Faithful transformation of quasi-isotropic to Weyl–Papapetrou coordinates: a prerequisite to compare metrics

G Pappas, T A Apostolatos
2008 Classical and quantum gravity  
We demonstrate how one should transform correctly quasi-isotropic coordinates to Weyl-Papapetrou coordinates in order to compare the metric around a rotating star that has been constructed numerically in the former coordinates with an axially symmetric stationary metric that is given through an analytical form in the latter coordinates. Since a stationary metric associated with an isolated object that is built numerically partly refers to a non-vacuum solution (interior of the star) the
more » ... mation of its coordinates to Weyl-Papapetrou coordinates, which are usually used to describe vacuum axisymmetric and stationary solutions of Einstein equations, is not straightforward in the non-vacuum region. If this point is not taken into consideration, one may end up to erroneous conclusions about how well a specific analytical metric matches the metric around the star, due to fallacious coordinate transformations.
doi:10.1088/0264-9381/25/22/228002 fatcat:6rdveephxza27ldzkmnjiqvata