Kundt Spacetimes

Understand

Kundt spacetimes are of great importance in general relativity in 4 dimensions and have a number of topical applications in higher dimensions in the context of string theory.

• The degenerate Kundt spacetimes have many special and unique mathematical properties, including their invariant curvature structure and their holonomy structure.
• We provide a rigorous geometrical kinematical definition of the general Kundt spacetime in 4 dimensions; essentially a Kundt spacetime is defined as one admitting a null vector that is geodesic, expansion-free, shear-free and twist-free.
• A Kundt spacetime is said to be degenerate if the preferred kinematic and curvature null frames are all aligned.