On static Poincaré-Einstein metrics

Abstract: The classification of solutions of the static vacuum Einstein equations, on a given closed manifold or an asymptotically flat one, is a long-standing and much-studied problem. Solutions are characterized by a complete Riemannian n-manifold (M, g) and a positive function N, called the lapse. We study this problem on Asymptotically Poincaré-Einstein n-manifolds, n ≥ 3, when the conformal boundary-at-infinity is either a round sphere, a flat torus or smooth quotient thereof, or a compact hyperbolic manifold. Such manifolds have well-defined Wang mass, and are time-symmetric slices of static, vacuum, asymptotically anti-de Sitter spacetimes. By integrating a mildly generalized form of an identity used by Lindblom, Shen, Wang, and others, we give a mass formula for such manifolds. There are no solutions with positive mass. In consequence, we observe that either the lapse is trivial and (M, g) is Poincaré-Einstein or the Wang mass is negative, as in the case of time symmetric slices of the AdS soliton. As an application, we use the mass formula to compute the renormalized volume of the warped product (X, γ) ≃ (M³, g) × <inf>N</inf> 2 (S¹, dt²). We also give a mass formula for the case of a metric that is static in the region exterior to a horizon on which the lapse function is zero. Then the manifold (X, γ) is said to have a “bolt” where the S¹ factor shrinks to zero length. The renormalized volume of (X, γ) is expected on physical grounds to have the form of the free energy per unit temperature for a black hole in equilibrium with a radiation bath at fixed temperature. When M is 3-dimensional and admits a horizon, we apply this mass formula to compute the renormalized volume of (X, γ) and show that it indeed has the expected thermodynamically motivated form. We also discuss several open questions concerning static vacuum asymptotically Poincaré-Einstein manifolds.