Tetrad Formulation of the Einstein Field Equations: The Newman-Penrose Equations

Summary:
The Einstein field equations can be formulated in terms of null tetrads. In turn, this sets the stage for the ( ) C , 2 SL
theoretic representation of gravitational dynamics, presented by Carmeli (discussed in Chapter 10 of his 1983 Classical
Fields treatise), as well as other related formalisms, like the Newman-Penrose equations or Ashtekar representation.
The following will introduce the requisite background.

This is a legacy article from my archive coming from several years back. Time permitting, it will be reformatted, and
redone, with some of the material covered by the original Newman-Penrose papers added in.

Mark Hopkins

What follows here is something almost never seen in the literature a presentation of the spinor calculus in invariant,
algebraic form that is significantly simplified relative to the index-based notation seen in the current literature, and
more intuitive geometrically (as well as more robust; for instance, we go far beyond the well-known decomposition of
2-forms while also explaining its origin). This is applied to the end of not just providing a more transparent and
geometrically intuitive development of the Newman-Penrose formalism; but going beyond it, exposing its oversights
and showing how one might generalize to Riemann-Cartan geometry, which is the geometry in which spinor-valued
quantities actually reside.

To achieve this end, weve adopted two novel elements. First, instead of regarding the relation between tangent frame
( )
3 2 1 0
, , , e e e e and the spinor bases ( )
1 0
, Q Q and ( )
1 0
, Q Q merely as an isomorphism
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
a
a
A A A
A
A
A
A A
a a
e Q Q Q Q e Q Q Q Q e e e e = =
1
1 0
1 0 3 2 1 0
, , , , , , ,
we regard it as an identity
a
a
A A A
A
A
A
A A
a a
e Q Q Q Q e = = ,
expressing an actual factoring of the tangent basis
( ) ( ) ( )
1 0
1 0 3 2 1 0
, , , , , Q Q Q Q e e e e = .
The fact that the equivalence is being raised to an identity means that the coefficients will simply drop out of the
picture. This places restrictive assumptions on the possible forms a connection can take, since the relation 0 = is
now engrained into the notation, itself. The covariant derivative of the metric loses 9 of its 10 degrees of freedom,
reducing to the form

hg g = , where

dx h h = is the trace part of the connection. The 16 degrees of freedom of

the local ( ) 4 GL frame symmetry reduce to 7 degrees of freedom: the 6 degrees of the Lorentz group ( ) 1 , 3 SO (and its
covering group ( ) C , 2 SL ), combined with the extra degree of freedom associated with scale symmetry.

Second, the tensor products between conjugate spinor bases are assumed to commute, i.e.,
A
A A
A
Q Q Q Q = .
This work in conjunction with the (anti-linear) conjugation map
A A
Q Q K : to gives us hermiticity in the
coefficients,
( )
A B
a
B A
a
A
B
B A
a B
A
B A
a
A
A
B A
a
B
A
B A
a a a
Q Q Q Q Q Q K Q Q Ke e = = = = = ,
when we apply the reality condition
a a
Ke e = on the frame.

The commutativity condition dovetails with the supersymmetry relation
{ }
a
a
A A A
A
e Q Q 2 , = ,
and, in fact, provides us with a direct algebraic realization of the identity by way of the following
{ }
a
a
A A A
A A
A A
A
A
A
e Q Q Q Q Q Q Q Q 2 2 , = = + = .

1. The Null Tetrad and Spinor Frame
Following Newman and Penrose, a null tetrad of basis vectors
( ) ( )

n m m l n m m l = , , , , , ,
is introduced at each point of a Riemannian manifold with signature ( ) + , , , . The tetrad consists of two real null
vectors n l, , and a pair of conjugate complex null vectors m m, . The metric components in terms of the null basis
consist of
m m m m nl ln
g g g g = = = = 1 , 1 ,
with all other components being 0. The dual basis will be denoted, here, by
( ) ( )

dx N dx M dx M dx L N M M L , , , , , , = ,
and the two sets of bases will be generically denoted, here, by
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) N M M L n m m l e e e e
n m m l
n m m l
, , , , , , , , , , , , , = = .
In terms of the dual basis, the metric is given by
M M N L L N M M M M N L dx dx g g

= + = = .

For a given orthonormal basis ( )
3 2 1 0
, , , e e e e with metric given in terms of the dual basis ( )
3 2 1 0
, , , by
3 3 2 2 1 1 0 0
g = ,
a null frame can be defined by
( ) ( )
|
|

\
| + +
=
|
|

\
| + +
=
2
,
2
,
2
,
2
, , , ,
2
,
2
,
2
,
2
, , ,
3 0 2 1 2 1 3 0
3 0 2 1 2 1 3 0
i i
N M M L
e e ie e ie e e e
n m m l .

The dual frame ( ) N M M L , , , : 4 may be factored in terms of the frame ( ) , : 2 and its conjugate ( ) , : 2 by
= = = = = = = = N M M L , , , .
Correspondingly, there is the factoring of the frame ( ) n m m l , , , :
*
4 in terms of ( ) , :
*
2 and ( ) , :
*
2 by
n m m l = = = = = = = = , , , .
Denoting the frames and dual frames generically by
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) = = = = , , , , , , , , , , ,


Q Q Q Q ,
we may write the factoring relations as
a A A
a
A A
a
a
A A A
A
A A a
A A
a
A
A
A A
a a
e Q Q Q Q e = = = = , , ,
where the only non-zero components of the two soldering forms are
n


n
m


m
m


m
l


l
= = = = = = = = 1 , 1 , 1 , 1 .
Adopting the convention that the tensor products from conjugate basis commute serves as a way to implement the
relation
A
A
A A
a a A
A
A A
a
Q Q e Q Q = =
out of which comes the identity
( )
A A
a
A A
a
=
*

that establishes the Hermitian nature of the matrices ( )
A A
a a
= .

With the basis decomposition and commutativity convention, the metric can be factored as
.
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
( ) ( )
,
g
=
=
+ =
+ =

from which we obtain the metrics
= = , ,
respectively for
*
2 and
*
2 .

We have the following decomposition
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) 1 3 3 1 3 3 1 1 3 1 3 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 4 4 = = = = ,
which splits into the anti-symmetric and symmetric parts, respectively as
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) 3 3 1 1 4 4 1 3 3 1 4 4 = = , .
This decomposition is realized by the following relations, illustrated for the product M L ,
( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
( ) ( )
( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
( ) ( )
0
2
O I I O O O
O I O O I O O O
O O I O I O O O
O I - I O O O
O I O O I O O O
O O I O I O O O

L M M L M L

L M M L M L
=
+ =
+ =
+ =
+ =
=
=
=
=
=
+ +

where we introduce the spin 1 basis 3 and its conjugate 3 by
( ) ( )
|
|

\
|

+
=
|
|

\
|

+
=
+ +
,
2
, , , : , ,
2
, , , :
0 0
3 3 .
The complete set of decompositions are given in the following tables
0
2
0
2
2
0
2
0
0 0
0 0
0 0
0 0


N


M


M

L
N M M L

+

+
+
+ +

and

+ +
+ +
+ + + +

N


M


M

L
N M M L
2 2 2
2
2 2
2
2
2
2
2 2
2
2 2 2
0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0

For the symmetric product 4 4 , the 3 3 part yields the traceless part, while 1 1 yields the trace and is realized
by the above decomposition of the metric g = .

A 2-form

F F =
2
1
can, thus, be decomposed as
+ = F
where
+ +
+
+
+ = +
+
+ = F
F F
F F
F F
F
mn
m m ln
m l n m
m m ln
lm
0 0
2
,
2
.
Written in terms of the spin-1 components

+
+

+
+
+ + = + + =
0
0
0
0
2 , 2 ,
this becomes
( ) ( )
|
|

\
| +
=
|
|

\
| +
=
+ + mn
m m ln
m l n m
m m ln
lm
F
F F
F F
F F
F ,
2
, , , , ,
2
, , ,
0 0
.

A symmetric rank 2 tensor

R R =
2
1
decomposes as
( )
( ) ( )
( ). 2
.
2
2 2
2
0
0 0
0
+
+
+ +
+ + +

+ + + + +
+ + =
R R R

R R
R R R R
R R R R
nn n m m m
m m ln
mn m m ln m l
mm lm ll

This may be written as
R g R

A A
A A
+ =
4
1

where
|
|
|
|

\
|
+ =
|
|
|

\
|

+
+
+
+
+ +
nn n m m m
mn m m ln m l
mm lm ll
R R R
R R R R
R R R
2
2 2
2
0
0
0 0 0
0
.

2. The Connection Coefficients
The connection coefficients are defined by
( ) ( )
c b a abc
c
b a
c
ab
e e g e , , = = ,
and the connection 1-forms by
a
abc bc
a c
ab
a
b
= = , .
For metrical connections (i.e., those in which the covariant derivative of the metric vanishes), the connection 1-forms
are anti-symmetric in their two indices. In such a case, we may write the connection 1-forms in terms of the 12 spin
coefficients by
|
|
|
|
|

\
|

+

+
=
|
|
|
|
|

\
|
+ +
+
+

0 0
0 0
0 0
0 0
0
0
0
0








n
n
n
m
n
m
n
l
m
n
m
m
m
m
m
l
m
n
m
m
m
m
m
l
l
n
l
m
l
m
l
l

where
N M M L N M M L N M M L + + + = + + + = + + + =
+
, ,
0
.

The covariant gradient may be defined by
v v
a
a
= .
For the frame basis, this reduces to the following relations
c
c
b c
a c
ab c
c
ab
a
b a
a
b
e e e e e = = = = .

The metrical convention may be generalized. First, if we only require that the connection respect the basis
decomposition 2 2 4 = (or equivalently: that the covariant derivative of the
A A
a
be zero), then the connection
decomposes into connections
a C
aB
C
B
= and
a C
B a
C
B
= on the component bases

=
=

=
=
C
C
B B
C
C
B B
C
C
B a B a
C
C
aB B a





such that
( ) ( ) ( )
C
B
C
B
C
B
C
B
B B
b
C C
c
c
b
B
a B
B
B a
B B
b
B
B a
B B
b b a
e + = + = = .
Out of this come the identities
|
|
|
|
|

\
|
+
+
+
+
=
|
|
|
|
|

\
|

n
n
n
m
n
m
n
l
m
n
m
m
m
m
m
l
m
n
m
m
m
m
m
l
l
n
l
m
l
m
l
l








0
0
0
0
.
The connection is metrical only if
( ) ( ) 0
2
0 = = + + + = + + +
h
h

n
n
m
m
m
m
l
l
.
Otherwise, it reduces to a metrical part
g
and the homothetic potential
a
a
h =
( )
4
h

c
b
c
b
g
c
b
+ = .
In that case, we have the following decompositions of the spinor connections in terms of the Newman-Penrose
coefficients and homothetic potential
|
|
|
|

\
|

+
=
|
|

\
|
|
|
|
|

\
|

+
=
|
|

\
|
+

0
0
0
0
2
,
2
,
2
,
2

.
This leads directly to the second generalization. If we require the connection to actually be metrical, we can still have
the two traces 0 =
A
A
A
A
. Just as h relates to the covariant derivative of the metric
ab
ab
g g h =
2
1

so the traces of the spinor connections relate to the covariant derivatives of the spinor metrics
B A
B A
A
A
AB
AB
A
A
h h = = = =
2
1
,
2
1
.
So, a non-zero trace on the spinor connections indicates that and have equal and opposite covariant derivatives.

3. The Structure Coefficients
The Newman-Penrose formalism introduces the following notation for the derivative operators
( ) ( ) ( ) n m m l D
n m m l
, , , , , , , , , = = .
In large measure, this extra notation is superfluous, since it is already a part of the prevailing convention that the
tangent vectors are identified with their corresponding differential operators. One may adopt the notation
a a
e = to
make more explicit the intent to denote the differential operator, if necessary.

The first part of the Newman-Penrose equations defines the structure coefficients of the frame. In general, one has the
following relations
[ ]
b a c
ab
c
c
c
ab b a
f d e f e e = =
2
1
, , .
From the second of the structure coefficient relations, via the identities 0
2
=
c
d , one obtains the generalized Jacobi
relations
0 = + + + + +
d
cs
s
ab
d
bs
s
ca
d
as
s
bc
d
ab c
d
ca b
d
bc a
f f f f f f f e f e f e
Here, this leads directly to compatibility conditions derived from the identities
0
2 2 2 2
= = = = N d M d M d L d
that represent both the first integral of, and integrability conditions for, the Bianchi identities. Amazingly enough, these
equations are completely overlooked in the Newman-Penrose formalism. There are 16 of these relations (4
combinations of d multiplied by the 4 independent anti-symmetric combinations of c b a , , ). There are 6 conjugate
pairs and 4 anti-self-dual equations. The identities may be equivalently stated, instead, as the first Bianchi identities,
which reduces to an algebraic relation involving the curvature tensor in the absence of torsion. In fact, these are the
relations that reduce the 6 6 components of the 6 curvature 2-forms down to the 20 components of the Riemann
tensor. This will be done below.

Newman-Penrose takes place in Riemannian geometry, which is distinguished as the special case of Riemann-Cartan
geometry where the torsion is zero:
b c
b
c c b c
b
c
d d = = = + 0 .
For a null-tetrad, this leads to the relations
( ) ( )
( ) ( ) . ,
, ,
0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0
N M M dN N M L M d
N M L dM M M L dL
+ + + = + =
+ = + =
+ + +
+

Upon substitution, this yields the following exterior differential for the frame 4

( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) .
,
,
,
N M M L N M M L M M N L dN
N M M L N M M L M M N L M d
N M M L N M M L M M N L dM
N M M L N M M L M M N L dL
+ + + + + + + + =
+ + + + =
+ + + + =
+ + + + + + + + =

The corresponding equations for the Lie brackets of the frame
*
4 are
[ ] ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) [ ] ( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
[ ] ( ) ( ) [ ] ( ) ( )
[ ] ( ) ( ) [ ] ( ) ( ) . , , ,
, , , ,
, , , ,
n m m l m n n m m l m n
n m m l l m n m m l l m
n m m l m m n m m l l n
+ + + = + + + =
+ + + = + + + =
+ + + = + + + + + =


The exterior differentials of the 2 and 3 form bases can be derived from those for the frame 4 ; e.g.,
( )
( ) ( ) . 2 2 N M M N M L N M L M M L
dM L M dL M L d
+ + + =
=

For the 2-form basis, this leads to the following results
( ) ( ) ( )
( ) ( ) ( )
( ) ( ) ( )
( ) ( ) ( )
.
2
, 2 2
, 2 2
,
2
, 2 2
, 2 2
N M M N M L N M L M M L
M M N L
d
N M M N M L N M L M M L N M d
N M M N M L N M L M M L M L d
N M M N M L N M L M M L
M M N L
d
N M M N M L N M L M M L N M d
N M M N M L N M L M M L M L d
+ + =
+
+ + =
+ + =
+ =
+
+ + =
+ + + =

For the 3-form basis, we have
( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) . ,
, ,
N M M L N M M d N M M L N M L d
N M M L N M L d N M M L M M L d
+ = + =
+ = + =


Three conjugate pairs of compatibility relations may be derived by taking the second exterior derivatives of the 2-form
basis elements. This will be left as an exercise.

4. The Newman-Penrose Equations
The remaining 2 sets of Newman-Penrose equations are the spin-coefficient equations and the Bianchi identities.

The spin-coefficient equations come from the second Cartan equations
c
b
a
c
a
b
a
b
d + = .
Like the connection 1-form, the curvature 2-forms are also anti-symmetric in their two indices, so they can be
expressed in spin 1 form:
|
|
|
|
|

\
|

+

+
=
|
|
|
|
|

\
|




+ +
+
+

0 0
0 0
0 0
0 0
0
0
0
0
n
n
n
m
n
m
n
l
m
n
m
m
m
m
m
l
m
n
m
m
m
m
m
l
l
n
l
m
l
m
l
l
.
The second Cartan structure equations then reduce to following set of equations
+ + + +
+ = + = + = d d d
0 0 0 0
2 , , 2 .
This gives us 18 complex coefficients in all or 36 real coefficients, reflecting the ( ) ( ) 4 4 4 4 decomposition.

Note that the structure coefficients enter into these expressions by virtue of the exterior differential. Consequently, the
equations are actually better expressed with the structure coefficients made explicit, than with their elimination. This is
particularly important, if one has in mind the generalization to the non-zero torsion case of Riemann-Cartan geometry.
In the following, however, the structure coefficients will be eliminated in favor of the connection coefficients.

The first Bianchi identities, in the presence of torsion, come from the exterior differential of the first Cartan structure
equations
b c
b
b c
b
c c b c
b
c
d d = + = + .
In the absence of torsion, this reduces to the algebraic relations
( )
b c
b
b c
b
c b c
b
c
d d d = = = =
2
0 .
For the null tetrad, this leads to the identities
( ) ( )
( ) ( ) . 0 , 0
, 0 , 0
0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0
= + + + = +
= + + = + + +
+ + +
+
N M M N M L
N M L M M L

This allows us to reduce the curvature 2-forms from 36 components to 20 components, in the following form
( ) ( ) ( )
( ) ( ) ( )
( )( ) ( )
( ) ( ) ( )
( ) ( ) ( )
( ) ( ) ( ). 2 2 2
2
, 2 2
, 2 2 2
2
22
0
21 20 4
0
3 2
22 21 20 4 3 2
12
0
11 10 3
0
2 1
12 11 10 3 2 1 0
02
0
01 00 2
0
1 0
02 01 00 2 1 0
+ +

+ +
+ +
+
+ + + + + + =
+ + + + + + + + =
+ + + + + =
+ + + + + + + =
+ + + + + + =
+ + + + + + + + =

N M M M N L M L N M M M N L M L

N M M M N L M L N M M M N L M L

N M M M N L M L N M M M N L M L

This is subject to the conditions that

= and = .

When the structure coefficients are eliminated, and this expansion is substituted into the second Cartan equations, this
leads to the spin coefficient equations as follows:
( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
( ) ( )
( ) ( )
( ) ( )
( ) ( )

= + + + +
= + +
+ = + + +
= + +
= + + +
+ = + + +
+ =
+
+
+
+
+
+
+ + +
02
00
2
0
01 1
01 1
0
3
3
2
3 3
3
3
2
n m
m l
n m
m l
m m
n l
d
f
e
d
c
b
a

( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
( ) ( )
( ) ( )

= + + + + + +
= + + + +
= + + + + +
= + + + + +
= + + + + +
+ = + + + + +
+ =
+
12 0
10 0
3 0
1 0
11 2 0
11 2 0
0 0
n m
m l
n m
m l
m m
n l
d
f
e
d
c
b
a

( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
( ) ( )
( ) ( )
( ) ( )
( ) ( )

= + + + + + +
= + + + +
= + + + + + +
+ = + + + + +
= + + + + +
+ = + + + + +
+ =

22
20
4
2
21 3
21 3
0
3
3
3 3
2
3
3
2
n m
m l
n m
m l
m m
n l
d
f
e
d
c
b
a


Bear in mind that despite the complexity of the calculations, the individual components of the curvature tensor are not
difficult to work out. For instance, we have
[ ]
( )
( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
( ) ( ) . 3 3
2
2
, 0 , , 0 , , , , ,
, 0
m l
m l
m l

l m m l m l l m
lm
+ + =
+ + + + + =
+ =
=
+ + + + +
+


The compatibility relations can be read directly off from the equations above. They are the following 16 independent
linear combinations of these equations, and their conjugates, in which , and are eliminated:
. , , , , , , ,
, , , , , , , ,
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
+ + + + + +
+ + + + + +
+ + +
+ + +
d a d a f f e f c d f d b f d a e c b e c a
b a b a e e e f c d f d b f d a e c b e c a

The last of the linear combinations can be equivalently substituted by either of the following forms
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 + + + +
+ + + + a d a d b d b d a c a c b c b c .
Thus, for instance, the linear combination
+
e f yields the following identity
( ) ( ) ( )( ) m n l + + + = + + + + + 3 3 .

Finally, the second Bianchi identities
0 = +
c
a
a
b
a
b
c
a
c
b
d
reduce to the following form
0 2 2 , 0 , 0 2 2
0 0 0 0 0
= + = + = +
+ + + + +
d d d .
Upon substitution, this leads to the final set of the Newman-Penrose equations: the spin coefficient form of the Bianchi
identities. These can be separately derived from the compatibility relations. In turn, the compatibility relations may be
seen as the first integral of the Bianchi identities. As mentioned above, their omission is a complete oversight of the
Newman-Penrose formalism.

The spin-coefficient forms of the Bianchi identities can be derived from the compatibility relations.
( ) ( )
( ) ( )
( ) ( )
( ) ( )
( ) ( )
( )
( ) ( )
( )
( ) ( )
( )
( ) ( )
( )
( ) ( )
( ) ( )
( ) ( )
( ) ( ) , 2 2 2 2 2
4 2 2 3
, 2 2 2 2 2
4 2 2 3
, 2 2
2 3 2
, 2 2
2 3 2
, 2 2
2 3 2
, 2 2
2 3 2
, 2 2 2 2 2
3 2 2 4
, 2 2 2 2 2
3 2 2 4
22 21 20 12 11
4 3 2 22 21 4 3
22 21 20 11 10
4 3 2 21 20 4 3
22 21 12 11 10 02 01
4 3 2 1 12 11 3 2
21 20 12 11 10 01 00
4 3 2 1 11 10 3 2
22 21 12 11 10 02 01
3 2 1 0 12 11 2 1
21 20 12 11 10 01 00
3 2 1 0 11 10 2 1
12 11 02 01 00
2 1 0 02 01 1 0
11 10 02 01 00
2 1 0 01 00 1 0

m n m n

m n l m

m n m n

m n l m

l m m n

l m l m

l m m n

l m l m
+ + + +
+ + = +
+ + + +
+ + = +
+ + + +
+ + = +
+ + + +
+ + = +
+ + + +
+ + = +
+ + + +
+ + = +
+ + + +
+ + + = +
+ + + +
+ + = +

and
( ) ( )
( ) ( )
( ) ( )
( ) ( )
( ) ( )
( ) ( )
( ) ( )
( ) ( ) . 2 2 2
2 2 2
3
, 2 2 2 2
2 2 2
3
,
2 2 2
2 2 2 2 3
,
2 2 2
2 2 2 2 3
22 21 20
12 11 10
02 01 11 12 21 22
22 21 20
12 11 10
01 00 10 11 20 21
22 21
12 11 10
02 01 00 01 02 11 12
21 20
12 11 10
02 01 00 00 01 10 11


n n m m l


m n m m l


m n m m l


l n m m l
+ + +
+ + + +
= + +
+ + +
+ + +
= + +
+
+ +
+ + + = + +
+
+ + +
+ + + = + +


5. Tetrad Components
Because of the [anti-]symmetry properties

R R R R R = = = , ,
the Riemann tensor may be regarded as a linear combination over symmetric products constructed from the 2-form
basis
( ) ( )

R R =
8
1
.
The basis decomposes as
( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ). 3 3 3 3 1 1 3 3
3 1 1 3 3 1 1 3 4 4 4 4

=

In turn, the symmetric products of spin 1-bases decomposes as
1 5 3 3 = ,
where we introduce the spin 2 basis 5 by
, ,
2
,
6
2
,
2
,
0 0
0 0
0
0 0

+ +
+ +
+ + + + +
=
+
=
+ +
=
+
= =






with a similar definition for the conjugate basis 5 . So, we can write
( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
( ) ( ) ( ). 3 3 1 1 1 1 5 1 1 5
3 1 1 3 3 1 1 3 4 4 4 4
=
=


The decomposition for the symmetric product of spin-1 basis elements is realized through the following table

+
+ + + +
+
+

Z Z
Z Z

Z Z Z Z
Z Z
Z Z

2 2
2
6
2 6 2
2
6
2 2
0
0 0
0
0

where
+ + + +
+ = + = Z Z
0 0 0 0
, .

The 3 3 sector is realized through the decomposition
( ) ( )
( ) ( ) .



+ =
+ =

This corresponds to the traceless part R g R S
4
1
= of the Ricci tensor

R R = . The tensors from which these
derive are
( ) ( ) ( ) ( )|

\
|

g g g
4
1
.

The components of the traceless part of the Ricci tensor may be written
22 21 12 11
21 20 11 10
12 11 02 01
11 10 01 00
2 2 2 2
2 2 2 2
2 2 2 2
2 2 2 2
S
S
S
S
S S S S S
n
m
m
l
n m m l

In explicit form, making use of the decomposition ( ) ( ) 1 1 3 3 4 4 = , the tensor may be written as
S S S

2
2
1
= = =
where
+ + + + + +
+ + + + + + + + =
22
0
21 20
0
12
0 0
11
0
10 02
0
01 00
2 2 2 2 2
and

= . The components of satisfy the conjugacy condition

= . When substituted into the
decomposition for the Riemann tensor, we have
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
( ). 4
4
1

g S g g g R

+ =
= |

\
|



The two 1 1 sectors correspond to the scalar and pseudo-scalar parts of the tensor, which are respectively multiples
of the following
( ) ( )

g g , .
Up to proportionality, the scalar form is
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) , 2 2 Z Z M M M M N L N L N M M L N M M L + +
while the pseudo-scalar form is
( ) ( ) Z Z N M M L .
The scalar part of the Riemann tensor is, up to proportionality, the curvature scalar = 24 R , while the pseudo-scalar
part vanishes because of the identity 0 = + +

R R R . When substituted into the decomposition of the
Riemannian tensor, we have
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) , 24 Z Z g Rg


+ = .

Finally, the 1 5 and 5 1 sectors correspond to the Weyl tensor part of the Riemann tensor. In an n -dimensional
spacetime, this may be written as
( )( )
R
n n
g g g g
n
R g R g R g R g
R C


1 2 2

+
+ = .
In 4 dimensions, with the ( ) + , , , signature, its components with respect to the null frame are given by the following
table
4 3 3 2
4 3 3 2
3 3 2 2 2 2 1 1
3 3 2 2 2 2 1 1
2 1 1 0
2 1 1 0
0 0
0 0
0 0
0 0
C
C
C
C
C
C
C C C C C C C
mn
n m
m m
ln
m l
lm
mn n m m m ln m l lm


+
+



The components are
( ) ( )
n m n m n m ln n m lm lmln lmlm
C C C C C , , , , , , , ,
4 3 2 1 0
= .
The tensor, itself, may be written as
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) C C C

= = =
8
1

where
+ + + + + +
+ + + + = + + + + = Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z
4 3
0
2 1 0 4 3
0
2 1 0
2 6 2 , 2 6 2 .

Combining these components, we obtain the following expression for the Riemannian tensor
( ) ( )
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) .
8
1
Z Z
R R R

=
= =

The corresponding expression for the curvature 2-form is
( )


R =
2
1
.
So, the basis decomposition can be arrived at directly by applying the spin-1 reduction to the factor on the left, and then
to the 2-forms contained on the right on the

, and finally, applying the symmetry property

R R = .

When generalizing to the curvature for metrical connections other than the Levi-Civita connection, this last symmetry
property will be lost, and the decomposition will generalize to the full tensor product
( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) 1 3 3 1 1 3 3 1
3 3 1 1 1 1 3 3
3 1 1 3 3 1 1 3 4 4 4 4

=
=

rather than to just the symmetric part. This corresponds to the addition of the pseudo-scalar part, the loss of the identity

= and the expansion of the 6-components of the bases 3 3 and 3 3 to 9 components each. This brings the
total up to 36 components.

6. The Covariant Exterior Derivatives and Optical Scalars
The connection 1-forms give us the exterior covariant derivatives of the null frame basis. Upon substitution into the
equation
c
c
b b
e e =
we obtain
( )
( )
( )
( ) n m m n
n m l m
n m l m
m m l l
+ + =
+ =
+ =
+ =

+
+
+ +
0 0
0 0
0 0
0 0


The optical scalars are conventionally defined in terms of the covariant derivative of the vector l , which can be
expanded in terms of the connection coefficients as
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
( ) ( )
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ). m m l N m m l M m m l M m m l L
m N M M L m N M M L
l N M M L l
+ + + + + + + =
+ + + + + +
+ + + + + + + =

They geometrically characterize the null congruence corresponding to the flow of the vector field l and are given by
the following coefficients
Expansion (or Divergence)
( )
2 2
1
l

+ +
= =
Twist (or Curl or Rotation)
( )( ) ( )
( ) ( )
2 4 8
2
2
2

l l l l

+ + + + +

+ +
=
+ +
=
Shear (or Distortion)
2 2
=

If the vector flow is a null geodesic congruence, then = = 0 and, with a suitable selection of an affine parameter,
we can make 0 = + . Consequently, the optical scalars reduce to the form

=
+
=
2
,
2
,
2
.

7. The Electromagnetic and Gauge Fields
The electromagnetic field strength is given by the 2-form

dx dx F F =
2
1
, which expressed in term of the null
basis becomes
+ = F ,
where
+ +
+ + = +
+
+ = F
F F
F
n m
m m ln
lm 2
0
1 0
0
2
2

where
n m
m m ln
lm
F
F F
F =
+
= =
2 1 0
,
2
, .
This relation can be inverted to yield
( ) ( ) N M M M N L M L N M M M N L M L F + + + + + + + =
2 1 0 2 1 0
.

Expanding the potential 1-form

dx A A = in null frame components

N A M A M A L A A
n m l
m
+ + + = ,
we can write the field-potential relations ( dA F = ) as
( ) ( )
( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) .
, 2
,
2
1
0
m l m n
m m l n
n m l m
A A A n A m
A m A m A n A l
A A A m A l
+ + + + =
+ + + + + + + + + =
+ + + =

Note the appearance of the structure coefficients. These come out of the expansion of the exterior differentials of the
co-frame vectors in dA .

For a non-Abelian gauge field, the components of the potential reside in a Lie algebra and the field-potential relations
are modified to
2
A dA F + = . The same equations may be therefore used for the spin-1 components, with the addition
of the following terms [ ]
m l
A A , , [ ] [ ]
m m n l
A A A A , , + and [ ]
n m
A A , on the right hand sides of the equations respectively
for
0
,
1
2 and
2
.

The homogeneous Maxwell equations 0 = dF can be derived by applying the expressions for the exterior
differentials of the 2-form frame,
( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) . 2 2 2 2
, 2 2 2 2
, 2 2 2 2
, 2 2 2 2
0 1 2 0 1 2
0 1 2 0 1 2
0 1 2 0 1 2
0 1 2 0 1 2
+ + = + + +
+ + = + + +
+ + = + +
+ + = + +
n m n m
n m m l
m l n m
m l m l

The field-potential relations for non-Abelian fields generalize to 0 = + FA AF dF . This comes down to making the
following additions to the respective equations:
[ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
[ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
[ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
[ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]. , , , ,
, , , , ,
, , , , ,
, , , , ,
1 2 1 2
0 1 1 2
1 2 0 1
0 1 0 1
+ = +
+ = +
+ = +
+ = +
n m n m
n m m l
m l n m
m l m l
A A A A
A A A A
A A A A
A A A A






The dual field form

G G
2
1
= is defined by

L
G ,
where L is the Lagrangian density of the underlying dynamics. To evaluate this tensor we first need to reduce the
frame 4-form
3 2 1 0
= in terms of the null frame basis
N M M iL
N L M M
i
M M N L
=

+
= =
2 2 2 2
3 2 1 0
.
From this, we obtain the following contractions (
l
l , etc.)
, , , , M M iL N M iL N M iL N M iM
n m m l
= = = =
for the dual 3-form bases, and (
lm l
m , etc.)
. , ,
, , ,
M iL M M i M iL
N iM N iL N M i
mn ln n m
m l m m lm
= = =
= = =

Thus, we obtain the following expression for the dual field 2-form
( )
( ) ( )
,
2 2
2 2
2
0
1 0 2
0
1 0
0 0
G G
G G G G G G
G
G G
G G
G G
G
G G G G G G
+ =
+ + + + + =
|
|

\
|
+

+
|
|

\
|
+
+
=
+ + =
+ +
+ +


i i
N M M L N M M L M M N L i G
m l
ln m m
mn lm
ln m m
n m
m l mn lm n m ln m m

where
+
+ + =
G G G G
2
0
1 0
2 and
lm
ln m m
n m
i i i G
G G
G
G G G
=
+
= =
2 1 0
,
2
, .
The constitutive law for the free Maxwell field, under the Lorentz relations, is
1

( ) = = = c i F c G F g g g c


0
*
0 0
G
G .
For gauge groups, the Lorentz relations generalize to the Yang-Mills-Lorentz relations, which characterize the
special case of gauge fields known as Yang-Mills fields:

( )
*
.
a a a
b ab b ab b ab
k gg g F G k F ik = = =
G
G

Part of this characterization also includes the assumption that the metric be adjoint-invariant, which means

( )
0 .
d
abc acb abc cd ab
f f f k f + =
The indices are taken with respect to a Lie basis ( )
a
Y and its dual basis
( )
a
Y .

The energy-momentum tensor density for the electromagnetic field is given by
L G T

F = .
The corresponding tensor is the 3-current
( )

M
T F G L = = T ,
where N M M L i L
M
= = L L is the Lagrangian 4-form corresponding to the density L . The contractions with
the Lagrangian 4-form produce the following
, , ,
M l M m M m M n
l L m L m L n L = = = = L L L L .

The contractions with the field strength tensor are
( ) ( )
( ) ( )
0 0 1 1 0 1 1 2
0 1 1 2 1 1 2 2
, ,
, .
l F M M N m F L M N
m F L M N n F L M M
= + + + = + +
= + + = +



The wedge products of the dual tensor G with the members of the null frame gives us
( ) ( )
( ) ( ) . ,
, ,
0 0 1 1 0 2 1 1
0 2 1 1 2 2 1 1
m m l n l m
n l m m m n
G iN G M i
G iM G iL
G G G G G G G G
G G G G G G G G
+ = + =
+ + + = + =

From this, we obtain the current 3-forms

1
In 4 dimensions, the power of c that appears in these equations with
0
is independent of what scaling convention is used with the metric, since
the factors involving the metric are scale-independent. So, the
0
c factor is not an extraneous insertion. Its really there. Physically, this makes
perfect sense: the dimensions of the 2-form F are magnetic charge and the 2-form is Lie vector-valued, while the dimensions of the dual 2-form G
are electric charge, while the dual 2-form is Lie covector-valued. So the conversion factor
0
c has the units of conductance, or the reciprocal of
resistance and plays the role of the gauge group metric; hence the generalization to the metric
ab
k . The 2-forms F and G are thus different types of
geometric objects, defined and measured differently, with different units, and are not merely related by a Hodge duality, but also by a Lie duality.
( )( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
( ) ( ) ( ) ( )( ) ( )
( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
( )( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
( ) ( ) ( ) ( )( ) ( ) .
,
,
,
1 1 1 1 0 2 0 2 2 1 1 1 1 2
1 1 2 2 1 1 2 2 2 2
1 1 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 0 0 2
0 2 2 0 1 1 2 2 1 1
1 1 0 0 1 1 2 0 0 2
1 1 1 1 0 2 2 0 1 1 2 2 1 1
0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 1
0 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 2 0 2 0
n m
m l n
n m
m l m
n m
m l m
n m
m l l
i
iT
i
iT

i iT

i iT
L
L
L
L
G G G G G G G
G G G G G
G G G G G G G
G G G G G
G G G G G
G G G G G G G
G G G G G
G G G G G G G
+ + + + +
+ + + =
+ + +
+ =
+ +
+ + =
+ + + +
+ + + + =

The trace of the stress tensor density is
L T
G G G G G G
i i

4 4 4 2 2 2 2
1 1 1 1 0 2 0 2 2 0 2 0
+ + = .
The free Maxwell-Lorentz field is characterized by the condition that the trace be zero. The Lagrangian density may be
directly read off from this condition, as a result:
2
2
2
2
0 2 1 1 2 0 0 2 1 1 2 0
G G G G G G
L
+

+
= i .
Substituting into the expressions for the current 3-densities and applying the constitutive relations
= = c i c i
0 0
,
G G
,
we get the following
( )
( )
( )
( )
( )
1 1 2 0 1 1 2 0 0
1 1 2 1 1 2 2 2 0
0 1 1 1 0 2 1 2 0
1 0 2 0 1 1 2 1 0
0 0 1 0 0 1 1 1 0
. 2
, 2
, 2
, 2
+ =
+ + =
+ + =
+ + =
+ + =
c
c T
c T
c T
c T
n m m l n
n m m l m
n m m l m
n m m l l
L

From this, we extract the following components
|
|
|
|
|

\
|




=
|
|
|
|
|

\
|
1 1 0 1 1 0 0 0
2 1 1 1 2 0 1 0
1 2 0 2 1 1 0 1
2 2 1 2 2 1 1 1
0
2 c
n
n
n
m
n
m
n
l
m
n
m
m
m
m
m
l
m
n
m
m
m
m
m
l
l
n
l
m
l
m
l
l
T T T T
T T T T
T T T T
T T T T
.
If we use the metric to lower the upper index and divide out by g (which, for the null tetrad is just 1), then we
arrive at the following for the stress tensor g g T

T ,
|
|
|
|
|

\
|




=
|
|
|
|
|

\
|
2 2 1 2 2 1 1 1
1 2 0 2 1 1 0 1
2 1 1 1 2 0 1 0
1 1 0 1 1 0 0 0
0
2 c
T T T T
T T T T
T T T T
T T T T
nn m n nm nl
n m m m m m l m
mn m m mm ml
ln m l lm ll
.
This tensor is symmetric and traceless, and so falls under the 3 3 sector of the decomposition for 4 4 . More
explicitly, we have the following factoring
( )
( ) ( )
( )
( ) ( )
. 4
2 2 4
2 2
4
2 2
0
2
0
1 0 2
0
1 0 0
2 1 0 2 0
2 1 0 1 0
2 1 0 0 0
=
+ + + + =
+ +
+ + +
+ + =
=
+ +
c
c
N N N M M M c
N M M M N L M L c
M M M L L L c
T T
b a
ab


For gauge fields satisfying the Yang-Mills-Lorentz relations, these results generalize to the following
4 .
a b
ab
T k =

The inhomogeneous Maxwell equations J dG = can be written, in tetrad notation, as
( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) , 2 2 , 2 2
, 2 2 , 2 2
0 1 2 0 1 2
0 1 2 0 1 2
l m
m n
i n m i n m
i m l i m l
J J
J J
G G G G G G
G G G G G G
= + + + = + +
= + + + = + +

where
n
n
m
m
m
m
l
l
J J J J J + + + = .
This, too, generalizes for non-Abelian fields to J GA AG dG = + , leading to a similar set of additions
[ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
[ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] . , , , , ,
, , , , , ,
1 2 0 1
1 2 0 1
l
n m
m
n m
m
m l
n
m l
i A A i A A
i A A i A A
J J
J J
G G G G
G G G G
= + = +
= + = +




Finally, one has the conservation equation 0 = dJ for the current,
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) 0 = + + + + + + + + + + +
n m m l
n m m l J J J J .
For non-Abelian fields, this generalizes to GF FG JA AJ dJ = + + . This leads to the following additions
[ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] ( ) [ ] [ ] [ ] ( ). , , 2 , , , 2 , , , , ,
0 2 1 1 2 0 0 2 1 1 2 0
G G G G G G
J J J J + + + = + + + +
n
n
m
m
m
m
l
l
A A A A

The addition on the right-hand side comes from Lie-covector valued form FG GF . In terms of a Lie basis ( )
a
Y and
dual basis
( )
a
Y and structure coefficients
c
ab
f given by [ ] ,
c
a b ab c
Y Y f Y = , the covering algebra relations are defined by
c c c b
a a ab
Y Y Y Y f Y = . Correspondingly, we can write the addition FG GF as
c a b
ab c
f F Y G .

For the special case of Yang-Mills fields, by virtue of the Yang-Mills-Lorentz relations
* b
b ab
G k F = and the adjoint
invariance of the gauge group metric
ab
k , this term reduces to 0 since:

* * 4
0.
c a b c a d b a d b
ab c ab cd abd
FG GF f F Y f F gk F Y g f F F d x Y = = = = G
This makes use of the symmetry
* * a d d a
F F F F = and anti-symmetry
abd dba
f f = , the latter following from the
adjoint-invariance of the gauge group metric
ab
k .