Pleba\'nski-Demia\'nski solution of general relativity and its expressions quadratic and cubic in curvature: analogies to electromagnetism

Understand

Analogies between gravitation and electromagnetism have been known since the 1950s.

• Here, we examine a fairly general type D solution---the exact seven parameter solution of Pleba\'nski--Demia\'nski (PD)---to demonstrate these analogies for a physically meaningful spacetime: The two quadratic curvature invariants $\bf{B}^2-\bf{E}^2$ and $\bf{E}\cdot\bf{B}$ are evaluated analytically.
• In the asymptotically flat case, the leading terms of $\bf{E}$ and $\bf{B}$ can be interpreted as gravitoelectric mass and gravitoelectric current of the PD solution, respectively, if there are no gravitomagnetic monopoles present.
• Furthermore, the square of the Bel--Robinson tensor reads $(\mathbf{B}^2+\mathbf{E}^2)^2$ for the PD solution, reminiscent of the square of the energy density in electrodynamics.