Gravito-electromagnetism, Kerr-Schild and Weyl double copies; a unified perspective

Abstract

Two modern programs involving analogies between general relativity and electro-magnetism, gravito-electromagnetism (GEM) and the classical double copy (CDC), induce electromagnetic potentials from specific classes of spacetime metrics. We demonstrate such electromagnetic potentials are typically gauge equivalent to Killing vectors present in the spacetime, long known themselves to be analogous to electromagnetic potentials. We utilize this perspective to relate the Type D Weyl double copy to the Kerr-Schild double copy without appealing to specific coordinates. We analyze the typical assumptions taken within Kerr-Schild double copies, emphasizing the role Killing vectors play in the construction. The basis of the GEM program utilizes comparisons of tidal tensors between GR and EM; we perform a more detailed analysis of conditions necessary for equivalent tidal tensors between the theories, and note they require the same source prescription as the classical double copy. We discuss how these Killing vector potentials relate to the Weyl double copy, in particular there must a relation between the field strength formed from the Killing vector and the Weyl tensor. We consider spacetimes admitting a Killing-Yano tensor which provide a particularly insightful example of this correspondence. This includes a broad class of spacetimes, and provides an explanation for observations regarding the splitting of the Weyl tensor noted when including sources.