new operator of differential order six. The corresponding operator identities are based on the Teukolsky equation and the Teukolsky-Starobinski identities, respectively. The method applies to other field equations as well, which is illustrated with the Maxwell equation. The resulting symmetry operators are connected to Hertz and Debye potentials as well as to the separability of the Teukolsky equation for both Maxwell and linearized gravity.