Exact Solutions
- Although there is no generally-agreed upon precise definition of an "exact solution of
Einstein's equations" what we mean here is simply that the metric, in suitable coordinates, can be
given in terms of known analytic functions without recourse to
numerical methods.
- Exact solutions provide a route to the physical
understanding (and discovery) of relativistic phenomena, a
convenient basis from which perturbation methods can proceed and a
check on numerical approximations.
- Unfortunately, exact solutions are most often merely collected.
Historically, too little attention has been paid to the physical relevance or even the correctness of exact solutions.
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