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L O N D O N M AT H E M AT I C A L S O C I E T Y L E C T U R E N OT E S E R I E S

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325 Lectures on the Ricci flow, P. TOPPING
326 Modular representations of finite groups of Lie type, J.E. HUMPHREYS
327 Surveys in combinatorics 2005, B.S. WEBB (ed)
328 Fundamentals of hyperbolic manifolds, R. CANARY, D. EPSTEIN & A. MARDEN (eds)
329 Spaces of Kleinian groups, Y. MINSKY, M. SAKUMA & C. SERIES (eds)
330 Noncommutative localization in algebra and topology, A. RANICKI (ed)
331 Foundations of computational mathematics, Santander 2005, L.M PARDO, A. PINKUS, E. SÜLI
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332 Handbook of tilting theory, L. ANGELERI HÜGEL, D. HAPPEL & H. KRAUSE (eds)
333 Synthetic differential geometry (2nd Edition), A. KOCK
334 The Navier–Stokes equations, N. RILEY & P. DRAZIN
335 Lectures on the combinatorics of free probability, A. NICA & R. SPEICHER
336 Integral closure of ideals, rings, and modules, I. SWANSON & C. HUNEKE
337 Methods in Banach space theory, J.M.F. CASTILLO & W.B. JOHNSON (eds)
338 Surveys in geometry and number theory, N. YOUNG (ed)
339 Groups St Andrews 2005 I, C.M. CAMPBELL, M.R. QUICK, E.F. ROBERTSON & G.C. SMITH (eds)
340 Groups St Andrews 2005 II, C.M. CAMPBELL, M.R. QUICK, E.F. ROBERTSON & G.C. SMITH (eds)
341 Ranks of elliptic curves and random matrix theory, J.B. CONREY, D.W. FARMER, F. MEZZADRI
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342 Elliptic cohomology, H.R. MILLER & D.C. RAVENEL (eds)
343 Algebraic cycles and motives I, J. NAGEL & C. PETERS (eds)
344 Algebraic cycles and motives II, J. NAGEL & C. PETERS (eds)
345 Algebraic and analytic geometry, A. NEEMAN
346 Surveys in combinatorics 2007, A. HILTON & J. TALBOT (eds)
347 Surveys in contemporary mathematics, N. YOUNG & Y. CHOI (eds)
348 Transcendental dynamics and complex analysis, P.J. RIPPON & G.M. STALLARD (eds)
349 Model theory with applications to algebra and analysis I, Z. CHATZIDAKIS, D. MACPHERSON, A. PILLAY
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350 Model theory with applications to algebra and analysis II, Z. CHATZIDAKIS, D. MACPHERSON, A. PILLAY
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351 Finite von Neumann algebras and masas, A.M. SINCLAIR & R.R. SMITH
352 Number theory and polynomials, J. MCKEE & C. SMYTH (eds)
353 Trends in stochastic analysis, J. BLATH, P. MÖRTERS & M. SCHEUTZOW (eds)
354 Groups and analysis, K. TENT (ed)
355 Non-equilibrium statistical mechanics and turbulence, J. CARDY, G. FALKOVICH & K. GAWEDZKI
356 Elliptic curves and big Galois representations, D. DELBOURGO
357 Algebraic theory of differential equations, M.A.H. MACCALLUM & A.V. MIKHAILOV (eds)
358 Geometric and cohomological methods in group theory, M.R. BRIDSON, P.H. KROPHOLLER
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359 Moduli spaces and vector bundles, L. BRAMBILA-PAZ, S.B. BRADLOW, O. GARCÍA-PRADA &
S. RAMANAN (eds)
360 Zariski geometries, B. ZILBER
361 Words: Notes on verbal width in groups, D. SEGAL
362 Differential tensor algebras and their module categories, R. BAUTISTA, L. SALMERÓN & R. ZUAZUA
363 Foundations of computational mathematics, Hong Kong 2008, F. CUCKER, A. PINKUS & M.J. TODD (eds)
364 Partial differential equations and fluid mechanics, J.C. ROBINSON & J.L. RODRIGO (eds)
365 Surveys in combinatorics 2009, S. HUCZYNSKA, J.D. MITCHELL & C.M. RONEY-DOUGAL (eds)
366 Highly oscillatory problems, B. ENGQUIST, A. FOKAS, E. HAIRER & A. ISERLES (eds)
367 Random matrices: High dimensional phenomena, G. BLOWER
368 Geometry of Riemann surfaces, F.P. GARDINER, G. GONZÁLEZ-DIEZ & C. KOUROUNIOTIS (eds)
369 Epidemics and rumours in complex networks, M. DRAIEF & L. MASSOULIÉ
370 Theory of p-adic distributions, S. ALBEVERIO, A.YU. KHRENNIKOV & V.M. SHELKOVICH
371 Conformal fractals, F. PRZYTYCKI & M. URBAŃSKI
372 Moonshine: The first quarter century and beyond, J. LEPOWSKY, J. MCKAY & M.P. TUITE (eds)
373 Smoothness, regularity and complete intersection, J. MAJADAS & A. G. RODICIO
374 Geometric analysis of hyperbolic differential equations: An introduction, S. ALINHAC
375 Triangulated categories, T. HOLM, P. JØRGENSEN & R. ROUQUIER (eds)
376 Permutation patterns, S. LINTON, N. RUŠKUC & V. VATTER (eds)
377 An introduction to Galois cohomology and its applications, G. BERHUY
378 Probability and mathematical genetics, N. H. BINGHAM & C. M. GOLDIE (eds)
379 Finite and algorithmic model theory, J. ESPARZA, C. MICHAUX & C. STEINHORN (eds)
380 Real and complex singularities, M. MANOEL, M.C. ROMERO FUSTER & C.T.C WALL (eds)
381 Symmetries and integrability of difference equations, D. LEVI, P. OLVER, Z. THOMOVA
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382 Forcing with random variables and proof complexity, J. KRAJÍČEK
383 Motivic integration and its interactions with model theory and non-Archimedean geometry I, R. CLUCKERS,
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384 Motivic integration and its interactions with model theory and non-Archimedean geometry II, R. CLUCKERS,
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385 Entropy of hidden Markov processes and connections to dynamical systems, B. MARCUS, K. PETERSEN
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386 Independence-friendly logic, A.L. MANN, G. SANDU & M. SEVENSTER
387 Groups St Andrews 2009 in Bath I, C.M. CAMPBELL et al. (eds)
388 Groups St Andrews 2009 in Bath II, C.M. CAMPBELL et al. (eds)
389 Random fields on the sphere, D. MARINUCCI & G. PECCATI
390 Localization in periodic potentials, D.E. PELINOVSKY
391 Fusion systems in algebra and topology, M. ASCHBACHER, R. KESSAR & B. OLIVER
392 Surveys in combinatorics 2011, R. CHAPMAN (ed)
393 Non-abelian fundamental groups and Iwasawa theory, J. COATES et al. (eds)
394 Variational problems in differential geometry, R. BIELAWSKI, K. HOUSTON & M. SPEIGHT (eds)
395 How groups grow, A. MANN
396 Arithmetic differential operators over the p-adic integers, C.C. RALPH & S.R. SIMANCA
397 Hyperbolic geometry and applications in quantum chaos and cosmology, J. BOLTE & F. STEINER (eds)
398 Mathematical models in contact mechanics, M. SOFONEA & A. MATEI
399 Circuit double cover of graphs, C.-Q. ZHANG
400 Dense sphere packings: a blueprint for formal proofs, T. HALES
401 A double Hall algebra approach to affine quantum Schur–Weyl theory, B. DENG, J. DU & Q. FU
402 Mathematical aspects of fluid mechanics, J.C. ROBINSON, J.L. RODRIGO & W. SADOWSKI (eds)
403 Foundations of computational mathematics, Budapest 2011, F. CUCKER, T. KRICK, A. PINKUS
& A. SZANTO (eds)
404 Operator methods for boundary value problems, S. HASSI, H.S.V. DE SNOO & F.H. SZAFRANIEC (eds)
405 Torsors, étale homotopy and applications to rational points, A.N. SKOROBOGATOV (ed)
406 Appalachian set theory, J. CUMMINGS & E. SCHIMMERLING (eds)
407 The maximal subgroups of the low-dimensional finite classical groups, J.N. BRAY, D.F. HOLT
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408 Complexity science: the Warwick master’s course, R. BALL, V. KOLOKOLTSOV & R.S. MACKAY (eds)
409 Surveys in combinatorics 2013, S.R. BLACKBURN, S. GERKE & M. WILDON (eds)
410 Representation theory and harmonic analysis of wreath products of finite groups,
T. CECCHERINI-SILBERSTEIN, F. SCARABOTTI & F. TOLLI
411 Moduli spaces, L. BRAMBILA-PAZ, O. GARCÍA-PRADA, P. NEWSTEAD & R.P. THOMAS (eds)
412 Automorphisms and equivalence relations in topological dynamics, D.B. ELLIS & R. ELLIS
413 Optimal transportation, Y. OLLIVIER, H. PAJOT & C. VILLANI (eds)
414 Automorphic forms and Galois representations I, F. DIAMOND, P.L. KASSAEI & M. KIM (eds)
415 Automorphic forms and Galois representations II, F. DIAMOND, P.L. KASSAEI & M. KIM (eds)
416 Reversibility in dynamics and group theory, A.G. O’FARRELL & I. SHORT
417 Recent advances in algebraic geometry, C.D. HACON, M. MUSTAŢǍ & M. POPA (eds)
418 The Bloch–Kato conjecture for the Riemann zeta function, J. COATES, A. RAGHURAM, A. SAIKIA
& R. SUJATHA (eds)
419 The Cauchy problem for non-Lipschitz semi-linear parabolic partial differential equations, J.C. MEYER
& D.J. NEEDHAM
420 Arithmetic and geometry, L. DIEULEFAIT et al. (eds)
421 O-minimality and Diophantine geometry, G.O. JONES & A.J. WILKIE (eds)
422 Groups St Andrews 2013, C.M. CAMPBELL et al. (eds)
423 Inequalities for graph eigenvalues, Z. STANIĆ
424 Surveys in combinatorics 2015, A. CZUMAJ et al. (eds)
425 Geometry, topology and dynamics in negative curvature, C.S. ARAVINDA, F.T. FARRELL & J.-F. LAFONT (eds)
426 Lectures on the theory of water waves, T. BRIDGES, M. GROVES & D. NICHOLLS (eds)
427 Recent advances in Hodge theory, M. KERR & G. PEARLSTEIN (eds)
428 Geometry in a Fréchet context, C. T. J. DODSON, G. GALANIS & E. VASSILIOU
429 Sheaves and functions modulo p, L. TAELMAN
430 Recent progress in the theory of the Euler and Navier–Stokes equations, J.C. ROBINSON, J.L. RODRIGO,
W. SADOWSKI & A. VIDAL-LÓPEZ (eds)
431 Harmonic and subharmonic function theory on the real hyperbolic ball, M. STOLL
432 Topics in graph automorphisms and reconstruction (2nd Edition), J. LAURI & R. SCAPELLATO
433 Regular and irregular holonomic D-modules, M. KASHIWARA & P. SCHAPIRA
434 Analytic semigroups and semilinear initial boundary value problems (2nd Edition), K. TAIRA
435 Graded rings and graded Grothendieck groups, R. HAZRAT
436 Groups, graphs and random walks, T. CECCHERINI-SILBERSTEIN, M. SALVATORI & E. SAVA-HUSS (eds)
437 Dynamics and analytic number theory, D. BADZIAHIN, A. GORODNIK & N. PEYERIMHOFF (eds)
438 Random walks and heat kernels on graphs, M.T. BARLOW
439 Evolution equations, K. AMMARI & S. GERBI (eds)
440 Surveys in combinatorics 2017, A. CLAESSON et al. (eds)
441 Polynomials and the mod 2 Steenrod algebra I, G. WALKER & R.M.W. WOOD
442 Polynomials and the mod 2 Steenrod algebra II, G. WALKER & R.M.W. WOOD
443 Asymptotic analysis in general relativity, T. DAUDÉ, D. HÄFNER & J.-P. NICOLAS (eds)
444 Geometric and cohomological group theory, P.H. KROPHOLLER, I.J. LEARY, C. MARTÍNEZ-PÉREZ &
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London Mathematical Society Lecture Note Series: 443

Asymptotic Analysis in General Relativity

Edited by

T H I E R RY DAU D É
Université de Cergy-Pontoise, France

D I E T R I C H H Ä F N E R
Université Grenoble Alpes, France

JEAN-PHILIPPE NICOLAS
Université de Bretagne Occidentale, France

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© Cambridge University Press 2018
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First published 2018
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Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication data
Names: Daudé, Thierry, 1977– editor. | Häfner, Dietrich, editor. |
Nicolas, J.-P. (Jean-Philippe), editor.
Title: Asymptotic analysis in general relativity / edited by Thierry Daudé
(Université de Cergy-Pontoise), Dietrich Häfner (Université Grenoble Alpes),
Jean-Philippe Nicolas (Université de Bretagne Occidentale).
Other titles: London Mathematical Society lecture note series ; 443.
Description: Cambridge, United Kingdom ; New York, NY :
Cambridge University Press, 2017. |
Series: London Mathematical Society lecture note series ; 443 |
Includes bibliographical references.
Identifiers: LCCN 2017023160 | ISBN 9781316649404 (pbk.) | ISBN 1316649407 (pbk.)
Subjects: LCSH: General relativity (Physics)–Mathematics.
Classification: LCC QC173.6 .A83 2017 | DDC 530.11–dc23 LC record available at
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Contents

1 Introduction to Modern Methods for Classical and


Quantum Fields in General Relativity page 1
Thierry Daudé, Dietrich Häfner and Jean-Philippe Nicolas
1.1 Geometry of Black Hole Spacetimes 2
1.2 Quantum Field Theory on Curved Spacetimes 3
1.3 Conformal Geometry and Conformal Tractor Calculus 4
1.4 A Minicourse in Microlocal Analysis and Wave Propagation 5
References 6

2 Geometry of Black Hole Spacetimes 9


Lars Andersson, Thomas Bäckdahl and Pieter Blue
2.1 Introduction 9
2.2 Background 13
2.3 Black Holes 28
2.4 Spin Geometry 43
2.5 The Kerr Spacetime 53
2.6 Monotonicity and Dispersion 55
2.7 Symmetry Operators 65
2.8 Conservation Laws for the Teukolsky System 70
2.9 A Morawetz Estimate for the Maxwell Field on Schwarzschild 75
References 79

3 An Introduction to Conformal Geometry and Tractor


Calculus, with a view to Applications in General Relativity 86
Sean N. Curry and A. Rod Gover
3.1 Introduction 86
3.2 Lecture 1: Riemannian Invariants and Invariant Operators 91

v
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vi Contents

3.3 Lecture 2: Conformal Transformations and Conformal Covariance 94


3.4 Lecture 3: Prolongation and the Tractor Connection 104
3.5 Lecture 4: The Tractor Curvature, Conformal Invariants and
Invariant Operators 120
3.6 Lecture 5: Conformal Compactification of Pseudo-Riemannian
Manifolds 128
3.7 Lecture 6: Conformal Hypersurfaces 145
3.8 Lecture 7: Geometry of Conformal Infinity 151
3.9 Lecture 8: Boundary Calculus and Asymptotic Analysis 154
Appendix: Conformal Killing Vector Fields and Adjoint Tractors 160
References 168

4 An Introduction to Quantum Field Theory on


Curved Spacetimes 171
Christian Gérard
4.1 Introduction 171
4.2 A Quick Introduction to Quantum Mechanics 175
4.3 Notation 178
4.4 CCR and CAR Algebras 179
4.5 States on CCR/CAR Algebras 183
4.6 Lorentzian Manifolds 190
4.7 Klein–Gordon Fields on Lorentzian Manifolds 192
4.8 Free Dirac Fields on Lorentzian Manifolds 197
4.9 Microlocal Analysis of Klein–Gordon Quasi-Free States 201
4.10 Construction of Hadamard States 209
References 217

5 A Minicourse on Microlocal Analysis for Wave Propagation 219


András Vasy
5.1 Introduction 219
5.2 The Overview 221
5.3 The Basics of Microlocal Analysis 230
5.4 Propagation Phenomena 285
5.5 Conformally Compact Spaces 315
5.6 Microlocal Analysis in the b-Setting 349
References 371

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1
Introduction to Modern Methods for Classical
and Quantum Fields in General Relativity
Thierry Daudé, Dietrich Häfner and Jean-Philippe Nicolas

The last few decades have seen major developments in asymptotic analysis
in the framework of general relativity, with the emergence of methods that,
until recently, were not applied to curved Lorentzian geometries. This has led
notably to the proof of the stability of the Kerr–de Sitter spacetime by P. Hintz
and A. Vasy [17]. An essential feature of many recent works in the field is the
use of dispersive estimates; they are at the core of most stability results and are
also crucial for the construction of quantum states in quantum field theory,
domains that have a priori little in common. Such estimates are in general
obtained through geometric energy estimates (also referred to as vector field
methods) or via microlocal/spectral analysis. In our minds, the two approaches
should be regarded as complementary, and this is a message we hope this
volume will convey succesfully. More generally than dispersive estimates,
asymptotic analysis is concerned with establishing scattering-type results.
Another fundamental example of such results is asymptotic completeness,
which, in many cases, can be translated in terms of conformal geometry as
the well-posedness of a characteristic Cauchy problem (Goursat problem) at
null infinity. This has been used to develop alternative approaches to scattering
theory via conformal compactifications (see for instance F. G. Friedlander
[11] and L. Mason and J.-P. Nicolas [22]). The presence of symmetries in the
geometrical background can be a tremendous help in proving scattering results,
dispersive estimates in particular. What we mean by symmetry is generally the
existence of an isometry associated with the flow of a Killing vector field,
though there exists a more subtle type of symmetry, described sometimes as
hidden, corresponding to the presence of Killing spinors for instance. Recently,
the vector field method has been adapted to take such generalized symmetries
into account by L. Andersson and P. Blue in [2].
This volume compiles notes from the eight-hour mini-courses given at the
summer school on asymptotic analysis in general relativity, held at the Institut

1
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2 T. Daudé, D. Häfner and J.-P. Nicolas

Fourier in Grenoble, France, from 16 June to 4 July 2014. The purpose of the
summer school was to draw an up-to-date panorama of the new techniques
that have influenced the asymptotic analysis of classical and quantum fields in
general relativity in recent years. It consisted of five mini-courses:
• “Geometry of black hole spacetimes” by Lars Andersson, Albert Einstein
Institut, Golm, Germany;
• “An introduction to quantum field theory on curved spacetimes” by Christian
Gérard, Paris 11 University, Orsay, France;
• “An introduction to conformal geometry and tractor calculus, with a view to
applications in general relativity” by Rod Gover, Auckland University, New
Zealand;
• “The bounded L2 conjecture” by Jérémie Szeftel, Paris 6 University, France;
• “A minicourse on microlocal analysis for wave propagation” by András Vasy,
Stanford University, United States of America.
Among these, only four are featured in this book. The proof of the bounded
L2 conjecture having already appeared in two different forms [20, 21], Jérémie
Szeftel preferred not to add yet another version of this result; his lecture notes
are therefore not included in the present volume.

1.1. Geometry of Black Hole Spacetimes


The notion of a black hole dates back to the 18th century with the works of
Simpson and Laplace, but it found its modern description within the framework
of general relativity. In fact the year after the publication of the general
theory of relativity by Einstein, Karl Schwarzschild [30] found an explicit
non-trivial solution of the Einstein equations that was later understood to
describe a universe containing nothing but an eternal spherical black hole.
The Kerr solution appeared in 1963 [19] and, with the singularity theorems
of Hawking and Penrose [15], black holes were eventually understood as
inevitable dynamical features of the evolution of the universe rather than mere
mathematical oddities. The way exact black hole solutions of the Einstein
equations were discovered was by imposing symmetries. First Schwarzschild
looked for spherically symmetric and static solutions in four spacetime
dimensions, which reduces the Einstein equations to a non-linear ordinary
differential equation (ODE). The Kerr solution appears when one relaxes one
of the symmetries and looks for stationary and axially symmetric solutions.
Roy Kerr obtained his solution by imposing on the metric the so-called “Kerr–
Schild” ansatz that corresponds to assuming a special algebraic property for

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Modern Methods for Classical and Quantum Fields in General Relativity 3

the Weyl tensor, namely that it has Petrov-type D, which is similar to the
condition for a polynomial to have two double roots. This algebraic speciality
of the Weyl tensor can be understood as another type of symmetry assumption
about spacetime. This is a generalized symmetry that does not correspond
to an isometry generated by the flow of a vector field, but is related to the
existence of a Killing spinor. The Kerr family, which contains Schwarzschild’s
spacetime as the zero angular momentum case, is expected to be the unique
family of asymptotically flat and stationary (perhaps pseudo-stationary, or
locally stationary, would be more appropriate) black hole solutions of the
Einstein vacuum equations (there is a vast literature on this topic, see for
example the original paper by D. Robinson [27], his review article [28] and the
recent analytic approach by S. Alexakis, A. D. Ionescu, and S. Klainerman [1]).
Moreover it is believed to be stable (there is also an important literature on this
question, the stability of Kerr–de Sitter black holes was established recently in
[17], though the stability of the Kerr metric is still an open problem). These
two conjectures play a crucial role in physics where it is commonly assumed
that the long term dynamics of a black hole stabilizes to a Kerr solution. The
extended lecture notes by Lars Andersson, Thomas Bäckdahl, and Pieter Blue
take us through the many topics that are relevant to the questions of stability
and uniqueness of the Kerr metric, including the geometry of stationary and
dynamical black holes with a particular emphasis on the special features of
the Kerr metric, spin geometry, dispersive estimates for hyperbolic equations
and generalized symmetry operators. The type D structure is an essential focus
of the course, with the intimate links between the principal null directions,
the Killing spinor, Killing vectors and tensors, Killing–Yano tensors and
symmetry operators. All these notions are used in the final sections where
some conservation laws are derived for the Teukolsky system governing the
evolution of spin n/2 zero rest-mass fields, and a new proof of a Morawetz
estimate for Maxwell fields on the Schwarzschild metric is given.

1.2. Quantum Field Theory on Curved Spacetimes


In the 1980s, Dimock and Kay started a research program concerning scatter-
ing theory for classical and quantum fields on the Schwarzschild spacetime;
see [9]. Their work was then pushed further by Bachelot, Häfner, and others,
leading in particular to a mathematically rigorous description of the Hawking
effect on Schwarzschild and Kerr spacetimes, see e.g. [4], [14]. In the
Schwarzschild case there exists a global timelike Killing vector field in the
exterior of the black hole that can be used to define vacuum and thermal states.

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4 T. Daudé, D. Häfner and J.-P. Nicolas

However, it is not clear how to extend these states to the whole spacetime.
From a more conceptual point of view this is also quite unsatisfactory because
the construction of vacuum states on the Minkowski spacetime uses the
full Poincaré group. In addition general spacetimes will not even be locally
stationary. On a curved spacetime, vacuum states are therefore replaced by
so-called Hadamard states. These Hadamard states were first characterized
by properties of their two-point functions, which had to have a specific
asymptotic expansion near the diagonal. In 1995 Radzikowski reformulated
the old Hadamard condition in terms of the wave front set of the two-point
function; see [26]. Since then, microlocal analysis has played an important
role in quantum field theory in curved spacetime, see e.g. the construction
of Hadamard states using pseudodifferential calculus by Gérard and Wrochna
[13]. The lectures given by Christian Gérard give an introduction to quantum
field theory on curved spacetimes and in particular to the construction of
Hadamard states.

1.3. Conformal Geometry and Conformal Tractor Calculus


Conformal compactifications were initially used in general relativity by André
Lichnerowicz for the study of the constraints. It is Roger Penrose who
started applying this technique to Lorentzian manifolds, more specifically
to asymptotically flat spacetimes, in the early 1960s (see Penrose [25]). The
purpose was to replace complicated asymptotic analysis by simple and natural
geometrical constructions. To be precise, a conformal compactification allows
one to describe infinity for a spacetime (M, g) as a finite boundary for the
manifold M equipped with a well-chosen metric ĝ that is conformally related
to g. Provided a field equation has a suitably simple transformation law under
conformal rescalings, ideally conformal invariance or at least some conformal
covariance, the asymptotic behavior of the field on (M, g) can be inferred
from the local properties at the boundary of the conformally rescaled field
on (M, ĝ). Penrose’s immediate goal was to give a simple reformulation of
the Sachs peeling property as the continuity at the conformal boundary of the
rescaled field. But he had a longer term motivation which was to construct a
conformal scattering theory for general relativity, allowing the setting of data
for the spacetime at its past null conformal boundary and to propagate the
associated solution of the Einstein equations right up to its future null confor-
mal boundary. Since its introduction, the conformal technique has been used
to prove global existence for the Einstein equations, or other non-linear hyper-
bolic equations, for sufficiently small data (see for example Y. Choquet-Bruhat

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Modern Methods for Classical and Quantum Fields in General Relativity 5

and J. W. York [8]), to construct scattering theories for linear and non-linear test
fields, initially on static backgrounds and, in recent years, in time dependent
situations and on black hole spacetimes (see L. Mason and J.-P. Nicolas [22]
and Nicolas [24] and references therein). It has also been applied to spacetimes
with a non-zero cosmological constant. There is an important literature from
the schools of R. Mazzeo and R. Melrose and more recently numerous studies
using the tractor calculus approach by A. R. Gover and his collaborators.
Tractor calculus in its conformal version started from the notion of a local
twistor bundle on four-dimensional spin-manifolds as an associated bundle to
the Cartan conformal connection, though it in fact dates back to T. Y. Thomas’s
work [31]. The theory in its modern form first appeared in the founding paper
by T. Bailey, M. Eastwood, and Gover [6] where its origins are also thoroughly
detailed. The extended lecture notes by Sean Curry and Rod Gover give an
up-to-date presentation of the conformal tractor calculus: the first four lectures
are mainly focused on the search for invariants; the second half of the course
uses tractor calculus to study conformally compact manifolds with application
to general relativity as its main motivation.

1.4. A Minicourse in Microlocal Analysis


and Wave Propagation
One of the central questions in mathematical relativity is the stability of
the Kerr or the Kerr–de Sitter spacetime. As mentioned above, stability has
been established by Hintz and Vasy for the Kerr–de Sitter metric, and the
question remains open for the Kerr metric. The advantage of the Kerr–de Sitter
case is that the inverse of the Fourier transformed d’Alembert operator has a
meromorphic extension across the real axis in appropriate weighted spaces.
The poles of this extension are then called resonances. Resonances in general
relativity were first studied from a mathematical point of view by Bachelot
and Motet-Bachelot in [5]. Bony and Häfner gave a resonance expansion of
the local propagator for the wave equation on the Schwarzschild–de Sitter
metric [7] using the localization of resonances by Sá Barreto-Zworski [29].
Then Dyatlov, Hintz, Vasy, Wunsch, and Zworski made new progress leading
eventually to a resonance expansion for the wave equation on spacetimes which
are perturbations of the Kerr–de Sitter metric; see the work of Vasy [32]. The
whole program culminated in the proof of the non-linear stability of the Kerr–
de Sitter metric by Hintz and Vasy [17]. Many aspects come into this study.
The first is trapping. Trapping situations were studied in the 1980s for the wave
equation outside two obstacles by Ikawa who obtained local energy decay with

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6 T. Daudé, D. Häfner and J.-P. Nicolas

loss of derivatives in this situation; see [18]. The trapping that appears on the
Kerr (or the Kerr–de Sitter) metric is r-normally hyperbolic at least for small
angular momentum. Suitable resolvent estimates for this kind of situation have
been shown by Wunsch–Zworski [33] and Dyatlov [10]. Another important
aspect is the presence of supperradiance due to the fact that there is no globally
timelike Killing field outside a Kerr–de Sitter black hole. Whereas the cut-off
resolvent can nevertheless be extended meromorphically across the real axis
using the work of Mazzeo–Melrose [23] and several different Killing fields
(see [12]), a more powerful tool to obtain suitable estimates is the Fredholm
theory for non-elliptic settings developed by Vasy [32]. Microlocal analysis
was first developed for linear problems. Nevertheless, as the work of Hintz–
Vasy shows strikingly enough, it is also well adapted to quasilinear problems.
In this context one needs to generalize some of the important theorems (such
as the propagation of singularities) to very rough metrics. This program has
been achieved by Hintz; see [16]. The last important aspect in the proof of
the non-linear stability of the Kerr–de Sitter metric is the issue of the gauge
freedom in the Einstein equations. Roughly speaking, a linearization of the
Einstein equations can create resonances whose imaginary parts have the “bad
sign,” leading to exponentially growing modes. These resonances turn out to be
“pure gauge” and can therefore be eliminated by an adequate choice of gauge;
see [17]. The lectures notes by András Vasy introduce the essential tools used
in the proof of the non-linear stability of the Kerr–de Sitter metric.

References
[1] S. Alexakis, A. D. Ionescu, S. Klainerman, Rigidity of stationary black holes
with small angular momentum on the horizon, Duke Math. J. 163 (2014), 14,
2603–2615.
[2] L. Andersson, P. Blue, Hidden symmetries and decay for the wave equation on the
Kerr spacetime, Ann. of Math. (2) 182 (2015), 3, 787–853.
[3] L. Andersson, P. Blue, Uniform energy bound and asymptotics for the Maxwell
field on a slowly rotating Kerr black hole exterior, J. Hyperbolic Differ. Equ., 12
(2015), 4, 689–743.
[4] A. Bachelot, The Hawking effect, Ann. Inst. H. Poincaré Phys. Théor. 70 (1999),
1, 41–99.
[5] A. Bachelot, A. Motet-Bachelot, Les résonances d’un trou noir de Schwarzschild,
Ann. Inst. H. Poincaré Phys. Théor. 59 (1993), 1, 3–68.
[6] T. N. Bailey, M. G. Eastwood, A. R. Gover, Thomas’s structure bundle for
conformal, projective and related structures, Rocky Mountains J. Math. 24
(1994), 4, 1191–1217.

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Modern Methods for Classical and Quantum Fields in General Relativity 7

[7] J.-F. Bony, D. Häfner, Decay and non-decay of the local energy for the wave
equation on the de Sitter–Schwarzschild metric, Comm. Math. Phys. 282 (2008),
3, 697–719.
[8] Y. Choquet-Bruhat, J. W. York, The Cauchy problem. In A. Held, editor, General
relativity and gravitation, Vol. 1, 99–172, Plenum, New York and London, 1980.
[9] J. Dimock, B. S. Kay, Classical and quantum scattering theory for linear scalar
fields on the Schwarzschild metric, Ann. Physics 175 (1987), 2, 366–426.
[10] S. Dyatlov, Spectral gaps for normally hyperbolic trapping, Ann. Inst. Fourier
(Grenoble) 66 (2016), 1, 55–82.
[11] F.G. Friedlander, Radiation fields and hyperbolic scattering theory, Math. Proc.
Camb. Phil. Soc. 88 (1980), 483–515.
[12] V. Georgescu, C. Gérard, D. Häfner, Asymptotic completeness for superradiant
Klein–Gordon equations and applications to the De Sitter Kerr metric, J. Eur.
Math. Soc. 19 (2017), 2371–2444.
[13] C. Gérard, M. Wrochna, Construction of Hadamard states by pseudo-differential
calculus, Comm. Math. Phys. 325 (2014), 2, 713–755.
[14] D. Häfner, Creation of fermions by rotating charged black holes, Mém. Soc. Math.
Fr. (N.S.) 117 (2009), 158 pp.
[15] S. Hawking, R. Penrose, The singularities of gravitational collapse and cosmol-
ogy, Proc. Roy. Soc. London Series A, Mathematical and Physical Sciences, 314
(1970), 1519, 529–548.
[16] P. Hintz, Global analysis of quasilinear wave equations on asymptotically de
Sitter spaces, Ann. Inst. Fourier (Grenoble) 66 (2016), 4, 1285–1408.
[17] P. Hintz, A. Vasy, The global non-linear stability of the Kerr–de Sitter family of
black holes, arXiv:1606.04014.
[18] M. Ikawa, Decay of solutions of the wave equation in the exterior of two convex
obstacles, Osaka J. Math. 19 (1982), 3, 459–509.
[19] R. P. Kerr, Gravitational field of a spinning mass as an example of algebraically
special metrics, Phys. Rev. Letters 11 (1963), 5, 237–238.
[20] S. Klainerman, I. Rodnianski, J. Szeftel, The bounded L2 curvature conjecture,
Invent. Math. 202 (2015), 1, 91–216.
[21] S. Klainerman, I. Rodnianski, J. Szeftel, Overview of the proof of the bounded L2
curvature conjecture, arXiv:1204.1772v2.
[22] L. J. Mason, J.-P. Nicolas, Conformal scattering and the Goursat problem, J.
Hyperbolic Differ. Equ., 1 (2) (2004), 197–233.
[23] R. Mazzeo, R. Melrose, Meromorphic extension of the resolvent on complete
spaces with asymptotically constant negative curvature, J. Funct. Anal. 75 (1987),
2, 260–310.
[24] J.-P. Nicolas, Conformal scattering on the Schwarzschild metric, Ann. Inst.
Fourier (Grenoble) 66 (2016), 3, 1175–1216.
[25] R. Penrose, Zero rest-mass fields including gravitation: asymptotic behaviour,
Proc. Roy. Soc. London A284 (1965), 159–203.
[26] M. Radzikowski, Micro-local approach to the Hadamard condition in quantum
field theory on curved space–time, Comm. Math. Phys. 179 (1996), 3, 529–553.
[27] D. C. Robinson, Uniqueness of the Kerr black hole, Phys. Rev. Lett. 34 (1975),
905.

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8 T. Daudé, D. Häfner and J.-P. Nicolas

[28] D. C. Robinson, Four decades of black hole uniqueness theorems. In D.L.


Wiltshire, M. Visser and S.M. Scott, editors, The Kerr space–time, 115–143,
Cambridge University Press, 2009.
[29] A. Sá Barreto, M. Zworski, Distribution of resonances for spherical black holes,
Math. Res. Lett. 4 (1997), 1, 103–121.
[30] K. Schwarzschild, Über der Gravitationsfeld eines Massenpunktes nach der
Einsteinschen Theorie, K. Preus. Akad. Wiss. Sitz. 424 (1916).
[31] T. Y. Thomas, On conformal geometry, Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. 12 (1926), 352–359.
[32] A. Vasy, Microlocal analysis of asymptotically hyperbolic and Kerr–de Sitter
spaces (with an appendix by Semyon Dyatlov), Invent. Math. 194 (2013), 2,
381–513.
[33] J. Wunsch, M. Zworski, Resolvent estimates for normally hyperbolic trapped sets,
Ann. Henri Poincaré 12 (2011), 7, 1349–1385.

Laboratoire AGM, Département de Mathématiques, Université de Cergy-Pontoise,


95302 Cergy-Pontoise cedex
E-mail address: [email protected]
Université Grenoble Alpes, Institut Fourier, UMR 5582 du CNRS, 100, rue des maths,
38610 Gières, France
E-mail address: [email protected]
LMBA, Université de Brest, 6 avenue Victor Le Gorgeu, 29238 Brest Cedex 3, France
E-mail address: [email protected]

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2
Geometry of Black Hole Spacetimes
Lars Andersson, Thomas Bäckdahl and Pieter Blue

Abstract. These notes, based on lectures given at the summer school on


Asymptotic Analysis in General Relativity, collect material on the Einstein
equations, the geometry of black hole spacetimes, and the analysis of fields
on black hole backgrounds. The Kerr model of a rotating black hole in a
vacuum is expected to be unique and stable. The problem of proving these
fundamental facts provides the background for the material presented in these
notes.
Among the many topics which are relevant to the uniqueness and stability
problems are the theory of fields on black hole spacetimes, in particular for
gravitational perturbations of the Kerr black hole and, more generally, the
study of nonlinear field equations in the presence of trapping. The study
of these questions requires tools from several different fields, including
Lorentzian geometry, hyperbolic differential equations, and spin geometry,
which are all relevant to the black hole stability problem.

2.1. Introduction
A short time after Einstein published his field equations for general relativity
in 1915, Karl Schwarzschild discovered an exact and explicit solution of the
Einstein vacuum equations describing the gravitational field of a spherical body
at rest. In analyzing Schwarzschild’s solution, one finds that if the central
body is sufficiently concentrated, light emitted from its surface cannot reach
an observer at infinity. It was not until the 1950s that the global structure of
the Schwarzschild spacetime was understood. By this time causality theory
and the Cauchy problem for the Einstein equations were firmly established,
although many important problems remained open. Observations of highly
energetic phenomena occurring within small spacetime regions, eg. quasars,
made it plausible that black holes played a significant role in astrophysics, and
by the late 1960s these objects were part of mainstream astronomy. The term

9
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10 L. Andersson, T. Bäckdahl and P. Blue

“black hole” for this type of object came into use in the 1960s. According
to our current understanding, black holes are ubiquitous in the universe, in
particular most galaxies have a supermassive black hole at their center, and
these play an important role in the life of the galaxy. Our galaxy also has at
its center a very compact object, Sagittarius A*, with a diameter of less than
one astronomical unit, and a mass estimated to be 106 M . Evidence for this
includes observations of the orbits of stars in its vicinity.
Recall that a solution to the Einstein vacuum equations is a Lorentzian
spacetime (M, gab ), satisfying Rab = 0, where Rab is the Ricci tensor of gab .
The Einstein equation is the Euler–Lagrange equation of the diffeomorphism
invariant Einstein–Hilbert action functional, given by the integral of the scalar
curvature of (M, gab ),

Rdμg .
M
The diffeomorphism invariance, or general covariance, of the action has the
consequence that Cauchy data for the Einstein equation must satisfy a set
of constraint equations, and that the principal symbol of the Euler–Lagrange
equation is degenerate.1 After introducing suitable gauge conditions, the
Einstein equations can be reduced to a hyperbolic system of evolution equa-
tions. It is known that, for any set of sufficiently regular Cauchy data satisfying
the constraints, the Cauchy problem for the Einstein equation has a unique
solution which is maximal among all regular, vacuum Cauchy developments.
This general result, however, does not give any detailed information about the
properties of the maximal development.
There are two main conjectures about the maximal development. The strong
cosmic censorship conjecture (SCC) states that a generic maximal develop-
ment is inextendible, as a regular vacuum spacetime. There are examples where
the maximal development is extendible, and has non-unique extensions, which
furthermore may contain closed timelike curves. In these cases, predictability
fails for the Einstein equations, but if SCC holds, they are non-generic. At
present, SCC is only known to hold in the context of families of spacetimes
with symmetry restrictions; see [98, 7] and references therein. Further, some

1
From the perspective of hyperbolic partial differential equations, the Einstein equations are both
over and under-determined. Contracting the Einstein equation against the normal to a smooth
spacelike hypersurface gives elliptic equations that must be satisfied on the hypersurface;
these are called the constraint equations. After introducing suitable gauge conditions, the
combination of the gauge conditions and the remaining Einstein equations form a hyperbolic
system of evolution equations. Furthermore, if the initial data satisfies the constraint equations,
then the solution to this hyperbolic system, when restricted to any spacelike hypersurface, also
satisfies the constraint equations. If the initial hypersurface is null, the situation becomes more
complicated to summarize but simpler to treat in full detail.

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Geometry of Black Hole Spacetimes 11

non-linear stability results without symmetry assumptions, including the sta-


bility of Minkowski space and the stability of quotients of the Milne model
(also known as Löbell spacetimes, see [53, 18] and references therein), can
be viewed as giving support to SCC. The weak cosmic censorship conjecture
states that for a generic isolated system (i.e. an asymptotically flat solution of
the Einstein equations), any singularity is hidden from observers at infinity. In
this case, the spacetime contains a black hole region, i.e. the complement of
the part of the spacetime visible to observers at infinity. The black hole region
is bounded by the event horizon, the boundary of the region of spacetime
which can be seen by observers at future infinity. Both of these conjectures
remain wide open, although there has been limited progress on some problems
related to them. The weak cosmic censorship conjecture is most relevant for
the purpose of these notes; see [110].
The Schwarzschild solution is static, spherically symmetric, asymptotically
flat, and has a single free parameter M which represents the mass of the
black hole. By Birkhoff’s theorem it is the unique solution of the vacuum
Einstein equations with these properties. In 1963 Roy Kerr [68] discovered
a new, explicit family of asymptotically flat solutions of the vacuum Einstein
equations which are stationary, axisymmetric, and rotating. Shortly after this,
a charged, rotating black hole solution to the Einstein–Maxwell equations,
known as the Kerr–Newman solution, was found, cf. [87, 88]. Recall that a
vector field ν a is Killing if ∇(a νb) = 0. A Kerr spacetime admits two Killing
fields, the stationary Killing field (∂t )a which is timelike at infinity, and the
axial Killing field (∂φ )a . The Kerr family of solutions is parametrized by the
mass M and the azimuthal angular momentum per unit mass a. In the limit
a = 0, the Kerr solution reduces to the spherically symmetric Schwarzschild
solution.
If |a| ≤ M, the Kerr spacetime contains a black hole, while if |a| > M,
there is a ringlike singularity which is naked, in the sense that it fails to be
hidden from observers at infinity. This situation would violate the weak cosmic
censorship conjecture, and one therefore expects that an overextreme Kerr
spacetime is unstable and, in particular, that it cannot arise through a dynamical
process from regular Cauchy data.
For a geodesic γ a (λ) with velocity γ̇ a = dγ a /dλ, in a stationary
axisymmetric spacetime,2 there are three conserved quantities, the mass
μ2 = γ̇ a γ̇b , energy e = γ̇ a (∂t )a , and angular momentum z = γ̇ a (∂φ )a .
In a general axisymmetric spacetime, geodesic motion is chaotic. However, as
was discovered by Brandon Carter in 1968, there is a fourth conserved quantity

2
We use the signature + − −−; in particular timelike vectors have a positive norm.

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12 L. Andersson, T. Bäckdahl and P. Blue

for geodesics in the Kerr spacetime, the Carter constant k; see Section 2.5 for
details. By Liouville’s theorem, this allows one to integrate the geodesic
equations by quadratures, and thus geodesics in the Kerr spacetime do not
exhibit a chaotic behavior.
The Carter constant is a manifestation of the fact that the Kerr spacetime is
algebraically special, of Petrov type {2, 2}, also known as type D. In particular,
there are two repeated principal null directions for the Weyl tensor. As shown
by Walker and Penrose [112] a vacuum spacetime of Petrov type {2, 2} admits
an object satisfying a generalization of Killing’s equation, namely a Killing
spinor κAB , satisfying ∇A (A κBC) = 0. As shown in the just cited paper, this
leads to the presence of four conserved quantities for null geodesics.
Assuming some technical conditions, any asymptotically flat, stationary
black hole spacetime is expected to belong to the Kerr family, a fact which is
known to hold in the real-analytic case. Further, the Kerr black hole is expected
to be stable in the sense that a small perturbation of the Kerr spacetime settles
down asymptotically to a member of the Kerr family.
There is much observational evidence pointing to the fact that black holes
exist in large numbers in the universe, and that they play a role in many
astrophysically significant processes. For example, most galaxies, including
our own galaxy, are believed to contain a supermassive black hole at their
center. Further, dynamical processes involving black holes, such as mergers,
are expected to be important sources of gravitational wave radiation, which
could be observed by existing and planned gravitational wave observatories.3
Thus, black holes play a central role in astrophysics.
Due to its conjectured uniqueness and stability properties, these black holes
are expected to be modelled by the Kerr or Kerr–Newman solutions. However,
in order to establish the astrophysical relevance of the Kerr solution, it is vital
to find rigorous proofs of both of these conjectures, which can be referred
to as the black hole uniqueness and stability problems, respectively. A great
deal of work has been devoted to these and related problems, and although
progress has been made, both remain open at present. The stability problem
for the analog of the Kerr solution in the presence of a positive cosmological
constant, the Kerr–de Sitter solution, has recently been solved for the case of
small angular momenta [117].

Overview
Section 2.2 introduces a range of background material on general relativity,
including a discussion of the Cauchy problem for the Einstein equations.
3
At the time of writing, the first such observation has just been announced [1].

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Geometry of Black Hole Spacetimes 13

The discussion of black hole spacetimes is started in Section 2.3 with a


detailed discussion of the global geometry of the extended Schwarzschild
spacetime, followed by some background on marginally outer trapped surfaces
and dynamical black holes. Section 2.4 introduces some concepts from
spin geometry and the related Geroch–Held–Penrose (GHP) formalism. The
Petrov classification is introduced and some properties of its consequential
algebraically special spacetimes are presented. In Section 2.5 the geometry
of the Kerr black hole spacetime is introduced.
Section 2.6 contains a discussion of null geodesics in the Kerr spacetime.
A construction of monotone quantities for null geodesics based on vector
fields with coefficients depending on conserved quantities, is introduced. In
Section 2.7, symmetry operators for fields on the Kerr spacetime are discussed.
Dispersive estimates for fields are the analog of monotone quantities for null
geodesics, and in constructing these, symmetry operators play a role analogous
to the conserved quantities for the case of geodesics.

2.2. Background
2.2.1. Minkowski Space
Minkowski space M is R4 with metric which in a Cartesian coordinate system
(xa ) = (t, xi ) takes the form4
2
dτM = dt2 − (dx1 )2 − (dx2 )2 − (dx3 )2 .
Introducing the spherical coordinates r, θ , φ we can write the metric in the form
−dt2 + dr2 + r2 d 2S2 , where d 2S2 is the line element on the standard S2 ,

d 2
S2
= (gS2 )ab dxa dxb = dθ 2 + sin2 θ dφ 2 . (2.1)
A tangent vector ν a is timelike, null, or spacelike when gab ν a ν b > 0, = 0, or
< 0, respectively. Vectors with gab ν a ν b ≥ 0 are called causal. Let p, q ∈ M.
We say that p is in the causal (timelike) future of q
if p − q is causal (timelike). The causal and timelike
futures J + (p) and I + (p) of p ∈ M are the sets of
points which are in the causal and timelike futures
of p, respectively. The corresponding past notions
are defined analogously.

4 2 = (g ) dxa dxb , and metrics, eg. (g ) ,


Here and below we shall use line elements, eg. dτM M ab M ab
interchangeably.

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14 L. Andersson, T. Bäckdahl and P. Blue

Let u, v be given by
u = t − r, v = t + r.
In terms of these coordinates the line element takes the form
2
dτM = dudv − r2 d 2
S2
. (2.2)
We see that there are no terms du2 , dv2 , which correspond to the fact that
both u, v are null coordinates. In particular, the vectors (∂u )a , (∂v )a are null.
A complex null tetrad is given by
√ 1  
la = 2(∂u )a = √ ∂t )a + (∂r )a , (2.3a)
2
√ 1  
na = 2(∂v )a = √ (∂t )a − (∂r )a , (2.3b)
2
 
1 i
ma = √ (∂θ )a + (∂φ )a (2.3c)
2r sin θ
normalized so that na la = 1 = −ma m̄a , with all other inner products of tetrad
legs zero. Complex null tetrads with this normalization play a central role in the
Newman–Penrose (NP) and GHP formalisms; see Section 2.4. In these notes
we will use such tetrads unless otherwise stated.
In terms of a null tetrad, we have
gab = 2(l(a nb) − m(a m̄b) ). (2.4)
Introduce compactified null coordinates U, V, given by
U = arctan u, V = arctan v.
These take values in {(−π/2, π/2) × (−π/2, π/2)} ∩ {V ≥ U}, and we
can thus present Minkowski space in a causal diagram; see Figure 2.1. Here
each point represents an S2 and we have drawn null vectors at 45◦ angles.
A compactification of Minkowski space is now given by adding the null
boundaries5 I ± , spatial infinity i0 , and timelike infinity i± as indicated in the
figure. Explicitly,
I + = {V = π/2}
I − = {U = −π/2}
i0 = {V = π/2, U = −π/2}
i± = {(V, U) = ±(π/2, π/2)}.

5
Here I is pronounced “Scri” for “script I.”

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Geometry of Black Hole Spacetimes 15

i+

I+

r=0
∂U

∂V
i0

I−

{t = constant}
i−

Figure 2.1. Causal diagram of Minkowski space

In Figure 2.1, we have also indicated schematically the t-level sets which
approach spatial infinity i0 . Causal diagrams are a useful tool which, if applied
with proper care, can be used to understand the structure of quite general
spacetimes. Such diagrams are often referred to as Penrose or Carter–Penrose
diagrams.
In particular, as can be seen from Figure 2.1, we have M = I − (I + )∩I + (I − ),
i.e. any point in M is in the past of I + and in the future of I − . This is
related to the fact that M is asymptotically simple, in the sense that it admits a
conformal compactification with a regular null boundary, and has the property
that any inextendible null geodesic hits the null boundary. For massless fields
on Minkowski space, this means that it makes sense to formulate a scattering
map which takes data on I − to data on I + ; see [93].
Let

T = V + U, R = V − U. (2.5)

Then, with 2 = 2 cos U cos V, the conformally transformed metric g̃ab =


2 g takes the form
ab

g̃M
ab = dT − dR − sin Rd
2 2 2 2
S2
= dT 2 − d 2
S3

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16 L. Andersson, T. Bäckdahl and P. Blue

which we recognize as the metric on the cylinder R × S3 . This spacetime is


known as the Einstein cylinder, and can be viewed as a static solution of the
Einstein equations with dust matter and a positive cosmological constant [50].

2.2.2. Lorentzian Geometry and Causality


We now consider a smooth Lorentzian four-manifold (M, gab ) with signature
+ − −−. Each tangent space in a four-dimensional spacetime is isometric to
Minkowski space M, and we can carry intuitive notions of causality over from
M to M. We say that a smooth curve γ a (λ) is causal if the velocity vector
γ̇ a = dγ a /dλ is causal. Two points in M are causally related if they can be
connected by a piecewise smooth causal curve. The concept of causal curves
is most naturally defined for C0 curves. A C0 curve γ a is said to be causal if
each pair of points on γ a are causally related. We may define a timelike curve
and timelike related points in an analogous manner.
We now assume that M is time oriented, i.e. that there is a globally
defined timelike vector field on M. This allows us to distinguish between
future and past directed causal curves, and to introduce a notion of the causal
and timelike future of a spacetime point. The corresponding past notions are
defined analogously. If q is in the causal future of p, we write p  q. This
introduces a partial order on M. The causal future J + (p) of p is defined as
J + (p) = {q : p  q} while the timelike future I + (p) is defined in an analogous
manner, with timelike replacing causal. A subset ⊂ M is achronal
+
I (p) if there is no pair p, q ∈ M such that q ∈
I + (p), i.e. does not intersect its timelike future
or past. The domain of dependence D(S) of S ⊂ M
S
is the set of points p such that any inextendible
p
causal curve starting at p must intersect S.
Definition 2.1 A spacetime M is globally hyperbolic if there is a closed,
achronal ⊂ M such that M = D( ). In this case, is called a Cauchy
surface.
D(S)
Due to the results of Bernal and Sanchez
[28], global hyperbolicity is characterized by the S
existence of a smooth, Cauchy time function
τ : M → R. A function τ on M is a time
function if ∇ a τ is timelike everywhere, and it is Cauchy if the level sets
−1 (t) are Cauchy surfaces. If τ is smooth, its level sets are then
t = τ
smooth and spacelike. It follows that a globally hyperbolic spacetime M is
globally foliated by Cauchy surfaces, and in particular is diffeomorphic to a

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Geometry of Black Hole Spacetimes 17

product × R. In the following, unless otherwise stated, we shall consider


only globally hyperbolic spacetimes.
If a globally hyperbolic spacetime M is a subset of a spacetime M , then
the boundary ∂M of M in M is called the Cauchy horizon.

Example 2.1 Let O be the origin in Minkowski space, and let M = I + (O) =
{t > r} be its timelike
√ future. Then M is globally hyperbolic with Cauchy
time function τ = t2 − r2 . Further, M is a subset of Minkowski space M,
which is a globally hyperbolic space with Cauchy time function t. Minkowski
space is geodesically complete and hence inextendible. The boundary {t = r}
is the Cauchy horizon ∂M of M. Past inextendible causal geodesics (i.e. past
causal rays) in M end on ∂M. In particular, M is incomplete. However, M is
extendible, as a smooth flat spacetime, with many inequivalent extensions.

We remark that for a globally hyperbolic spacetime, which is extendible, the


extension is in general non-unique. In the particular case considered in example
2.1, M is an extension of M, which also happens to be maximal and globally
hyperbolic. In the vacuum case, there is a unique maximal globally hyperbolic
extension, cf. Section 2.2.5 below. However, a maximal extension is in general
non-unique, and may fail to be globally hyperbolic.

2.2.3. Conventions and Notation


We will mostly use abstract indices, cf. [94], but will sometimes work with
coordinate indices, and unless confusion arises we will not be too specific about
this. We raise and lower indices with gab , e.g. ξ a = gab ξb , with gab gbc = δ a c ,
where δ a c is the Kronecker delta, i.e. the tensor with the property that δ a c ξ c =
ξ a for any ξ a .
Let a···d be the Levi-Civita symbol, i.e. the skew symmetric expression
which in any coordinate system has the property that 1···n = 1. The volume

form of gab is (μg )abcd = |g|abcd . Given (M, gab ) we have the canonically
defined Levi-Civita covariant derivative ∇a . For a vector ν a , this is of the form

∇a ν b = ∂a ν b + ac
b c
ν

where ac b = 1 gbd (∂ g + ∂ g − ∂ g ) is the Christoffel symbol. In order


2 a dc c db d ac
to fix the conventions used here, we recall that the Riemann curvature tensor is
defined by
(∇a ∇b − ∇b ∇a )ξc = Rabc d ξd .

The Riemann tensor Rabcd is skew symmetric in the pairs of indices ab, cd,
Rabcd = R[ab]cd = Rab[cd] , is pairwise symmetric Rabcd = Rcdab , and satisfies

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18 L. Andersson, T. Bäckdahl and P. Blue

the first Bianchi identity R[abc]d = 0. Here square brackets [· · · ] denote


antisymmetrization. We shall similarly use round brackets (· · · ) to denote
symmetrization. Further, we have ∇[a Rbc]de = 0, the second Bianchi identity. A
contraction gives ∇ a Rabcd = 0. The Ricci tensor is Rab = Rc acb and the scalar
curvature R = Ra a . We further let Sab = Rab − 14 Rgab denote the tracefree part
of the Ricci tensor. The Riemann tensor can be decomposed as follows,

Rabcd = − 12 gad gbc R + 12 gac gbd R + 2 gbd Sac


1 1 1
− 12 gbc Sad
− 2 gad Sbc + 2 gac Sbd + Cabcd .
1 1
(2.6)

This defines the Weyl tensor Cabcd which is a tensor with the symmetries of
the Riemann tensor, and vanishing traces, Cc acb = 0. Recall that (M, gab )
is locally conformally flat if and only if Cabcd = 0. It follows from the
contracted second Bianchi identity that the Einstein tensor Gab = Rab − 12 Rgab
is conserved, ∇ a Gab = 0.

2.2.4. Einstein Equation


The Einstein equation in geometrized units with G = c = 1, where G, c denote
Newton’s constant and the speed of light, respectively, cf. [109, Appendix F],
is the system
Gab = 8πTab . (2.7)

This equation relates geometry, expressed in the Einstein tensor Gab on the
left-hand side, to matter, expressed via the energy momentum tensor Tab on the
right-hand side. For example, for a self-gravitating Maxwell field Fab , Fab =
F[ab] , we have
 
1 1
Tab = Fac Fbc − Fcd F gab .
cd
4π 4
The source-free Maxwell field equations

∇ a Fab = 0, ∇[a Fbc] = 0

imply that Tab is conserved, ∇ a Tab = 0. The contracted second Bianchi


identity implies that ∇ a Gab = 0, and hence the conservation property of Tab
is implied by the coupling of the Maxwell field to gravity. These facts can be
seen to follow from the variational formulation of Einstein gravity, given by
the action
 
R
I= dμg − Lmatter dμg
M 16π M

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Geometry of Black Hole Spacetimes 19

where Lmatter is the Lagrangian describing the matter content in spacetime. In


the case of Maxwell theory, this is given by
1
LMaxwell =
Fcd F cd .

Recall that in order to derive the Maxwell field equation, as an Euler–Lagrange
equation, from this action, it is necessary to introduce a vector potential for Fab ,
by setting Fab = 2∇[a Ab] , and to carry out the variation with respect to Aa . It
is a general fact that for generally covariant (i.e. diffeomorphism invariant)
Lagrangian field theories which depend on the spacetime location only via the
metric and its derivatives, the symmetric energy momentum tensor
1 ∂Lmatter
Tab = √
g ∂gab
is conserved when evaluated on solutions of the Euler–Lagrange equations.
As a further example of a matter field, we consider the scalar field, with
action
Lscalar = 12 ∇ c ψ∇c ψ
where ψ is a function on M. The corresponding energy-momentum tensor is
Tab = ∇a ψ∇b ψ − 12 ∇ c ψ∇c ψgab
and the Euler–Lagrange equation is the free scalar wave equation
∇ a ∇a ψ = 0. (2.8)
As (2.8) is another example of a field equation derived from a covariant
action which depends on the spacetime location only via the metric gab or its
derivatives, the symmetric energy-momentum tensor is conserved for solutions
of the field equation.
In both of the just mentioned cases, the energy momentum tensor satisfies
the dominant energy condition Tab ν a ζ b ≥ 0 for future directed causal vectors
ν a , ζ a . This implies the null energy condition
Rab ν a ν b ≥ 0 if νa ν a = 0. (2.9)
These energy conditions hold for most classical matter models.
There are many interesting matter systems which are worthy of considera-
tion, such as fluids, elasticity, kinetic matter models including Vlasov, as well
as fundamental fields such as Yang–Mills, to name just a few. We consider only
spacetimes which satisfy the null energy condition, and for the most part we
shall in these notes be concerned with the vacuum Einstein equations,
Rab = 0. (2.10)

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20 L. Andersson, T. Bäckdahl and P. Blue

2.2.5. The Cauchy Problem


Given a spacelike hypersurface6 in M with timelike normal T a , induced
metric hab , and second fundamental form kab , defined by kab X a Y b =
∇a Tb X a Y b for X a , Y b tangent to , the Gauss and Gauss–Codazzi equations
imply the constraint equations
R[h] + (kab hab )2 − kab kab = 16πTab T a T b (2.11a)
∇[h]a (kbc h ) − ∇[h] kab = Tab T .
bc b b
(2.11b)
A three-manifold together with tensor fields hab , kab on solving the
constraint equations is called a Cauchy data set. The constraint equations
for general relativity are analogs of the constraint equations in Maxwell and
Yang–Mills theory, in that they lead to Hamiltonians which generate gauge
transformations.
Consider a 3+1 split of M, i.e. a one-parameter family of Cauchy surfaces
t , with a coordinate system (x ) = (t, x ), and let
a i

(∂t )a = NT a + X a
be the split of (∂t )a into a normal and tangential piece. The fields (N, X a ) are
called lapse and shift. The definition of the second fundamental form implies
the equation
L∂t hab = −2Nkab + LX hab .
In the vacuum case, the Hamiltonian for gravity can be written in the form

NH + X a Ja + boundary terms

where H and J are the densitized left-hand sides of (2.11). If we consider


only compactly supported perturbations in deriving the Hamiltonian evolution
equation, the boundary terms mentioned above can be ignored. However,
for (N, X a ) not tending to zero at infinity, and considering perturbations
compatible with asymptotic flatness, the boundary term becomes significant,
cf. Section 2.2.6.4.
The resulting Hamiltonian evolution
√ equations, written in terms of hab and
its canonical conjugate π ab = h(kab − (hcd kcd hab )), are usually called the
ADM (for Arnowitt–Deser–Misner) evolution equations.
Let ⊂ M be a Cauchy surface. Given functions φ0 , φ1 on and F on M,
the Cauchy problem for the wave equation is that of finding solutions to

6
Where there is no likelihood of confusion, we shall denote abstract indices for objects on by
a, b, c, . . . .

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Geometry of Black Hole Spacetimes 21

 
∇ a ∇a ψ = F, ψ  = φ0 , L∂t ψ  = φ1 .
Assuming suitable regularity conditions, the solution is unique and stable with
respect to the initial data. This fact extends to a wide class of non-linear hyper-
bolic PDEs including quasilinear wave equations, i.e. equations of the form
Aab [ψ]∂a ∂b ψ + B[ψ, ∂ψ] = 0
with Aab a Lorentzian metric depending on the field ψ.
Given a vacuum Cauchy data set, ( , hab , kab ), a solution of the Cauchy
problem for the Einstein vacuum equations is a spacetime metric gab with
Rab = 0, such that (hab , kab ) coincides with the metric and second fundamental
form induced on from gab . Such a solution is called a vacuum extension of
( , hab , kab ).
Due to the fact that Rab is covariant, the symbol of Rab is degenerate. In
order to get a well-posed Cauchy problem, it is necessary either to impose
gauge conditions or to introduce new variables. A standard choice of gauge
condition is the harmonic coordinate condition. Let  gab be a given metric on
M. The identity map i : M → M is harmonic if and only if the vector field
V a = gbc (bc
a
−a
bc )
vanishes. Here bca , a are the Christoffel symbols of the metrics g ,
bc ab gab .
Then V is the tension field of the identity map i : (M, gab ) → (M,
a gab ). This
is harmonic if and only if
V a = 0. (2.12)
Since harmonic maps with a Lorentzian domain are often called wave maps,
the gauge condition (2.12) is sometimes called a wave map gauge condition.
A particular case of this construction, which can be carried out if M admits a
global coordinate system (xa ), is given by letting 
gab be the Minkowski metric
defined with respect to (xa ). Then  a = 0 and (2.12) is simply
bc
∇ b ∇b xa = 0, (2.13)
which is usually called the wave coordinate gauge condition.
Going back to the general case, let ∇ be the Levi-Civita covariant derivative
defined with respect to 
gab . We have the identity
1  √ ab   + ∇(a Vb)
Rab = − 12 √ ∇ a gg ∇b gab + Sab [g, ∇g] (2.14)
g
a gcd . Setting
where Sab is an expression which is quadratic in first derivatives ∇
V = 0 in (2.14) yields Rab , and (2.10) becomes a quasilinear wave equation
a harm

ab = 0.
Rharm (2.15)

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22 L. Andersson, T. Bäckdahl and P. Blue

By standard results, the equation (2.15) has a locally well-posed Cauchy


problem in Sobolev spaces H s for s > 5/2. Using more sophisticated
techniques, well-posedness can shown to hold for any s > 2 [71]. Recently
a local existence has been proved under the assumption of curvature bounded
in L2 [73]. Given a Cauchy data set ( , hab , kab ), together with initial values
for lapse and shift N, X a on , it is possible to find Lt N, Lt X a on such
that the V a are zero on . A calculation now shows that, due to the constraint
equations, L∂t V a is zero on . Given a solution to the reduced Einstein vacuum
equation (2.15), one finds that V a solves a wave equation. This follows from
∇ a Gab = 0, due to the Bianchi identity. Hence, due to the fact that the Cauchy
data for V a is trivial, it holds that V a = 0 on the domain of the solution. Thus,
the solution to (2.15) is a solution to the full vacuum Einstein equation (2.10).
This proves local well-posedness for the Cauchy problem for the Einstein
vacuum equation. This fact was first proved by Yvonne Choquet-Bruhat [54];
see [99] for background and history.
Global uniqueness for the Einstein vacuum equations was proved by
Choquet-Bruhat and Geroch [35]. The proof relies on the local existence
theorem sketched above, patching together local solutions. A partial order is
defined on the collection of vacuum extensions, making use of the notion of
a common domain. The common domain U of two extensions M, M is the
maximal subset in M which is isometric to a subset in M . We can then define
a partial order by saying that M ≤ M if the maximal common domain is M.
Given a partially ordered set, a maximal element exists by Zorn’s lemma. This
is proven to be unique by an application of the local well-posedness theorem
for the Cauchy problem sketched above. For a contradiction, let M, M be two
inequivalent extensions, and let U be the maximal common domain. Due to the
Haussdorff property of spacetimes, this leads to a contradiction. By finding a
partial Cauchy surface which touches the boundary of U (see Figure 2.2 and
making use of local uniqueness) one finds a contradiction to the maximality of
U. It should be noted that here uniqueness holds up to isometry, in keeping with
the general covariance of the Einstein vacuum equations. These facts extend
to the Einstein equations coupled to hyperbolic matter equations. See [101]

∂U

Figure 2.2. A partial Cauchy surface which touches the boundary of ∂U

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CONTENTS

CHAPTER I PAGE

MY APPOINTMENT AS AN OFFICIAL IN THE FOREIGN OFFICE, AND


MY FIRST AUDIENCE WITH BISMARCK—WORK AND
OBSERVATIONS UP TO THE OUTBREAK OF THE WAR WITH
FRANCE 1

CHAPTER II
DEPARTURE OF THE CHANCELLOR FOR THE SEAT OF WAR—I
FOLLOW HIM, AT FIRST TO SAARBRÜCKEN—JOURNEY FROM
THERE TO THE FRENCH FRONTIER—THE FOREIGN OFFICE
FLYING COLUMN 64

CHAPTER III
FROM THE FRONTIER TO GRAVELOTTE 76

CHAPTER IV
COMMERCY—BAR LE DUC—CLERMONT EN ARGONNE 103

CHAPTER V
WE TURN TOWARDS THE NORTH—THE CHANCELLOR OF THE 126
CONFEDERATION AT REZONVILLE—THE BATTLE AND
BATTLEFIELD OF BEAUMONT

CHAPTER VI
SEDAN—BISMARCK AND NAPOLEON AT DONCHERY 141

CHAPTER VII
FROM THE MEUSE TO THE MARNE 163

CHAPTER VIII
BISMARCK AND FAVRE AT HAUTE-MAISON—A FORTNIGHT IN
ROTHSCHILD’S CHÂTEAU 191

CHAPTER IX
THE JOURNEY TO VERSAILLES—MADAME JESSE’S HOUSE, AND
OUR LIFE THERE 227

CHAPTER X
AUTUMN DAYS AT VERSAILLES 235

CHAPTER XI
THIERS AND THE FIRST NEGOTIATIONS FOR AN ARMISTICE AT
VERSAILLES 274

CHAPTER XII
GROWING DESIRE FOR A DECISION IN VARIOUS DIRECTIONS 310

CHAPTER XIII
REMOVAL OF THE ANXIETY RESPECTING THE BAVARIAN TREATY 330
IN THE REICHSTAG—THE BOMBARDMENT FURTHER
POSTPONED

CHAPTER XIV
THE PROSPECTS OUTSIDE PARIS IMPROVE 373

CHAPTER XV
CHAUDORDY AND THE TRUTH—OFFICERS OF BAD FAITH—
FRENCH GARBLING—THE CROWN PRINCE DINES WITH THE
CHIEF 392

CHAPTER XVI
FIRST WEEK OF THE BOMBARDMENT 427

CHAPTER XVII
LAST WEEKS BEFORE THE CAPITULATION OF PARIS 460

CHAPTER XVIII
DURING THE NEGOTIATIONS RESPECTING THE CAPITULATION OF
PARIS 492

CHAPTER XIX
FROM GAMBETTA’S RESIGNATION TO THE CONCLUSION OF THE
PRELIMINARIES OF PEACE 553
BISMARCK

SOME SECRET PAGES OF HIS HISTORY


CHAPTER I
MY APPOINTMENT AS AN OFFICIAL IN THE FOREIGN OFFICE, AND MY
FIRST AUDIENCE WITH BISMARCK—WORK AND OBSERVATIONS UP
TO THE OUTBREAK OF THE WAR WITH FRANCE

On February 1st, 1870, while living in Leipzig and engaged in literary


work, I received—quite unexpectedly—from Dr. Metzler, Secretary in
the Foreign Office of the North German Confederation, who was at
that time occupied principally with press matters and with whom I
had been in communication since 1867, a short note requesting me
to come to Berlin in order to have a talk with him. On my arrival I
ascertained, to my great surprise, that Dr. Metzler had recommended
me to Herr von Keudell, Councillor of Embassy, who was then in
charge of personal and finance matters in the Foreign Office, for a
confidential position under the Chancellor of the Confederation,
which he, Metzler himself, had previously held, and in which my chief
duty would be to carry out the instructions of the Chancellor in press
matters. I was to be in immediate communication with the
Chancellor. My position for the time being would be what was called
“diätarisch,” that is to say without any claim to a pension and without
a title. Further details were to be arranged with Herr von Keudell on
his return from his honeymoon. For the moment I was only required
to declare my readiness in general to accept the offer, and later on I
was to formulate my wishes and lay them in writing before Herr von
Keudell.
This I did in a letter dated February 4th, in which I emphasised as
the most important condition that I should be entirely independent of
the Literary or Press Bureau, and that if my capacity for the position
should not prove equal to the expectations formed of it I should not
be appointed an official in that department. On February 19th I heard
from Metzler that my conditions had been in the main agreed to, and
that no objections had been raised with regard to that respecting the
Literary Bureau. I was to discuss the further arrangements with
Keudell himself, and to be prepared to enter upon my duties at once.
On February 21st I had a satisfactory interview with the latter, in the
course of which we came to an understanding as to terms. On the
23rd I was informed by Keudell that the Chancellor had agreed to my
conditions, and that he had arranged for me to call upon Bismarck
on the following evening. Next day I took the official oath, and on the
same evening, shortly after 8 o’clock, I found myself in the presence
of the Chancellor, whom I had only seen at a distance once before,
namely, from the Press Gallery of the Reichstag. Now, two years
later, I saw him again as he sat in a military uniform at his writing
table with a bundle of documents before him. I was quite close to
him this time, and felt as if I stood before the altar.
He gave me his hand, and motioned me to take a seat opposite
him. He began by saying that although he desired to have a talk with
me, he must for the moment content himself with just making my
acquaintance, as he had very little time to spare. “I have been kept in
the Reichstag to-day longer than I expected by a number of lengthy
and tiresome speeches; then I have here (pointing to the documents
before him) despatches to read, also as a rule not very amusing; and
at 9 o’clock I must go to the palace, and that is not particularly
entertaining either. What have you been doing up to the present?” I
replied that I had edited the Grenzboten, an organ of practically
National Liberal views, which I left, however, on one of the
proprietors showing a disposition to adopt a Progressist policy on the
Schleswig-Holstein question. The Chancellor: “Yes, I know that
paper.” I then went on to say that I had at the instance of the
Government taken a position at Hanover, where I assisted the Civil
Commissioner, Herr von Hardenberg, in representing Prussian
interests in the local press during the year of transition. I had
subsequently, on instructions received from the Foreign Office,
written a number of articles for different political journals, amongst
others for the Preussische Jahrbuecher, to which I had also
previously contributed. Bismarck: “Then you understand our politics
and the German question in particular. I intend to get you to write
notes and articles for the papers from such particulars and
instructions as I may give you, for of course I cannot myself write
leaders. You will also arrange for others doing so. At first these will
naturally be by way of trial. I must have some one especially for this
purpose, and not merely occasional assistance as at present,
especially as I also receive very little useful help from the Literary
Bureau. But how long do you remain here?” and as he looked at his
watch I thought he desired to bring the conversation to a close. I
replied that I had arranged to remain in Berlin. Bismarck: “Ah, very
well then, I shall have a long talk with you one of these days. In the
meantime see Herr von Keudell, and also Herr Bucher, Councillor of
Embassy, who is well acquainted with all these matters.” I
understood that I was now at liberty to go, and was about to rise
from my seat when the Chancellor said: “Of course you know the
question which was before the House to-day?” I replied in the
negative, explaining that I had been too busy to read the reports in
the newspapers. “Well,” he said, “it was respecting the admission of
Baden into the North German Confederation. It is a pity that people
cannot manage to wait, and that they treat everything from a party
standpoint, and as furnishing opportunities for speech-making.
Disagreeable business to have to answer such speeches, not to say
such twaddle! These eloquent gentlemen are really like ladies with
small feet. They force them into shoes that are too tight for them,
and push them under our noses on all occasions in order that we
may admire them. It is just the same with a man who has the
misfortune to be eloquent. He speaks too often and too long. The
question of German unity is making good progress; but it requires
time—one year perhaps, or five, or indeed possibly even ten years. I
cannot make it go any faster, nor can these gentlemen either. But
they have no patience to wait.” With these words he rose, and again
shaking hands I took leave of him for the time.
I was thus enlisted in the ranks of Bismarck’s fellow-workers. An
opportunity for the general instructions which he proposed to give
me never occurred. I had to enter upon my work at once. Next
evening I was twice called in to him to receive instructions for
articles. Later on I sometimes saw him still more frequently, and
occasionally in the forenoon also—now and then as often as five or
even eight times in one day. At these interviews I had to take good
care to keep my ears well open, and to note everything with the
closest attention, so that two pieces of information or two sets of
instructions should not get mixed up. However, I soon found myself
equal to this unusually trying task, as Bismarck’s opinions and
instructions were always given in a striking form, which it was easy
to remember. Besides, he was accustomed to repeat his principal
points in other words. Then, again, I made myself all ears, so that,
through practice, I gradually succeeded in retaining long sentences,
and even whole speeches, practically without omissions, until I had
an opportunity of committing them to paper. Bismarck used also to
send me, by one of the messengers, documents and newspapers
marked with the letter V and a cross, signs which indicated “Press
Instructions.” When I found such papers on my desk I looked them
through, and subsequently obtained the Chancellor’s directions with
regard to them. Furthermore, when I had anything of importance to
ask or to submit for his approval, I was allowed to call upon him
without previous invitation. I thus practically occupied the position of
a “Vortragender Rath” (i.e., an official having direct access to the
Chancellor), excepting only that I had neither the title nor the sense
of infallibility common to all such Councillors.
The newspapers to which the articles thus prepared were
supplied were the Norddeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung, then edited by
Brass, which was the semi-official organ, properly speaking; the
Spenersche Zeitung, and the Neue Preussische Zeitung. I also
frequently sent letters to the Kölnische Zeitung, expressing the
Chancellor’s views. During the first months of my appointment
Metzler, who had previously contributed to that paper, served as the
medium for communicating these articles. Subsequently they were
sent direct to the editor, and were always accepted without
alteration. In addition to this work I saw one of the writers from the
Literary Bureau every forenoon, and gave him material which was
sent to the Magdeburger Zeitung and some of the smaller
newspapers; while other members of his department furnished
portions of it to certain Silesian, East Prussian, and South German
organs. I had similar weekly interviews with other, and somewhat
more independent, writers. Amongst these I may mention Dr. Bock,
who supplied articles to the Augsburger Allgemeine Zeitung, and a
number of papers in Hanover; Professor Constantine Roeszler,
formerly Lecturer at Jena, who subsequently assisted Richthofen at
Hamburg and afterwards edited the Staatsanzeiger; and finally Herr
Heide, who had previously been a missionary in Australia and was at
that time working for the North German Correspondence, which had
been founded with a view to influencing the English press.
In addition to this my duties also included the reading of masses
of German, Austrian and French newspapers, which were laid upon
my table three times daily, and the management and purchase of
books for the Ministerial Library. It will therefore be easily understood
that while the Chancellor remained in Berlin I had more than enough
to attend to. I was engaged not only on week-days, but also on
Sundays, from 9 in the morning until 3 in the afternoon, and again
from 5 till 10 and sometimes 11 o’clock at night. Indeed, it sometimes
occurred that a messenger from the Chancellor came at midnight to
call me away from a party of friends or out of my bed in order to
receive pressing instructions.
I reproduce here in the form in which they appear in my diary the
particulars of a number of more or less characteristic statements and
instructions which I received from the Chancellor at that period. They
show that the statesman whom I had the honour to serve thoroughly
understood the business of journalism, and they further throw a
welcome light upon many of the political events of that time.
Some days after the debate in the Reichstag respecting the
entrance of Baden into the North German Confederation, to which
reference has already been made, and while the matter was still
occupying both the attention of the press and of the Chancellor, I find
the following entry among my notes:—
February 27th, evening.—Called to see the Minister. I am to
direct special attention to the nonsense written by the National
Liberal Press on the last sitting of the Reichstag. The Chancellor
said:—“The National Liberals are not a united party. They are merely
two fractions. Amongst their leaders Bennigsen and Forckenbeck
are sensible men, and there are also a couple of others. Miguel is
inclined to be theatrical. Loewe, with his deep chest notes, does
everything for effect. He has not made a single practical remark.
Lasker is effective in destructive criticism, but is no politician. It
sounded very odd to hear him declare that they were now too much
occupied with Rome in Paris and Vienna to interfere with us in
connection with the Baden affair. If it were possible to get those of
really Progressist views to act independently, it would make the
situation much clearer. Friedenthal’s speech was excellent. I must
ask you also to emphasise the following points:—1. The unfairness
of the National Zeitung in repeating misunderstandings which I
explained and disposed of in my speech. 2. The make-believe
support given to my policy by men who were elected for the express
purpose of rendering me real assistance. 3. That such politicians
either cannot see or intentionally overlook my principal motive, viz.,
that to admit Baden into the Confederation would bring pressure to
bear upon Bavaria, and that it is therefore a hazardous step.
Attention should be paid to the situation in France, so that nothing
should be done which might endanger the Constitutional evolution of
that country, an evolution hitherto promoted in every way from Berlin,
as it signifies peace for us. The French Arcadians” (the party that
supported Napoleon through thick and thin) “are watching the course
of events in Germany, and waiting their opportunity. Napoleon is now
well disposed to us, but he is very changeable. We could now fight
France and beat her too, but that war would give rise to five or six
others; and while we can gain our ends by peaceful means, it would
be foolish, if not criminal, to take such a course. Events in France
may take a warlike or revolutionary turn, which would render the
present brittle metal there more malleable. There was an important
point in my speech, which, however, these good people failed to
recognise. That was the intimation that in certain circumstances we
should pay no regard either to the views of Austria respecting South
Germany as a whole, nor to those of France, who objected to the
admission of any single South German State into the North German
Confederation. That was a feeler. Further measures can only be
considered when I know how that hint has been received in Vienna
and Paris.”
March 1st.—Count Bismarck wishes me to get the following
inserted in the South German newspapers:—“The speech of von
Freydorf, the Grand Ducal Minister, in the Baden Diet on the
Jurisdiction Treaty with the North German Confederation, has been
inspired by an absolutely correct view of the situation. Particular
attention should be paid to that portion in which the Foreign Minister
of the Grand Duchy declared the policy of Baden to be in perfect
accord with that of the Chancellor of the North German
Confederation, and also to the manner in which he defined the
position of the South German States towards the Treaty of Prague.
Through the dissolution of the old Germanic Confederacy, those
States have, as a matter of fact, become sovereign States. That
treaty gives them liberty (to me: Underline those words!) to form a
new union amongst themselves, a South German Confederation, by
means of which they may take measures for bringing about a
national union with the united North. That treaty involves no
prescription, engagement or compulsion whatever to adopt such a
course. Any insinuation of that kind with respect to States whose
sovereignty has been emphatically recognised would be something
absolutely unheard of. In the Swiss war of the Sonderbund, and also
in the late American civil war, States were obliged against their own
will to remain within a union which they had previously joined, but no
one ever saw a sovereign State or Prince required to enter into
confederation against their own judgment. The South German
States, including half of Hesse, have unquestionably the right—
acting either in concert or singly—to endeavour, in co-operation with
the North, to advance the cause of national unity. The question is
whether the present is a good time to choose. The Chancellor of the
North German Confederation answers this question in the negative.
But it is only possible by the most wilful garbling of his expressions to
maintain that his final aim is not the union of Germany. Partition of
German national territory! Calumny! Not a single word of the
Chancellor’s justifies that conclusion. As Herr Lasker has not spoken
at the instance of the Government of Baden, although his speech
would almost convey the impression that he was a Minister of that
State, it is difficult to understand where he got that idea. Perhaps it
was merely the conceit of the honourable member that led him to
make such a statement.”
March 3rd.—The Minister wishes the Kölnische Zeitung first, and
afterwards the South German newspapers, to advocate the
organisation into one great party of all men of national views in the
South German States, so as to get rid of the particularism which had
hitherto divided them. “The matter lies much more in their hands,” he
said, “than in those of the North German National Liberals. The
North German Governments will do all that is possible in a
reasonable way in support of the efforts of South Germany. But the
South Germans who wish to unite with us must act together and not
singly. I want you to reiterate this point again and again. The article
must then be printed in the Spenersche Zeitung and in other
newspapers to which we have access, and it should be
accompanied by expressions of deep regret at the particularism
which prevents the union of the various Southern parties that
gravitate towards North Germany. A union of the four Southern
States is an impossibility, but there is nothing to hinder the formation
of a Southern League composed of men of national sentiments. The
National party in Baden, the German party in Würtemberg, and the
Bavarian Progressist party are merely different names for the same
thing. These groups have to deal with different Governments, and
some persons maintain that they must consequently adopt different
tactics. Their aims are nevertheless identical in all important points.
With the best will in the world those three parties, while acting singly,
produce but a slight impression. If they desire to go ahead and
become an important factor in public affairs, they must combine to
form a great and homogeneous South German National party which
must be reckoned with on both sides of the Main.”
Read over to the Minister, at his request, an article which he
ordered yesterday and for which he gave me the leading ideas. It
was to be dated from Paris, and published in the Kölnische Zeitung.
He said:—“Yes, you have correctly expressed my meaning. The
composition is good both as regards its reasoning and the facts
which it contains. But no Frenchman thinks in such logical and well-
ordered fashion, yet the letter is understood to be written by a
Frenchman. It must contain more gossip, and you must pass more
lightly from point to point. In doing so you must adopt an altogether
French standpoint. A Liberal Parisian writes the letter and gives his
opinion as to the position of his party towards the German question,
expressing himself in the manner usual in statements of that kind.”
(Finally Count Bismarck dictated the greater part of the article, which
was forwarded by Metzler in its altered form to the Rhenish
newspaper.)
In connection with this task the Minister said to me the day
before:—“I look at the matter in this way. A correspondent in Paris
must give his opinion of my quarrel with Lasker and the others over
the Baden question, and bring forward arguments which I did not
think it desirable to use at that time. He must say that no one could
deem it advisable in the present state of affairs in Bavaria, when the
King seems to be so well disposed, to do anything calculated on the
one hand to irritate him, and on the other to disturb the Constitutional
movement in France—which movement tended to preserve peace
while it would itself be promoted by the maintenance of peace.
Those who desire to advance the cause of liberty do not wish to go
to war with us, yet they could not swim against the stream if we took
any action in South Germany which public opinion would regard as
detrimental to the interests and prestige of France. Moreover, for the
present the course of the Vatican Council should not be interfered
with, as the result for Germany might possibly be a diversion. We
must wait for these things,” he added. “I cannot explain that to them.
If they were politicians they would see it for themselves. There are
reasons for forbearance which every one should be able to
recognise; but Members of Parliament who cross-question the
Government do not usually regard that as their duty.”
The second portion of the article which the Minister dictated runs
as follows:—“Whoever has had an opportunity of observing here in
Paris how difficult the birth of the present Constitutional movement
has been, what obstacles this latest development of French political
life has to overcome if it is to strike deep roots, and how powerful are
the influences of which the guiding spirit only awaits some pretext for
smothering the infant in its cradle, will understand with what anxiety
we watch the horizon abroad and what a profoundly depressing
effect every little cloud there produces upon our hopes of a secure
and peaceful development of the new régime. It is the ardent wish of
every sincere adherent of the Constitutional cause in France that
there should now be no diversion abroad, no change on the horizon
of foreign politics, which might serve if not as a real motive at least
as a pretext for crying down the youthful Constitutionalism of France,
while at the same time directing public attention to foreign relations.
We believe that the Emperor is in earnest, but his immediate
entourage, and the creatures whom he has to employ, are watching
anxiously for some event which shall enable them to compel the
Sovereign to abandon a course which they resent. These people are
very numerous, and have during the eighteen years of the Emperor’s
reign grown more powerful than is perhaps believed outside France.
Whoever has any regard for the Constitutional development of the
country can only hope that no alteration, however slight, shall occur
in the foreign relations of France to serve as a motive or pretext for
that reaction which every opponent of the Constitution is striving to
bring about.”
Between the directions for these articles, which I here bring
together as they relate to the same subject, I received others, some
of which I may also reproduce.
March 4th.—The Boersen Zeitung contained an article in which it
was alleged that in Germany only nobles were considered
competent to become Ministers. This the Count sent down to me to
be refuted in a short article, expressing surprise at such a statement.
“An absurd electioneering move!” the Chancellor said. “Whoever
wishes to persuade the world that in Prussia the position of Minister
is only open to the aristocracy, and that capable commoners have
absolutely no chance of attaining to it, must have no memory and no
eyes. Say that under Count Bismarck no less than three commoners
have, on his recommendation, been appointed Ministers within a
short period, namely Delbrück, Leonhard and Camphausen. Lasker,
it is true, has not yet been appointed.”
I wrote this short article immediately; but the Chancellor was not
pleased with it. “I told you expressly,” he said, “to mention the names
of Delbrück, Leonhard and Camphausen, and that their
appointments were due to my personal influence. Go straight to the
point, and don’t wander round about it in that way! That is no use! A
pointless article! They are just the cleverest of the present Ministers.
The attack on Lasker is also out of place. We must not provoke
people unnecessarily. They are right when they complain of
bullying.” The reference to Lasker consisted merely of his own words
as given above.
March 5th.—The Vossische Zeitung contained a bitter attack,
which culminated in the following remark: “Exceptional
circumstances—and such must be acknowledged to exist when
working men are treated to breech-loaders, and Ministers are
hanged on street lamps—cannot be taken as a rule for the regular
conduct of affairs.” The Count received this article from the Literary
Bureau of the Ministry of State (where extracts from the newspapers
were made for him), although it might well have been withheld, as
not much importance attaches to the scoldings of “Tante Voss.” The
Count sent for me, read over the passage in question, and observed:
“They speak of times when Ministers were hanged on street lamps.
Unworthy language! Reply that such a thing never occurred in
Prussia, and that there is no prospect of its occurring. In the
meantime it shows towards what condition of affairs the efforts of
that newspaper are tending, which (under the auspices of Jacoby
and Company) supplies the Progressist middle classes of Berlin with
their politics.”
Called in again later to the Count. I am to go to Geheimrath Hahn
and call his attention to the question of capital punishment, which in
view of the approaching elections should be dealt with in the
Provinzial-Correspondenz in accordance with the policy of the
Government, who desire its retention. The Minister said: “I am firmly
convinced that the majority of the population is opposed to its
abolition. Were it otherwise it would of course be possible to do away
with it. It is a mere theory—the sentimentality of lawyers in the
Reichstag—a party doctrine which has no connection with the life of
the people, although its advocates are constantly referring to the
people. Tell him that, but be cautious in dealing with him. He is
somewhat conceited—bureaucratic. Do it in a diplomatic way. You
must let him think that those are his own ideas. Otherwise we shall
not get anything useful out of him. Let me know afterwards what he
says.”
March 6th.—Have seen Hahn. He is of opinion that it is yet too
early to deal with this matter. It will probably end in a compromise,
capital punishment being only retained for murder. The attitude of the
Liberals in the elections can only be influenced after the decision in
the Reichstag. In the meantime he has instructed the Literary Bureau
to refute the article in the National Zeitung, and to show how sterile
the present Parliament would be if it allowed the long wished for
Criminal Code to be wrecked upon this question of capital
punishment. Report this to the Minister. He is of opinion that Hahn is
mistaken. “It is necessary to act in a diplomatic way in this case,” he
observed. “One must present an appearance of determination up to
the last moment; and if one wants to secure a suitable compromise,
show no disposition to give way; besides, Hahn must have no other
policy than mine. I shall speak to Eulenburg, and get him to set Hahn
straight. This must be put down at once. We must think in good time
about the elections.”
March 7th.—Sent Brass (Norddeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung) an
article written by Bucher under instructions from the Minister,
showing that the majority in the Reichstag does not represent public
opinion nor the will of the people, but only the opinions and desires
of the Parliamentary party.
Called to the Count in the evening, when he said: “I want you to
secure the insertion in the press of an article somewhat to the
following effect: For some time past vague rumours of war have
been current throughout the world for which no sufficient ground
exists in fact, or can be even suggested. The explanation is probably
to be sought in Stock Exchange speculation for a fall which has been
started in Paris. Confidential whispers are going about with regard to
the presence of Archduke Albrecht in the French capital which are
calculated to cause uneasiness; and then, naturally enough, these
rumours are shouted aloud and multiplied by the windbags of the
Guelph press.”
March 11th.—The Count wants an article in the National Zeitung
to be answered in this sense: “The Liberals in Parliament always
identify themselves with the people. They maintain, like Louis XIV.
with his L’état c’est moi, that ‘We are the People.’ There could hardly
be a more absurd piece of boasting and exaggeration. As if the other
representatives, the Conservatives in the country, and the great
numbers who belong to no party, were not also part of the nation,
and had no opinions and interests to which regard should be paid!”
Evening.—The Minister, referring to a statement in the
Norddeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung, remarked: “There is much ado
about the decided attitude taken up by Beust against the Curia.
According to the report published by Brass he has expressed himself
very emphatically respecting its latest action, in a note which the
Ambassador read to the Secretary of State. That must be refuted,
weakened. Do it in a letter from Rome to the Kölnische Zeitung. Say:
‘We do not know if the analysis of the despatch in question (which
has made the round of the papers, and which was first published by
The Times) is correct,[2] but we have reason to doubt it.’
Trautmansdorf (the Austrian Ambassador to the Holy See) has read
no note and has received no instructions to make any positive
declaration, but is on the contrary acting in accordance with his own
convictions—and it is known that he is very clerical and not at all
disposed to radical measures. He has communicated to Cardinal
Antonelli such parts of the information that reached him from Vienna
as he thought proper, and he certainly made that communication in
as considerate a form as possible. It cannot therefore have been
very emphatic.”
Later.—Attention is to be directed, at first in a paper which has no
connection with the Government, to the prolonged sojourn of
Archduke Albrecht in Paris as a suspicious symptom. In connection
with it rumours have been circulated in London of an understanding
between France and Austria. Our papers should afterwards
reproduce these hints.
March 12th.—In the afternoon Bucher gave me the chief’s
instructions to order the Spanish newspaper, Imparcial. (This is of
some importance, as it doubtless indicates that even then we had a
hand in the question of electing the new King. On several occasions
subsequently I secured the insertion in non-official German papers of
translations which Bucher brought me of articles in that newspaper
against the candidature of Montpensier.)
March 13th.—The Chancellor wishes to have it said in one of the
“remote” journals (that is, not notoriously connected with the
Government) that the Pope has paid no regard to the
representations of France and Austria respecting the principal points
which should be decided by the Council. He would not have done so
even if those representations had been expressed in a more
emphatic form than they actually were. Neither Banneville nor
Trautmansdorf was inclined to heartily defend the cause of the State
against the Ultramontanes. This disposes of the news of the
Mémorial Diplomatique to the effect that at the suggestion of Count
Daru the Curia has already given an affirmative answer. That report
is absolutely false, as is nearly all the news published by the paper in
question. It is much the same with Count Beust’s note to the Papal
Government. (“Quote the word ‘note,’” added the Minister.) It was
only a despatch, and, doubtless, a very tame one.
March 16th, evening.—Called up to the Minister, who lay on the
sofa in his study. “Here,” he said (pointing to a newspaper). “They
complain of the accumulation of labour imposed upon Parliament.
Already eight months’ hard work! That must be answered. It is true
that members of Parliament have a great deal to do, but Ministers
are still worse off. In addition to their work in the two Diets the latter
have an immense amount of business to transact for the King and
the country both while Parliament is sitting and during the recess.
Moreover, members have the remedy in their own hands. If those
who do not belong to the Upper Chamber will abstain from standing
for election both to the Prussian and the Federal Diet they will lighten
their task sufficiently. They are not obliged to sit in both Houses.”
March 21st.—I am to call attention in the semi-official organs to
the fact that the Reichstag is discussing the Criminal Code far too
minutely and slowly. “The speakers,” observed the Count, “show too
great a desire for mere talk, and are too fond of details and hair-
splitting. If this continues the Bills will not be disposed of in the
present Session, especially as the Budget has still to be discussed.
The President might well exercise stricter control. Another
unsatisfactory feature is that so many members absent themselves

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