Extensions of spacetime Bartnik data and estimates for the Bartnik mass outside of time-symmetry

TL;DR

This paper extends the analysis of Bartnik's quasi-local mass to non-time-symmetric initial data, providing new constructions and estimates for the Bartnik mass outside of the time-symmetric case, including explicit initial data and boundary conditions.

Contribution

It constructs initial data for Einstein's equations with specified Bartnik data, extending mass estimates beyond time-symmetry, and introduces a method connecting non-time-symmetric data to time-symmetric cases.

Findings

Constructed initial data matching Bartnik data with controlled mass

Provided estimates for Bartnik mass outside of time-symmetry

Connected non-time-symmetric data to time-symmetric data via a cylindrical construction

Abstract

Bartnik's quasi-local mass is a functional on Bartnik data $(\mathbb S^2,\gamma,H,P,\omega^\perp)$, consisting of a metric $\gamma$, scalar functions $H$ and $P$, and a 1-form $\omega^\perp$ on the $2$-sphere $\mathbb S^2$. We construct initial data $(M,g,K)$ for the Einstein equations with boundary $\Sigma\cong\mathbb S^2$, and boundary conditions for $g$ and $K$ determined by Bartnik data with $H,P$ constant and $\omega^\perp\equiv0$. Furthermore this initial data agrees with spherically symmetric initial data for a Schwarzschild spacetime outside of a compact set with controlled mass. As an application, we obtain estimates for the Bartnik mass for such Bartnik data, outside of the time-symmetric setting. We also construct initial data on the cylinder $\mathbb S^2\times[0,1]$ connecting this same class of Bartnik data to time-symmetric data so that estimates for the Bartnik mass outside of time-symmetry can be obtained from prior estimates for time-symmetric data.